Goldman Sachs Group Inc. "tried to do too much too quickly" in growing its consumer banking business, Chairman and CEO David Solomon said.

The firm has postponed the launch of a checking product, and started a process to cease offering new loans through its Marcus platform, Solomon said on a Jan. 17 earnings conference call. It is likely to allow the Marcus lending book to roll down naturally, but is considering pursuing other alternatives, he added.

Goldman's priority in the consumer business is to strengthen its deposit franchise and card partnerships and its point-of-sale lending platform, GreenSky, Solomon said.

Asked during the call what had gone wrong in the consumer business, Solomon pointed to successes in launching deposit and loan products, but said events of recent years made clear that a narrower approach was necessary. In particular, he cited regulatory changes and implementation of the Current Expected Credit Losses methodology, which he said "changed the curve on growing these lending businesses at scale from scratch."

More broadly, "I think it became clear to us early in 2022 that we were doing too much, [and it] was affecting our execution," Solomon said. "I think we probably, in some places, haven't had all the talent that we've needed to execute the way we've wanted. We're making adjustments on that. But by narrowing down the three core things that we're going to focus on that we actually think are good businesses that can be accretive to the firm, I think we've got it in a place now where we can create a more cogent path forward."

The launch of on-balance-sheet lending in GreenSky required a build-up in reserves that contributed to the firm's higher credit loss provisions in the fourth quarter, CFO Denis Coleman said. The growth in loss provisions in the fourth quarter was roughly 50% attributable to loan growth, 25% attributable to net charge-offs and 25% attributable to a worsening economic picture, he added.

Goldman slowed loan originations over the course of the 2022 fourth quarter and tightened some underwriting provisions, but "the vast majority of the provision build was attributable to the existing balances, as opposed to the new originations," Coleman said.