Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will issue Apple Inc.'s new co-brand credit card, according to a personfamiliar with the matter, as the investment bank deepens its pushinto consumer finance.

Goldman Sachs's arrangement with Apple would replace thetechnology giant's previous deal with Barclays Plc, the personsaid, asking not to be identified discussing internal plans. Thetwo companies are still formulating the product, the personsaid.

Goldman Sachs is planning a deeper foray into the world ofco-brand credit cards, a space that's become increasinglycompetitive as banks ratchet up rewards to win business withretailers. The firm has been expanding into consumer financethrough its new Marcus unit, an effort led by Harit Talwar, theformer head of Discover Financial Services' U.S. card business.

Goldman Sachs recently hired Scott Young and Anand Sivadasan,who had previously negotiated co-brand credit-card partnerships forCitigroup Inc., and Shailesh Mendonca, a digital marketingexecutive from Capital One Financial Corp.

Spokesmen for Goldman Sachs, Apple and Barclays declined tocomment. The Wall Street Journal reported on the new partnershipearlier Thursday, saying a card could be released next year.

Barclays offers cardholders three points for every dollar spenton Apple products, two points per dollar spent at restaurants andone point per dollar spent on all other purchases. For purchasesover $999, Barclays also offers 18 months of interest-freefinancing.

Apple has been expanding into finance through Apple Pay, whichallows users to load their debit and credit cards into a digitalwallet and pay with their phone. Since its debut in 2014, theservice has attracted roughly 86 million consumers, according toJuniper Research. Last year, the technology giant launched ApplePay Cash, a person-to-person payments platform that allows Apple tocompete with PayPal Holdings Inc.'s Venmo.

Merchants have been slow to adopt Apple Pay, with just 35%saying they accept the service in a 2018 survey by Kount. Thatcompares with 64% of merchants saying they accept PayPal, which isconsidered the leader in digital wallets with 237 millionusers.

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