Goldman to Move Into Online Consumer Lending

Before the financial crisis, Wall Street firms were generally not permitted to do traditional consumer lending because they were not set up as federally insured banks. But as part of the government bailout in the 2008 crisis, Goldman and its archrival, Morgan Stanley, were required to become bank holding companies.

 

.. In early discussions, the firm has been talking about making loans that would be about $15,000 to $20,000, people briefed on the conversation said. In terms of distributing the money, Goldman is considering issuing a sort of prepaid card could be drawn down each time the borrower buys something with it.