Goldman’s Marcus rolls out ‘buy now, pay later’ tool for JetBlue flights

Goldman Sachs’ digital consumer bank Marcus is expanding its partnership with JetBlue by allowing customers to pay for airfares over time. Marcus previously offered point-of-sale financing for JetBlue vacation packages only.

Why should we care?
Goldman’s partnership with JetBlue is part of a bigger strategy to align with large brands to extend the reach of the Marcus product suite. Through an offering called MarcusPay, customers can avail themselves of a no deposit, fee-free, fixed rate point-of-sale installment loan option. MarcusPay competes with other point-of-sale financing providers like Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay, as well as offerings from other banks. The JetBlue partnership is a vote of confidence in the growth of travel-related transactions post-COVID-19, and it aims to serve young consumers who may be averse to taking on credit card debt. A recent Cornerstone Advisors study found that roughly 6% of millennials currently have one or more point-of-sale loans—double the percentage of Gen X consumers, and quadruple the percentage of Baby Boomers with point-of-sale loans.