[lotsofpulp]

> As to why, A) given Apple's lawyers, I'm sure they can structure the deal so as to minimize exposure to regulations for the rest of the empire, and B) they like money. Judging from how much of it they have, they really like money.

Everyone really likes money. If Apple wanted to, they could just buy Goldman Sachs in cash, it is worth a small fraction of Apple. Or any number of small banks, but there is huge regulatory risk involved, and it is not necessarily true that all opportunities for profit are worth the risks and costs.

As far as I understand, the regulatory hurdles for starting and operating a bank are so big and the ROI so low that pretty much no new bank gets started these days, and only old ones get bought for those who want to get into the banking business.

https://money.cnn.com/2015/07/29/investing/dodd-frank-new-ba...

> it means they're now running savings accounts for consumers,

Are they? Or is it better described as they have integrated their software with that of a bank’s database?