Apple reportedly stopped short of bringing a stock trading feature to iPhone

Apple came close to creating an investing feature for the iPhone that would’ve let users buy and sell stocks directly on the device, according to a report from CNBC. The company reportedly started working on the investing feature during the meme stock hype in 2020 but ultimately pivoted away from the idea last year as markets began to falter.

Sources close to the situation tell CNBC that Apple was working on the feature with Goldman Sachs, the financial institution that Apple teamed up with to launch its credit card, buy now, pay later offering, and savings account. While Apple and Goldman Sachs aimed to release the feature in 2022, Apple shelved the project, as CNBC reports it “feared user backlash if people lost money in the stock market with the assistance of an Apple product.”

That’s when Apple and Goldman Sachs moved to create a savings account instead, according to CNBC. Apple launched the savings account in April of this year, allowing Apple Card users to build up their Daily Cash rewards through the account, which comes with a 4.15 annual percentage yield. In June, a report from The Wall Street Journal suggested that Goldman Sachs was in talks to offload its partnership with Apple to American Express.

It’s still not clear whether Apple plans on rolling out an investing feature in the future, and Apple didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment. If Apple did end up launching a stock trading feature, it would’ve joined the ranks of apps like Robinhood, which has since faced scrutiny for its handling of the meme stock craze, along with more traditional trading services, such as Charles Schwab, E-Trade, and Fidelity. In addition to Apple, PayPal and X (formerly Twitter) have also weighed the idea of stock trading services.