Goldman Sachs launches retail bank Marcus in UK

Interest rate on offer currently outstrips rival savings accounts

The bank has never run a retail operation in the UK before

Goldman Sachs has launched its retail bank, Marcus, offering an easy access online savings account in the UK.

The lender, named after the investment bank’s founder Marcus Goldman, is currently only open to employees but will be rolled out nationwide in the coming months. Goldman Sachs employs more than 6,000 people in the UK.

It is understood the retail bank will offer an initial interest rate of 1.5 per cent, however in an internal memo, Goldman Sachs management advised staff to note “the current interest rate offered may be subject to change for the nationwide launch, depending on market conditions”.

The memo also stated the launch of Marcus in the UK “represents an important milestone in the growth of Goldman Sachs’s consumer business, as well as continued diversification of the firm’s funding”.

“Our initial offering aligns to one of Marcus’s core tenets, offering transparent, simple and easy to use products that provide value,” the bank said.

Marcus launched in the US in 2016, offering personal loans and savings accounts to retail customers, and has since racked up more than $20bn (£16bn) in deposits. The bank is online only.

This year Goldman Sachs hired 150 extra staff in preparation for the launch of its retail arm in the UK. Marcus UK will be led by Des McDaid, a director at TSB for three years before joining Goldman Sachs in 2017.

The 1.5 per cent introductory rate sets Marcus apart from the easy access savings accounts on offer to UK consumers – according to MoneySavingExpert.com, the next best rate can be found at Bank of Cyprus UK, where account holders enjoy a rate of 1.41 per cent.