Goldman Sachs has chosen card issuing platform Marqeta to power digital checking accounts for its digital bank Marcus.

Marcus’ checking product will launch in 2021, with the aim of helping customers to better address their financial needs and bolster the bank’s mission to build the leading digital consumer bank.

The digital bank plans to use Marqeta’s open APIs and webhooks to build personalised banking experiences and products.

Omer Ismail, Global Head of Consume Business at Goldman Sachs, said: “We take pride in providing best-in-class solutions to our customers and embrace the opportunity to work with partners like Marqeta on our journey.

“Leveraging Marqeta’s global platform will allow us to create a personalised, feature-rich banking experience better enabling us to serve our checking customers.”

Marcus by Goldman Sachs 

Jason Gardner, founder and CEO of Marqeta, added: “We’re incredibly proud to work with Marcus by Goldman Sachs to help power this work, which we think is a true validation of the power of our technology.

“Our modern card issuing platform helps digital innovators build the sorts of customer experiences that can be industry game changers, and we’re looking forward to working alongside Marcus to bring a powerful new digital banking experience to life.”

The announcement comes after Goldman Sachs has been putting more effort into expanding the Marcus platform. In December, the bank began testing its digital investment platform Marcus Invest in a bid to open up to the general public.

The platform will provide three model portfolios comprising ETFs from the bank itself as well as other financial providers. These will be integrated with existing offerings such as personal finance tool called Marcus Insight.

Goldman Sachs first launched its digital bank Marcus by Goldman Sachs in 2016 to offer unsecured personal loans to consumers with credit-card debt. The platform’s goal is to combine “the freshness of a digital offering with the strength and heritage of the firm, leveraging core competencies in risk management and technology”.