Goldman Sachs buys $16 billion in deposits from General Electric's closing banking business

Goldman Sachs is buying $16 billion worth of deposits from GE Capital, the finance arm of General Electric, both companies said Thursday.

Goldman will be acquiring $8 billion in online accounts and $8 billion in brokerage accounts owned by GE. The deal will give Goldman an additional form of liquidity for the firm, particularly as the New York bank explores the possibility of entering the consumer lending business.

Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE has been selling off and winding down its consumer lending business for several years now. The credit card business of GE Capital was spun off into a separate company called Synchrony Financial in 2014 and GE has been looking for other ways to sell off the remaining assets of the consumer arm of GE Capital.