Marcus
“Can Goldman Sachs build a scaled digital consumer bank under the Marcus brand that generates sustainable retail deposits and loan revenue?”
Founded2016
HQNew York, NY, USA
IndustryFintech / Consumer banking
The story
Marcus launched in 2016 as Goldman Sachs' consumer banking brand, initially focused on high-yield savings accounts and personal loans — a strategic diversification away from Goldman's traditional institutional business. The brand expanded into checking accounts and credit cards, partnering with Apple for the Apple Card. In 2020, Marcus partnered with Amazon to offer merchant credit lines, deepening its embedded lending ambitions. Over time, Goldman Sachs faced significant losses in consumer banking, leading to a strategic pullback and restructuring of the Marcus brand.
Last 12 months
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Product timeline
2016
Marcus by Goldman Sachs launched as an online consumer bank offering savings accounts and personal loans.· banking
2020
Goldman Sachs quietly released the Marcus mobile app, three years after launch, targeting retail banking customers.· banking
2020
Amazon and Goldman Sachs announced a partnership to offer Marcus-branded revolving credit lines up to $1 million for Amazon merchants.· lending
2021
Marqeta announced a partnership with Goldman Sachs to power Marcus checking accounts with modern card issuing infrastructure.· card
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Marcus
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
3 layers disclosed in Marcus’s embedded-finance stack
Banking / BaaS
Goldman Sachs Bank USA (in-house)
Card issuing
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
3 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.