Banking Expert: Goldman Sachs Group Inc Takes Page From LendingClub Corp

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS will take a page from LendingClub Corp LC in its quest to provide consumer lending service, a banking expert told Benzinga. Goldman's Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein discussed jumping into consumer loans at the company's annual meeting last month. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman had hired former credit card executive Harit Talwar to head up the push. http://www.wsj.com/articles/goldman-makes-push-into-small-loans-1434398407 "I think they're going to mimic the Lending Club," Nate Tobik, founder of CompleteBankData.com told Benzinga. Lending Club's business is conducted via its Web site and Goldman reportedly is planning an online lending model. The Lending Club matches borrowers with investors and doesn't assume credit risks, instead generating revenue via transaction fees. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1409970/000119312515070385/d851207d10k.htm#tx851207_2 Goldman plans to fund consumer loans from deposits at its banking unit GS Bank, which doubled to $73.1 billion last year, from $32.7 billion in 2009, the Journal reported. "They clearly are jumping on the bandwagon," Tobik said of Goldman's plan. But Tobik added that Lending Club "isn't making money with this model, and I'm not sure how it's going to work out" for Goldman Sachs. Lending Club, which held an initial public offering in December, has had few profitable years since start-up in 2007, and says its operating expenses "will increase in the foreseeable future" as it focuses on fast growth. Tobik expects Goldman will originate loans, package them and sell them to institutional investors. "There's this allure that with a great IT team they can get it up and running at almost no cost," Tobik said.