GreenSky is no longer owned by Goldman Sachs, and a lot of contractor-facing content about it has not caught up. Goldman bought GreenSky for $2.24 billion in 2021, then sold it in March 2024 to a consortium led by Sixth Street, alongside KKR, Bayview Asset Management and CardWorks, for roughly $500 million, a steep loss from what Goldman paid. The program itself still functions the same way for contractors: dealer fees on promotional 0% APR offers typically run 10 to 20% or more, built into the customer's loan principal. What has changed is who is behind the platform, and that is worth knowing before you build your financing pitch around it.
Key takeaways
- GreenSky was sold by Goldman Sachs to a Sixth Street-led consortium, including KKR, Bayview Asset Management and CardWorks, in a deal that completed March 15, 2024.
- Goldman paid $2.24 billion for GreenSky in 2021 and sold it for roughly $500 million in 2024, a loss worth knowing about if you are relying on the platform's long-term stability.
- Dealer fees on GreenSky's promotional 0% APR and deferred-interest plans, the offers most contractors actually use, typically run 10 to 20% or higher depending on the term.
- GreenSky serves both home improvement and patient solutions (medical) financing, a broader scope than contractor-only platforms like Hearth.
- The platform has changed ownership twice in three years, which is a reasonable question to raise with your GreenSky account representative about program continuity.
What actually changed in the 2024 ownership sale
Goldman Sachs acquired GreenSky in September 2021 for $2.24 billion as part of a push into consumer fintech that Goldman later stepped back from. In October 2023, Goldman announced it would sell the platform and its associated loan assets to a consortium of institutional investors led by Sixth Street, and the deal closed on March 15, 2024. The buying group includes funds managed by KKR, Bayview Asset Management and CardWorks, with additional financing support from PIMCO and CPP Investments.
The sale price of roughly $500 million represented a steep loss against Goldman's original $2.24 billion purchase, reflecting how the broader fintech lending sector cooled after 2021. The transaction, according to Goldman Sachs' own October 2023 press release announcing the deal, included the GreenSky platform itself along with its associated loan assets, with additional financing support from PIMCO and CPP Investments backing the consortium. American Banker's coverage of the closed 2024 deal noted that competing bank Synovus, a longtime GreenSky lending partner, saw the ownership change as an opening to expand its own point-of-sale financing business.
For contractors, the day-to-day program has continued operating under the new ownership, and no public reporting since the March 2024 close has indicated service disruptions for merchants or borrowers. The relevant question is not whether GreenSky still works today, it clearly does, but whether a platform that has changed hands twice in three years is one you want as your sole financing option. A single-lender strategy carries platform risk regardless of which lender it is, and GreenSky's recent history is simply a concrete example worth knowing.
How GreenSky's dealer fee model works
GreenSky operates on the same dealer-fee structure as GoodLeap, Sunlight and other promotional-rate lenders in this category. When a contractor offers a GreenSky 0% APR or deferred-interest promotion, GreenSky charges the contractor a fee to subsidize that rate, and standard reporting on the category puts these fees at 10 to 20% or more depending on the promotional term length. That fee is generally built into the financed amount rather than invoiced to the contractor separately, meaning the homeowner's loan principal ends up higher than the contractor's quoted job price.
This is the same mechanic covered in dealer fees in contractor financing, and it is standard practice across this category, not unique to GreenSky. The responsible move is disclosing the effect on loan principal to the homeowner clearly, the same guidance that applies to any dealer-fee lender.
GreenSky compared to the alternatives
| Program | Ownership | Dealer fee on promos | Scope | Best fit |
|---|
| GreenSky | Sixth Street-led consortium (2024) | 10 to 20%+ | Home improvement and medical | Contractors wanting broad lender acceptance |
| GoodLeap | Private, venture-backed | 15 to 30% | Roofing, HVAC, siding, solar | High-ticket trade-specific work |
| Hearth | Private | None, flat subscription | Home services broadly | High-volume shops wanting a flat cost |
| Wisetack | Private, fintech-backed | None, per-transaction fee | Home services broadly | Smaller, service-sized tickets |
Contractors already using multiple financing programs commonly keep GreenSky in the mix alongside a subscription-based option like Hearth precisely because dealer-fee lenders and flat-fee lenders solve different problems: one buys down the advertised rate for a promotional push, the other keeps the loan amount closer to actual project cost. See GreenSky alternatives for contractors and Hearth versus GreenSky for the fuller comparison.
Where GreenSky is strong
- Broad direct contractor acceptance across home improvement trades.
- Deep bench of institutional backers behind the current ownership group, including KKR and CPP Investments' financing support.
- Established, long-running platform that most homeowners and contractors already recognize.
Where it falls short
- Two ownership changes in three years is a legitimate reason to ask about program stability before relying on it exclusively.
- Dealer fees on promotional offers inflate the homeowner's loan principal, the same tradeoff every dealer-fee lender carries.
- Public pricing and fee schedules are not published on GreenSky's own site, requiring a merchant account conversation to get exact numbers.
Practical steps if you rely on GreenSky heavily
If GreenSky is your only financing option today, three moves reduce your exposure without requiring you to drop the platform. First, get a second program active even if you rarely use it, so switching is a matter of turning on a dormant relationship rather than starting an application from scratch during a disruption. Second, keep your own records of financed deals and dealer fee amounts separate from GreenSky's merchant portal, since a platform transition is exactly when historical reporting access can become temporarily difficult. Third, watch for any communication from GreenSky about program terms changing, since a new ownership group occasionally means renegotiated terms with lending partners that can affect approval rates or fee structures on a timeline outside your control.
None of this means GreenSky is a bad choice today. It means treating any single financing platform, GreenSky included, as infrastructure worth having a backup for, the same logic that applies to relying on one lead source or one piece of dispatch software.
Should you still use GreenSky in 2026?
Yes, with a caveat. The program continues to function and remains one of the more widely accepted financing options among homeowners, which matters when a customer already recognizes the name. The ownership change itself is not a reason to drop it, but it is a reasonable prompt to avoid making GreenSky your only financing option. Most established shops run at least one dealer-fee lender like GreenSky or GoodLeap alongside a flat-fee or subscription option like Hearth or Wisetack, so a single platform's future does not determine whether you can still offer financing tomorrow.
Whichever combination you run, how the offer is presented to the homeowner matters more than which lender is behind it; see how to pitch financing to homeowners and the cost of not offering financing.
How we put this together
The ownership history in this review, including acquisition and sale dates and prices, comes from Goldman Sachs' and Sixth Street's own press releases from October 2023 and March 2024, along with contemporaneous financial press coverage. Dealer fee ranges are drawn from industry reporting on promotional financing structures across GreenSky and comparable lenders, since GreenSky does not publish its fee schedule publicly. We have not independently verified current merchant terms directly with GreenSky; confirm program specifics with your account representative before relying on this review for exact numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns GreenSky now?
GreenSky is owned by a consortium led by Sixth Street, including KKR, Bayview Asset Management and CardWorks, following a sale that completed on March 15, 2024. Goldman Sachs previously owned GreenSky after acquiring it in 2021.
Why did Goldman Sachs sell GreenSky?
Goldman Sachs stepped back from its broader consumer fintech push, of which GreenSky was a part, and sold the platform for roughly $500 million, a steep loss against the $2.24 billion it paid in 2021.
How much does GreenSky charge contractors?
GreenSky does not publish its fee schedule publicly, but industry reporting places dealer fees on its promotional 0% APR and deferred-interest offers at 10 to 20% or higher, built into the customer's loan principal rather than billed separately.
Is GreenSky still a good option for contractors in 2026?
Yes, the program continues to operate and remains widely recognized by homeowners. Most contractors are better served running it alongside a second financing option rather than relying on it exclusively, given the ownership changes in recent years.
What is the difference between GreenSky and Hearth?
GreenSky uses a dealer-fee model that buys down the customer's advertised rate at the cost of a higher loan principal. Hearth charges contractors a flat annual subscription instead, keeping the loan amount closer to the actual project cost. See the fuller comparison for the break-even math.
Does GreenSky only serve home improvement contractors?
No, GreenSky's platform also serves patient solutions financing for medical and dental practices, in addition to its home improvement merchant network.
