Goldman Sachs’ Marcus Jumps Across The Pond

Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment firm, rolled out its consumer bank Marcus in the U.K. Thursday (Aug. 23) offering what the Financial Times said is the highest interest rate in the country to lure new customers its way. According to a report in the Financial Times, citing a memo to the Marcus staff, Marcus will be open to the 6,000 employees of Goldman Sachs in the U.K.. The bank did warn that the current interest rate for savers could change with the nationwide launch, depending on market conditions when it goes live.

The Financial Times noted that a savings rate of 1.5 percent is 9 basis points ahead of the current highest-yielding, instant-access savings account that customers in the U.K. can access. According to the memo, Goldman said it’s “an important milestone in the growth of Goldman Sachs’ consumer business, as well as continued diversification of the firm’s funding.”

The reported noted that, in the U.K., Marcus will start by providing easy access, online-only savings accounts. Lending products are slated to be rolled out at the earliest in 2019.

While Goldman Sachs is just starting to enter the U.K. market, it has been growing in the U.S. In July, Goldman Sachs reported a surge in profit during the second quarter that overall exceeded Wall Street estimates, while also announcing that CEO Lloyd Blankfein will — after 12 years — hand over the position to the company’s President and COO David Solomon.

When Blankfein retires at the end of this year, he will then be given a “senior chairman” title. The investment bank, which has made major advances to bolster its digital investments, continued moves to bolster its increasingly important digital expansion, including its Marcus by Goldman Sachs online consumer savings and lending platform. However, company shares were down in early trading, as the Wall Street giant showed sluggish results in its key trading business.

Goldman Sachs said net income jumped $2.57 billion, compared with $1.83 billion in the year-ago quarter. On a per-share basis, fully diluted earnings surged 51 percent to $5.98 a share during the second quarter, from $3.95 in the year-ago quarter. Earnings exceeded Wall Street estimates of $4.46 a share, based on a Thomson Reuters survey of analysts. The firm reported a 19 percent net revenue increase to $9.4 billion, compared with just under $7.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. The firm said the quarterly revenue totals were the second-highest figures in the past nine years. Shares closed down 0.18 percent at $231.02 a share.