Sept 17 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) is talking

with Apple ( AAPL ) about taking over the tech giant's

credit-card program from Goldman Sachs ( GS ), the Wall Street

Journal reported on Tuesday.

The discussions started earlier this year and have advanced

in recent weeks, but a deal could still be months away, the

report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Key

details, including price, are still to be negotiated.

Goldman Sachs ( GS ) declined to comment, while JPMorgan ( JPM ) and Apple ( AAPL )

did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Goldman and Apple ( AAPL ) reportedly pulled the plug last year on

their partnership, which included credit cards and savings

accounts.

The Wall Street giant is facing a costly exit from the

partnership that is seen by other lenders as too risky and

unprofitable, sources told Reuters in December last year.

After its foray into consumer banking flopped, Goldman has

refocused on its traditional mainstays - investment banking and

trading. The consumer business that CEO David Solomon championed

has lost billions of dollars.

The card, launched in 2019, was one of the hallmarks of

Solomon's consumer banking strategy. But the Wall Street titan,

which typically deals with wealthy clients, had little

experience with less affluent customers, analysts have said.

The two companies granted cards to customers with lower

credit scores in an attempt to boost revenue, a source told

Reuters last year.

The card offered perks like "no fees" and cashback. But

Goldman had to set aside bigger provisions for bad loans,

leading to higher paper losses for its consumer business.

Goldman is also exiting a credit-card partnership with

automaker General Motors. Earlier this month, Solomon

dismissed the notion that the bank's early exit with GM was

messy, saying the bank had anticipated the problems.

Investors have supported Goldman's attempt to refocus on its

Wall Street operations, pushing its stock up nearly 27% so far

this year.

(Reporting by Manya Saini and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru;

Editing by Arun Koyyur)