Deposits at Marcus Increased by $26 Billion in Q1 versus Same Quarter Last Year, Meanwhile Robo-Advisor is Delayed

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has been in the Fintech news quite a bit as of late.

Recently, Goldman upset Bitcoin lovers because the global investment bank claimed the world’s most popular crypto was “not an appropriate asset class” along with all other cryptocurrencies. At one point in time, Goldman was planning to go big into crypto with a bespoke trading desk but the crypto-infatuation has since dimmed a bit it seems and the global investment bank has moved on, catfishing crypto.

But while Goldman may be throwing shade at digital assets, Marcus, the US/UK digital bank appears to be on track.

A recent presentation delivered at the Bernstein Conference shared that deposits at Marcus during Q1 2020 have increased by $26 billion versus the same quarter year prior and now stand at over $72 billion. Meanwhile, lending inched higher by $2 billion from $5 billion to $7 billion. Borrowers, on average, have a FICO score of around 740.

Wealth management has long been discussed as a key component of Goldman’s digital future – a combination global investment bank combined with a full-stack consumer money center bank providing financial services not just to the very rich but those of us not quite as fortunate.

But according to a report in the FT, Goldman’s digital wealth management platform may have to wait a while longer as COVID-19 has gotten in the way and caused a delay.

John Waldron, Goldman President and Chief Operating Officer,  was quoted on the decision to delay the Robo-advisor augmented with real people:

“while we continue to pursue growth in our overall wealth franchise, we are acting prudently in the current environment. We have decided to slow our adviser hiring activity for this year, and we will defer the launch of our digital wealth offering into 2021.”