Back in 2016, as Goldman Sachs was preparing to launch its consumer-facing brand Marcus, senior executive Stephen Scherr told me that the bank did not “have the ambition” to get into the credit card business. With Marcus, he said, Goldman was focused on unsecured online loans—credit cards were a “whole different kettle of fish.”
Two years later, it’s a different story for the Wall Street giant. According to the Wall Street Journal, Goldman is reportedly in talks with Apple to jointly launch a credit card. The proposed card would help generate buzz around Apple Pay, bolster Goldman’s brand as consumer- and tech-friendly, and deal a death blow to Apple’s existing credit card, developed in partnership with Barclays.
Goldman has been moving aggressively to expand its foothold in consumer finance since launching Marcus in the fall of 2016. What started as an online lending product, operating alongside the deposit platform that Goldman bought from GE Capital, has since become a far more ambitious umbrella brand. Last month, the bank announced that it had acquired Clarity Money, a personal finance app with over 1 million customers.
In addition, Fast Company reported in January that Goldman had quietly purchased Final, a credit card startup. Final’s dozen employees joined Goldman’s new Consumer and Commercial Banking division shortly thereafter.
A Goldman spokesperson declined to comment. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment, as well.
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