Goldman Sachs Unveils Online Lending Venture, Marcus
Updated: Goldman Sachs’ online lending venture Marcus launched on Thursday.
The investment bank had earlier planned to call it ‘Mosaic’ and its aimed at borrowers with high credit scores (above 660) looking to consolidate debt.
Notably, it’s invite-only for now, meaning the only people who can apply are those who receive a special code from them in the mail. Might that potentially be Lending Club’s customers?
The bank is coming out swinging by promoting their no-late-fee, no-origination-fee, no-fee-of-any-kind-outside-of-interest-charges platform, something no marketplace lender can compete with.
Goldman has been laying the groundwork for Marcus since the beginning of the year. The bank made several key hires for the project including former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau attorney, Mitch Hochberg who was roped in to head compliance for the unit. The venture will be lead by Harit Talwar, former head of card services at Discover Financial and executives from American Express and Lending Club.
As deBanked commented earlier, Goldman’s foray in the crowded online lending universe could be too little, too late with a me-too product. It’s quickly-processed consumer loans might have to compete not only with incumbents like Lending Club, Prosper Loans and Avant but also with other bigger banks like Discover and Chase.
Srividya's work has appeared in publications like Money magazine, Advertising Age, FirstPost and The Economic Times. She has also dabbled in business intelligence solutions, and holds a Masters degree in Business and Economic Reporting from NYU. 
