Marcus My GM Rewards Card Turns Points Into Car Discounts

Goldman Sachs will debut a new credit card with General Motors, according to a Bloomberg report Monday (Jan. 10).

The agreement is the second major co-brand deal Goldman has made, having teamed up with Apple in 2019 for a credit card. The banks usually use these kinds of deals in order to attract the other companies’ customers as borrowers.

Goldman has been the front-runner for the GM partnership since 2020. The bank will take over the card business from Capital One Financial, which has been offloading some smaller portfolios — and while the transaction for Goldman is a moderate one, it does see the bank getting more into retail banking. The deal involves about 3 million existing GM credit card holders, whose accounts were converted to Goldman this week, according to Reuters.

“The average person in the U.S. spends an hour in their car,” Stephanie Cohen, who helps lead Goldman’s consumer and wealth business, told Bloomberg. “This is just something they engage with all the time. People want to experience financial services and ecosystems that they love and that they trust.”

Goldman CEO David Solomon said recently that the bank is looking at a “proprietary card that’s in development,” which would be similar to other products from consumer banking giants. The company has also agreed to buy GreenSky, a company that offers payment plans for customers with home improvement or healthcare needs.

In addition, the bank’s consumer line, which is marketed as Marcus, is working with Walmart and other companies to offer small business loans. It also finances vacation purchases with JetBlue.

Goldman analysts have said the ongoing pandemic could have adverse effects on hospital procedure volumes and rebound in MedTech procedures.

Related: Goldman: COVID Surge Could Reduce 2022 Demand for Elective Medical Procedures

According to reports, there may be another wave after omicron. However, analysts have said that without a solid timeline for things returning to “normal,” the disease could reach “endemic” status and that could help some commercial firms working with hospitals.

Another resurgence could also hurt nursing shortages more, as well as procedure volumes.