Goldman Sachs Bids on JetBlue Credit Card Business

Passengers exit a JetBlue Airways Corp. plane at Long Beach Airport (LGB) in Long Beach, California, U.S., on Monday, July 22, 2013. JetBlue Airways Corp. is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 30. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

JetBlue could be getting a new credit card partner after all, days after announcing they had an open Request for Proposal. Goldman Sachs is reportedly interested in pairing up with the airline, which could ultimately replace Barclays.

New York-based airline JetBlue could get a new credit card partner, after announcing they were shopping around the program to new bidders. The Wall Street Journal reports Goldman Sachs could be interested in replacing Barclays as the credit card partner.

Goldman Sachs Potentially Interested in Increasing Credit Card Business

According to anonymous sources speaking to the trade newspaper, Goldman Sachs is one of the bidders on JetBlue’s loyalty co-brand Request for Proposal (RFP). The airline announced they were opening the search at the 2021 J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference.

The move comes as JetBlue enters a new era, thanks in part to their partnership with American Airlines. At the conference, the carrier noted they wanted to expand loyalty offerings to customers, which prompted the outstanding RFP.

Goldman Sachs first partnered with JetBlue in August 2020, when the airline unveiled the financial institution’s MarcusPay as a pay-over-time option. Since then, Goldman’s biggest play in consumer finance was their backing of the Apple Card. Currently, the giant has $4.3 billion in outstanding credit card balances from customers, with an additional $2 billion coming from a deal with General Motors.

Barclays is under contract with JetBlue until 2024, which creates three potential scenarios for the TrueBlue program. JetBlue could either continue the Barclays relationship with no changes, announce new products with Barclays, or create new products with Goldman Sachs. It’s also possible that another company could win the RFP, but its currently unknown if any other financial providers are bidding on the business.

Neither Barclays nor Goldman Sachs have offered comments on the news.

JetBlue Transformation Continues with “VFR” Focus

Heavily betting on the recovery of “visiting friends and relatives” travel in a post-COVID world, JetBlue is continuing to expand and transform their business. In addition to integrating their relationship with American, the airline is also expecting to launch their first trans-Atlantic service to London later this year.