‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Is the Victim of its Own Success

Last Tuesday was a rough day for Goldman Sachs. The share price fell 6 percent after the Wall Street giant reported its worst earnings miss in a decade. On a call that morning, analysts peppered David Solomon, the bank’s C.E.O., with questions about its consumer banking strategy. Goldman closed its $2.2 billion acquisition of GreenSky, a pioneer in the “buy now, pay later” lending sector. It flew under the radar until last quarter, the first in which Goldman broke out earnings for its “platform solutions” business unit, which includes GreenSky. The picture wasn’t pretty. Revenues were up, but the division lost $1.66 billion in 2022.