Goldman Sachs has sold its Marcus loan portfolio, GreenSky consumer lending platform, and Personal Financial Management unit for over $3 billion combined, completing a strategic retreat from retail banking that parallels similar exits by Deutsche Bank and Barclays in recent years. The sales reverse Goldman's 2016 retail expansion, which lost $3.8 billion between 2020 and 2022.
JPMorgan will assume the Apple Card credit card program in 2026, ending Goldman's partnership that began in 2019. Customer acquisition costs at Goldman exceeded industry benchmarks, while consumer loan servicing averaged $13,000 per origination at U.S. government-backed lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—costs that specialized fintech firms have reduced through automation.
The bank formed Capital Solutions Group in 2025 to consolidate institutional wealth operations, acquiring Industry Ventures and Innovator Capital Management the same year. Goldman redirected capital from consumer products into alternative investments and fund management, where institutional business generated 15%+ return on equity in 2024 versus mid-single-digit returns in retail banking.
Creative Planning, which bought Goldman's wealth unit in 2023, manages $300 billion in client assets with cost-to-income ratios 15-20 percentage points below traditional private banks through automated portfolio rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting. The efficiency gap reflects broader industry trends: specialized financial providers are projected to capture 60% of new retail customers by 2028, up from 35% in 2023.
Goldman's investment banking division advised on $1.2 trillion in M&A transactions in 2024, maintaining top-three global rankings. The consumer exit affects approximately 3,000 employees across lending, deposits, and wealth management, with 40% reassigned to institutional divisions and remaining staff absorbed by acquiring firms.
Universal banks globally face pressure to match automation efficiencies of specialized competitors or exit retail segments. HSBC and Standard Chartered have similarly refocused on Asia-Pacific wealth management and corporate banking, withdrawing from mass-market retail in multiple markets since 2020.
Sources:
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