Weekly Global News Wrap: Goldman Sachs launches online bank app; Visa buys Silicon Valley startup Plaid for $5.3b

And Wells Fargo’s new CEO sets $1.5b for legal costs of sales scandal.

From Reuters:

Goldman Sachs launched a long-waited app this week for customers of its online bank Marcus.

The lack of a mobile app had frustrated smartphone users who, until now, could only view account information, make loan payments or balance transfers on the bank’s website.

The bank launched Marcus in 2016 to diversify its revenue and funding sources by offering savings accounts and personal loans to retail customers.

From CNBC:

Payments giant Visa is buying Silicon Valley start-up Plaid in a deal worth $5.3 billion, the companies announced Monday.

Plaid’s API software, often referred to as the “plumbing” behind fintech companies, lets start-ups connect to users’ bank accounts

As of December, Plaid said one in four people in the United States with bank accounts have connected to the fintech company through an app.

From Reuters:

Wells Fargo & Co.,’s profit slumped 55% in the fourth quarter as new boss Charles Scharf set aside another $1.5b for legal costs related to the bank’s sales scandal and promised “fundamental charges”.

The bank racked up operational losses of $1.9b in the final quarter of the year, partly for reserves to cover pending litigation related to its fake-account scandal that erupted more than three years ago.

Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest U.S. lender by assets, has leaned on cost cuts to stabilize its bottom line while its revenue growth has been sluggish.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.