Harit Talwar, who recently left his post as head of card services at Discover after 15 years, will be leading a new effort for the bank to lend money to consumers and small businesses over the Internet, according to a memo sent to staff Monday (May 4) from CEO Lloyd Blankfein and COO Gary Cohn and reviewed by Quartz. Goldman’s embrace of online lending follows the incredibly fast growth of startups like LendingClub and Prosper, which are attracting money from Wall Street and aim to make more loans available to more people over the Web. But unlike the LendingClub marketplace model, Goldman will make loans directly. It’s also a way for Goldman to expand its banking business without going to the trouble of opening up actual branches

http://qz.com/397557/even-goldman-sachs-wants-to-jump-on-the-online-lending-bandwagon/