https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-...ut-of-goldman-sachs-bd8b9ccb?mod=hp_lead_pos1 Apple Customers Say It’s Hard to Get Money Out of Goldman Sachs Savings Accounts Some say it has taken weeks to withdraw their money and that the bank’s instructions have differed By AnnaMaria Andriotis June 1, 2023 10:55 am ET The Apple savings account is a way for the company to expand the iPhone further into people’s daily financial interactions. PHOTO: KATHY WILLENS/ASSOCIATED PRESS Apple’s AAPL 1.49%increase; green up pointing triangle savings account, a partnership with Goldman Sachs GS -1.89%decrease; red down pointing triangle, launched in April to great fanfare. Some customers say it has been hard to get their money out. Nathan Thacker, who lives outside Atlanta, had been trying to transfer $1,700 from his Apple account to JPMorgan Chase since May 15. Each time he called Goldman’s customer service department, he said, he was told to give it a few more days. The money arrived in his Chase account Thursday morning, he said, after The Wall Street Journal contacted Goldman about his and other customers’ experiences. Others said they also had trouble transferring money from their new Apple accounts. Customer service representatives at Goldman, which holds the deposits, sometimes gave differing responses about what to do, they said. Sometimes, their money appeared to have simply vanished, not showing up in their Apple account or in the account they were trying to move it to. Goldman said it couldn’t comment on specific customers, but added that “we take our obligation to protect our customers’ deposits very seriously.” “The customer response to the new savings account for Apple Card users has been excellent and beyond our expectations,” the bank said in a statement. “While the vast majority of customers see no delays in transferring their funds, in a limited number of cases, a user may experience a delayed transfer due to processes in place designed to help protect their accounts.” On brand-new accounts, like Apple’s, transfers that make up a large share of the overall balance can trigger anti–money-laundering alerts or other security concerns that require additional review, according to people in the AML field. Those delays usually last five or so days, they said. Advertisement - Scroll to Continue It can also be a red flag when a customer tries to transfer a large amount of money from a newly opened account into an account that is different from the one where the money originally was. The Apple savings account has attracted people searching for the same thing: yield. It pays a 4.15% interest rate, riches compared with the current savings-account average of 0.25%, according to Bankrate.com. Goldman also issues Apple’s credit card, and consumers who want to open the savings accounts have to first sign up for the credit card. For Apple, the new account is a way to expand the iPhone further into people’s daily financial interactions, keeping customers linked to its ecosystem. For Goldman, it is a way to build deposits. The Wall Street titan has encountered challenges, including regulatory probes, when dealing with the mundane tasks of servicing Main Street consumers. Goldman has been cutting back on its consumer lending, and earlier this year said it is “considering strategic alternatives” for the unit that includes its credit-card partnership with Apple. The long delays have forced some customers to make financial decisions they hadn’t planned on. Kevin Smyth of Minnesota tried transferring $10,000 from his Apple account to U.S. Bank on May 16. He needed the money to pay for remodeling his basement. Goldman told him to contact U.S. Bank, Smyth said. U.S. Bank told him it saw no sign of an incoming transaction, he said. Smyth said Goldman eventually told him that his account was under a security review. Smyth tweeted at Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on May 25. “Was your plan to partner with a bank that holds people’s life savings hostage?” he wrote. Goldman later told Smyth he would have to transfer the $10,000 to American Express, which is where the money had been. Smyth went a step further. He emptied his Apple account, moving all $200,000 back to Amex. The money showed up promptly. He plans to close his account this week.
%% CRISIS?? It maybe\ if most big bank customer service is that lousy. Dont know. But in fairness , now many millions of transfers did they get right??[Unusual + most likely a good+ strange reason ''send the money back to AMEX '' ] I closed a BAC saving account years ago\ bad customer service. Regional + local banks have a good rep+ well deserved track record on customer service. MOST people dont have a company size account @ regional banks but most any will move for big % gain on saving rate.