Goldman Sachs (GS) Unveils Online Retail Bank Marcus in UK

In an effort to enter Britain’s cash savings account market, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS recently launched its online retail bank, Marcus. Marcus will offer savings accounts to customers, paying them 1.5% interest rate in the U.K.

Marcus, which was started by Goldman Sachs in the United States in 2016, has grown rapidly to date. Notably, its U.K. website is named after Goldman Sachs’ founder Marcus Goldman.

The 1.5% interest rate, which Marcus is offering in the U.K., is nearly three times higher than the average rate that customers in the nation get on their existing savings accounts.

The company stated that the account is “transparent, secure, and easy to use”. Customers, who are above the age of 18 years, can deposit anything between £1 and £250,000. Further, money can be withdrawn at any time, without paying a fee.

The managing director at Marcus, Des McDaid said, “Over the last decade savers have been on the wrong end of low interest rates. We’ve spoken in-depth to people across the country and there is a real disillusionment about savings – while most UK adults are diligently trying to save every month, some do not even have a savings account, with low interest rates and complexity being put to blame.”

He added, “We want to reverse the trend – literally putting the interest back into savings and make saving worthwhile again.”

Goldman Sachs remains focused on business diversification, which has been the key source of its earnings stability. Within traditional banking, a diversified product portfolio has better chances of sustaining growth than many other banks, which have exited some of these areas. Additionally, the company is likely to benefit from its exposure to the fast growing exchange-traded funds (ETF) market.

The company’s shares have gained 3.2% in the past three months against the industry’s decline of 1.2%.

Currently, Goldman Sachs carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks from the same space are Stifel Financial Corp. SF, E*TRADE Financial Corporation ETFC and LPL Financial Holdings Inc. LPLA, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Over the past 60 days, Stifel Financial has witnessed an upward earnings estimate revision of nearly 5.3% for the current year. Its share price has increased 40.4% in the past two years.

E*TRADE Financial’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has been revised marginally upward in the past 30 days. Its shares have gained 85.7% in the past 24 months.

Over the past 60 days, LPL Financial has witnessed an upward earnings estimate revision of 4.2% for the current year. Its shares have gained significantly in the past two years.

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