Apple and Goldman were planning a stock trading feature for iPhones until the markets turned last year.

As stocks soared in 2020 and consumers flocked to trading apps like Robin Hood, Apple and Goldman Sachs were working on an investing feature that would allow consumers to buy and sell stocks, according to three people familiar with the plans.

The project was shelved last year as markets turned south, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

The effort, which had not been previously reported, would have added to Apple’s suite of financial products powered by Goldman. Apple first partnered with the Wall Street bank to offer a credit card in 2019, and later added buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans and high-yield savings. account. The company said last month that the offering of savings accounts had exceeded 10 billion dollars in user deposits.

Representatives for Apple and Goldman declined to comment.

Apple was working on the investing feature at a time of zero interest rates during Covid, when consumers were stuck at home and spending more time and their record savings trading stocks, including meme stocks like Game stop and AMCfrom their smartphones.

Apple’s talks with Goldman began during that hype cycle in 2020, two sources said. Their work moved forward, and Apple was supposed to roll out an investing feature in 2022. One hypothetical use case presented by executives involved the possibility that iPhone users with extra cash could invest money in Apple stock, one person said.

But as markets were rocked by higher rates and soaring inflation, the Apple team feared a user backlash if people lost money in the stock market with the help of an Apple product, sources said. . That’s when the iPhone maker and Goldman changed course and pushed the plan to launch savings accounts, which benefit from higher rates.

The status of the stock trading project is unclear after Goldman CEO David Solomon bowed to internal and external pressure and decided economize of almost all of the bank’s consumer efforts. One source said the infrastructure for an investing feature is mostly built and ready to go should Apple ultimately decide to move forward with it.

The Apple card thrown out with much fanfare three years ago, but the business brought with it regulations heat and racked up losses as its user base expanded. Earlier this year, Goldman launched a high-interest bond savings account for Apple Card users, offering an annual percentage yield of 4.15%.

Goldman was also central to Apple’s strategy. BNPL offering. The product, called Apple Pay Later, can be used for purchases between $50 and $100 “on most websites and apps that accept Apple Pay,” according to the Support page. Borrowers can split a purchase into four payments over six weeks without incurring interest or fees.

Before Goldman pivot In addition to retail banking, the company examined ways to expand its partnership with Apple, the sources said. More recently, Goldman was in discussions download both your card and your savings account to American Express.

Had plans for the trading app moved forward, Apple would have entered a market with stiff competition, with companies like Robinhood. SoFi and Blocks Square, along with traditional brokerage firms like Carlos Schwab and Morgan Stanley Electronic commerce.

Stock trading has become another way for financial companies to retain customers and drive engagement on their platforms. Apple was following the same approach, a source said. It’s a move that could catch the interest of regulators, who have scrutinized Apple for its App Store practices. Robinhood has also been questioned by regulators for what described as “gamifying” markets.

Other technology companies have been moving into this space. Elon Musk X, formerly known as Twitter, is labor in a way to allow users to buy stocks and cryptocurrencies through a partnership with eToro. PayPal I had plans launch stock trading after hiring a key industry executive in 2021. But the company abandoned those plans and said on an earnings call that it would cut spending and refocus on its core e-commerce business.

LOOK: Goldman’s Apple Card faces growing credit losses