Richard Drew/AP
Anyone can have an account at Goldman.
- Goldman Sachs revamped its retail banking service to become "Marcus by Goldman Sachs," with online offerings for anyone to use.
- One element of Marcus is a high-yield savings account, with a 1.50% APY, no transaction fees, or minimum account balance.
- While interest rates for savings accounts have fallen, Goldman Sachs is betting on high yields for its digital program.
Goldman Sachs might conjure images of men in suits making money, but now, anybody can earn extra dough through the investment bank.
Marcus - named after Goldman Sachs founder Marcus Goldman - allows any adult (except in Maryland where Marcus is not yet available) to create a savings account.
The big selling point for Marcus is the 1.5% APY (annual percentage yield) offered. Whereas interest rates for many banks have plummeted to as low as 0.01%, Goldman Sachs' new savings accounts create significant interest.
There is also no minimum amount needed to open an account with Marcus, and a deposit of just $1 allows users to earn the 1.5% APY. Keeping with the high-growth, no-cost model, Marcus does not charge any fees on savings accounts, including for money transfers.
Along with savings accounts, Marcus offers personal loans of up to $40,000 with no fees and high-yield CDs.
There are some limitations to Marcus: Marcus accounts are not connected to any ATM system and no mobile app is currently available. Savers are only allowed to make six transfers or withdrawals a month.
Even with its restrictions, Marcus made the list for NerdWallet's best savings accounts of 2018 and one of of MagnifyMoney's best online savings accounts.
Andrew Williams is the managing director of corporate communications at Goldman Sachs. Williams told Business Insider that customers prefer Marcus because the savings accounts are a "very competitive offering, especially when looking at most other banks."
In the company's 10-K, Goldman Sachs said it had $13.8 billion in Marcus deposits as of December 2017, an increase of over $3 billion in the last year.
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