GE Capital is the
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
division of
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
.
The company currently only runs one division,
GE Energy Financial Services
GE Energy Financial Services (EFS), a division of GE Capital headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, United States, provides financial and technological investment in energy infrastructure projects around the world. EFS is active within industries ...
. It had provided additional services in the past; however, those units were sold between 2013 and 2018.
Overview
On July 8, 2013, the Financial Stability Oversight Council designated GE Capital as a "
systemically important financial institution
A systemically important financial institution (SIFI) is a bank, insurance company, or other financial institution whose failure might trigger a financial crisis. They are colloquially referred to as "too big to fail".
As the financial crisis o ...
", which makes it subject to oversight by the Federal Reserve.
In 2014, GE Capital had 35,000+ employees worldwide, operating in more than 40 countries, with total assets of US$499 billion. It was rated AA+ with stable outlook by S&P in 2012.
GE Capital's subsidiaries also operated under the GE Money brand.
Restructuring plan
On April 10, 2015,
Jeffrey R. Immelt
Jeffrey Robert Immelt (born February 19, 1956) is an American business executive currently working as a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates. He previously served as the CEO of General Electric from 2001 to 2017, and the CEO of GE's Medi ...
, the CEO of
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, announced that GE would sell most of GE Capital over the next two years.
The following areas were sold:
*GE Capital Sponsor Finance was sold to
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB; french: Office d'investissement du régime de pensions du Canada), operating as CPP Investments (french: Investissements RPC), is a Canadian Crown corporation established by way of the 1997 ''Cana ...
and
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
is a Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution headquartered in Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The group operates in retail, corporate, and investment banking segment worldwide. It provides financial products and ser ...
*GE Capital Real Estate was sold to
The Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate bu ...
and
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
.
*The majority of GE Commercial Lending & Leasing was sold to Wells Fargo. Operations in Germany and France were sold to
Crédit Mutuel
Crédit Mutuel is a French cooperative banking group, one of the country's top five banks with over 30 million customers. It traces its origins back to the German cooperative movement inspired by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen in Alsace–Lorraine ...
. Operations in Australia were sold to
Sankaty Advisors
Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...
.
*
Mubadala
Mubadala Investment Company PJSC ( ar, شركة مبادلة للاستثمار), or simply Mubadala, is an Emirati state-owned holding company that acts as a sovereign wealth fund. The company was established in 2017 when then-named Mubadala Dev ...
GE Capital, a joint venture with
Mubadala Development Company
Mubadala Investment Company PJSC ( ar, شركة مبادلة للاستثمار), or simply Mubadala, is an Emirati state-owned holding company that acts as a sovereign wealth fund. The company was established in 2017 when then-named Mubadala Dev ...
, was sold to MidCap Financial, a portfolio company of
Apollo Management
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, i ...
.
*
GE Capital Rail Services
GE Capital Rail Services, also known as GE Railcar, or GE Railcar Services Corporation was a business unit of GE Capital, a division of General Electric. It was a distinct business unit from General Electric's railway locomotive manufacturer.
G ...
was sold to First Union Rail, a subsidiary of
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
, and
Marmon Group
Marmon Group is an American industrial holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois; founded by Jay Pritzker and Robert Pritzker in 1953 (as Colson Corporation), it has been held by the Berkshire Hathaway group since 2013. It owns compani ...
*GE Capital Bank was sold to
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
.
*GE Healthcare Finance Services was sold to
Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the list o ...
.
*GE Capital Equity was sold to
Ardian.
*GE Capital Transportation Finance was sold to
BMO Financial Group
The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company.
The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...
.
*GE Capital Corporate Finance ― Aircraft was sold to Global Jet Capital, a portfolio company of
AE Industrial Partners
Belcan, LLC is a global supplier of engineering, supply chain, technical recruiting and information technology (IT) services to customers in the aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial and government sectors. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, ...
, the
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...
and
GSO Capital Partners
Blackstone Credit, formerly known as GSO Capital Partners is an American hedge fund and the credit investment arm of The Blackstone Group. GSO is one of the largest credit-oriented alternative asset managers in the world and a major participant ...
.
*GE Capital's Mexican equipment lending and leasing operations were sold to Linzor Capital Partners.
*
GE Trailer Fleet Services
TIP Trailer Services was founded in 1968, as Transport International Pool Inc. TIP specializes in short-term and long-term rental and leasing solutions to customers in the Netherlands and Canada. TIP's headquarters are located in Amsterdam, Nethe ...
was sold to Element Financial and
Arval.
*GE Capital's Japanese capital finance, fleet service and vendor finance businesses were sold to
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
is a Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution headquartered in Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The group operates in retail, corporate, and investment banking segment worldwide. It provides financial products and ser ...
*GE Capital's American restaurant finance operations were sold to
First Horizon National Corporation
First Horizon Corporation is a bank holding company based in Memphis, Tennessee. Its banking subsidiary, First Horizon (formerly First Tennessee), is the largest bank in Tennessee and the fourth largest regional banking company in the Southeast. ...
,
Wintrust Financial
Wintrust is a financial holding company in the United States that operates 15 chartered community banks in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Wintrust is a relatively medium-sized banking institution in the United States and it trades on ...
and
Sterling Bancorp
Sterling Bancorp was a regional bank holding company. It merged into Webster Financial Corporation in February 2022; their principal subsidiaries, Sterling National Bank and Webster Bank, were also merged, in the process.
Prior to the Webster m ...
. Its hotel franchise operations were sold to Western Alliance Bancorp.
*
GE Capital Aviation Services
GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) was an Irish–American commercial aviation financing and leasing company. AerCap acquired the company from GE Capital on November 1, 2021.
GECAS was the largest commercial airline leasing/financing company ...
(GECAS) was sold to
AerCap
AerCap Holdings N.V. is an Irish aircraft leasing company based in Dublin. It became the largest aircraft leasing company in the world after acquiring International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in 2014, then GECAS from General Electric in ...
in 2021.
Current operations
GE Energy Financial Services provides commercial lending and leasing, as well as a range of financial services for
commercial aviation
Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation.
Definition
Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...
,
energy
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...
, and support for GE's industrial business units.
Former operations
Australia
In
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the GE Money brand encompassed the GE Consumer Finance and GE Capital Finance businesses. The company provided car, boat, personal and consolidation
loans
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...
, credit cards, mortgages and
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
.
In May 2002, GE purchased the
Australian Guarantee Corporation
Founded in 1921 as Australian Guarantee Company to initially provide finance for purchasers of smaller household items, it progressed into financing motor vehicles and was renamed as Australian Guarantee Corporation (AGC) in 1925. AGC was Australi ...
(AGC) business from
Westpac
Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales.
Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it ...
, and as a result, AGC Automotive Finance became GE Automotive Finance (GE Auto), and former retail finance competitor, AGC Creditline, became known as GE CreditLine.
GE Consumer Finance controlled most credit cards and loans and has a strategic partnership with
Coles Group
Coles Group Limited is an Australian public company operating several retail chains. Its chief operations are primarily concerned with the sale of food and groceries through its flagship supermarket chain Coles Supermarkets, and the sale of l ...
to operate the Coles Group Source MasterCard. GE Consumer Finance governs the GE Creditline, GO MasterCard, gem Visa and Buyer's Edge cards which all offer interest-free terms at participating retailers.
GE Finance also had strategic financial relations with
Myer
Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australia, Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of ...
, Australia's largest department store. In 2006 and 2007 Myer signed contracts with GE to issue and govern both the new Myer Card and the Myer Visa Card. GE was also the issuer of the old red ColesMyer card which is no longer an acceptable method of payment of Myer stores, this is following the decision of Myer being disenfranchised from the Coles Myer Group.
In 2004, GE Capital Finance purchased the Wizard Home Loans business.
On 24 October 2008, GE Money announced that it would cease offering motor finance in Australia and New Zealand. This move proved damaging to GE aligned dealerships who have been given 60 days to find an alternate financier to provide floorplan finance. GE Money also announced that it will be pulling out of the mortgage industry and no longer providing mortgages other than those sold under the Wizard Brand.
In December 2008, GE Money announced it was in advanced talks with the
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...
to sell the Wizard brand. Ultimately, Wizard was bought by the
Commonwealth Bank
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...
.
In 2015, GE Capital sold its Australian and New Zealand business to a consortium led by
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
,
KKR and Värde Partners.
The business was renamed
Latitude Financial Services
Latitude Financial Services (shortened to Latitude Financial or Latitude) is an Australian financial services company with headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria, also doing business in New Zealand under the name Gem Finance. Latitude’s core busin ...
with Sean Morrissey appointed as its new CEO.
Austria
Austria's GE Money (formerly GE Capital Bank) was founded in 1994 after the successful acquisition and merger of Mercurbank and AVABANK. Today, it is one of Austria's leading consumer and auto finance businesses and a market leader in retail sales financing. Based in Vienna, with a network of branches throughout the country, the business provides a variety of innovative financial services including auto lending, private lending, sales finance and third party personal lending. The primary focus is on consumers, customers and business partners, such as car dealers, retailers and loan brokers.
The Austrian division was purchased, along with the German, Finnish and British store card operations of GE Money, by the
Santander Group
Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centres ...
in January 2009.
Canada
GE Money Canada provided private label credit card and MasterCard card programs to consumers and lending options for retailers in key industries across the country. GE Money-Canada also was a provider of alternative residential mortgages and patient financing through its CareCredit unit. It was part of the
Synchrony Financial spinoff in 2014.
Czech Republic
GE Money Bank (formerly GE Capital Bank) was a significant institution in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1997, after the acquisition of Agrobanka bank as GE Capital Bank. In the year 2000, it changed the name to GE Money Bank. It went through an IPO in 2016 and operates under the new name of Moneta Money Bank. It is a full-service bank with an extensive network of branches and ATMs. Its services focus both on retail clients and small and medium-sized enterprises. Its headquarters are located in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. Its call center operates from
Ostrava
Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rive ...
.
Denmark
GE Money Bank Denmark (previously GE Capital Bank Denmark) offered credit cards, loans and other financial solutions. Brand names included Acceptcard, Morecard and E-lån. In 2014, GE Capital sold its Scandinavian operations to
Santander
Santander may refer to:
Places
* Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain
* Santander Department, a department of Colombia
* Santander State, former state of Colombia
* Santander de Quilichao, a m ...
.
France
GE Money Bank France is born from the acquisition by GE of Crédit de l'Est and SOVAC in 1995. It provides real-estate mortgages and auto loans. GE Capital sold GE Money Bank France to
Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American private equity firm,Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Quayle, Chairman, Cerberus Global Investments, LLC". specializing in distressed investing. ...
in 2016.
Hong Kong
GE Capital was incorporated as a Restricted License Bank in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. Its major focus was in mortgages (homes and automobile) and personal loans. GE Capital sold its Hong Kong operations to
Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered plc is a multinational bank with operations in consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in the UK, and around 9 ...
.
Hungary
''Budapest Bank'', was established in 1987 as one of the first commercial banks when the two-tier banking system was created in Hungary. Since 1995,
GE (General Electric Company) as owner provided solid background for the bank. Budapest Bank offered a full range of financial and banking services for consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. Budapest Bank was sold to
MFB in 2014.
India
GE had more than 118 branches in India as of July 2006. Most of these are in the southern states. There were branches in Coimbatore, Erode, Salem Saradha, Trichy, Madurai, Tanjore, Palaghat, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Rajamundhry, Kakinada, Vizag, Vijaywada, Hubli, Dharwad and Belgaun. GE was the first BPO's in Hyderabad. GE Capital sold its Indian housing finance business to
Magma Fincorp
Poonawalla Fincorp Limited, (formerly known as Magma Fincorp) is a Cyrus S. Poonawalla group Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) that focuses on consumer and MSME financing.
The company operates more than 279 branches in 21 states, as of 2022.
...
; in 2012, it sold the remains loan portfolio to
cliq capital Cliq may refer to:
*Cliq (duo), known for their 2017 song "Wavey"
*Motorola Cliq, a mobile phone
*Tata Cliq, an e-commerce company See also
*Clique (disambiguation)
*The Kliq, a group of professional wrestlers
{{disambiguation ...
, and exited the credit card joint venture
SBI Card
SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd., previously known as SBI Cards & Payment Services Private Limited, is a pure play credit card company and payment solutions provider in India. SBI Card was launched in October 1998 by State Bank of India, Indi ...
with
State Bank of India
State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational public sector bank and financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. SBI is the 49th largest bank in the world by total assets and ranked 221st in the ''Fortune ...
, leaving SBI in place
Italy
In 2008, GE Capital acquired
Interbanca
Interbanca S.p.A. was an Italian merchant bank that specializes in lending and financing transactions for medium-sized firms. Its headquarters are in Milan and it has 10 branches in major cities throughout Italy.
Following a series of acquisitio ...
, a merchant banking firm from
Banco Santander
Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centres ...
, in exchange for GE Capital businesses in Germany, Finland, Austria, and the UK. In May 2015, GE appointed
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
to sell the bank, then had a net assets of over . In 2016,
Banca IFIS acquired Interbanca for €160 million, with an obligation to repay the inter-company debt to GE.
Ireland
GE Money Ireland was part of the European operations of GE Consumer Finance. In the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
, GE Money provided specialised financing and services such as
leasing
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
,
hire purchase
A hire purchase (HP), also known as an installment plan, is an arrangement whereby a customer agrees to a contract to acquire an asset by paying an initial installment (e.g., 40% of the total) and repaying the balance of the price of the asset pl ...
,
mortgages
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
and
loans
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...
to
businesses
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."
Having a business name does not separat ...
and individuals across the country. With headquarters in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, GE Money serviced its
customers
In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for m ...
through regional
sales
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
centres and a
dealer
Dealer may refer to:
Film and TV
* ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film
* ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items
* ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010
* ...
and
partner
Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to:
Books
* ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997
* ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928
* ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart
* ''Partner'' (m ...
network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
. GE sold its Irish loan portfolio to
Pepper Home Loans in 2012.
Latvia
GE Money Bank Latvia was a universal bank owned by GE in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
(merged from the former BTB bank and GE Money financial company), offering loan and deposit products to both private and legal entities. It was acquired by
Otkritie FC Bank
PJSC "Bank Otkrytie Financial Corporation" or Otkrytie FC Bank (russian: Банк «ФК Открытие», translates as ''opening'' or ''discovery'') is one of Russia's largest full-service commercial banks. It has more than 440 offices of di ...
in 2011.
Japan
is part of the Japanese operation of GE Consumer Finance. From April 2005, it began to provide GE Money brand in Japan. In 2008, GE was crowned In-House of the Year - Japan In-House Lawyer of the Year by the ''2008 ALB Japan Law Awards''. The Japanese operation was sold to
Shinsei Bank
is a leading diversified Japanese financial institution that provides a full range of financial products and services to both institutional and individual customers. It is owned by SBI Group and headquartered in Chuo, Tokyo.
History
SBI Shinsei ...
in 2008.
Netherlands
GE Artesia Bank GE Artesia Bank was a Dutch financial institution based in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It was originally established in 1863 as the Nederlandsche Credit and Depositobank.
Company history
The bank has undergone a number of name changes since its incept ...
, a part of GE Capitals subsidiary
GE Commercial Finance
GE Commercial Finance was a unit of GE Capital, (one of five major operating divisions of General Electric). Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States, it plays a role in over 35 countries and had assets of over US$335 billion at year e ...
, offered banking services to
High-net-worth individual
High-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a term used by some segments of the financial services industry to designate persons whose investible wealth (assets such as stocks and bonds) exceeds a given amount. Typically, these individuals are defined ...
s as well as corporates in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. It provided capital finance, long-term finance, leasing and finance for specific international trade transactions. It closed in 2015.
New Zealand
In 2002, GE Finance purchased Australian Guarantee Corporation's
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
-based finance company to create the AGC Creditline Card (now GEM Visa Card), which provides financing for retailers. In 2006 GE Money New Zealand purchased Pacific Retail Finance (PRF), New Zealand's largest personal consumer finance company, and the mortgage assets of
Superbank
: ''See Superbank (surfing) for the surf spot on the Gold Coast, Australia.''
Superbank was a joint-venture retail bank in New Zealand, operated by St George Bank in association with the New Zealand grocery-retailer Foodstuffs. Superbank operate ...
, a supermarket-based banking system.
On 24 October 2008, GE Money announced that it was pulling out of the
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
vehicle finance market, with the loss of 80 staff. It attributed this decision to the
credit crunch
A credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit cr ...
.
On 15 December 2008, GE Money announced it would no longer be offering home loans through Wizard Home Loans and was seeking a buyer.
In 2015, GE Capital sold its Australian and New Zealand business to a consortium led by
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
,
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...
, and
Värde Partners.
Norway
GE Money Bank Norge was a division of the Stockholm-based Swedish subsidiary GE Capital AB. It was a leading provider of consumer finance products in Norway with more than 300,000 clients and total lending of NOK 5 billion, second only to the major domestic bank
DnB NOR
DNB ASA (formerly DnB NOR ASA) is Norway's largest financial services group with total combined assets of more than NOK 1.9 trillion and a market capitalisation NOK 164 billion as of 20 May 2016. DNB's head office is located in Oslo.
The two lar ...
.
It was the second bank in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
to offer US style
credit cards
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
with zero annual/monthly fee and including a grace period, after Bankia Bank ASA. In the eighteen months following the launch of GE
MasterCard in June 2001, the market increased to more than 100,000 US style credit cards. Before these cards, Norwegian banks only offered annual fee cards or cards with no interest free grace period.
In 2014, GE Capital sold its Scandinavian operations to Santander.
Philippines
GE Money, in an effort to expand its presence in Southeast Asia, acquired a majority stake in the now-defunct Keppel Bank Philippines which acquired what was formerly the Monte De Piedad Bank, the Philippines' first savings bank. The acquisition was finalized on December 20, 2005 after the Monetary Board of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...
approved the purchase on December 8, 2005. The bank was renamed GE Money Bank Philippines. GE Money Bank Philippines had 31 branches all over the Philippine archipelago. GE Money Bank Philippines was acquired by
BDO Unibank in 2009.
Poland
Polish ''GE Money Bank S.A.'' was primarily headquartered in
Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
prior to December 31, 2009.
BPH SA (Bank Przemysłowo-Handlowy) is a Polish financial institution 89% owned by
GE Money Bank
GE Capital is the financial services division of General Electric.
The company currently only runs one division, GE Energy Financial Services. It had provided additional services in the past; however, those units were sold between 2013 and 2018. ...
(prior to 2008 the largest shareholder was
UniCredit
UniCredit S.p.A. is an international banking group headquartered in Milan. It is Italy's only systemically important bank (according to the list provided by the Financial Stability Board in 2022) and the world's 34th largest by assets. It was for ...
), employing about 10,000 people. On 31 December 2009, Bank BPH merged with GE Money Bank Polska. After the merging of the two brands, GE's Capital's Polish headquarters are located in three cities:
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
,
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
and
Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
. In October 2014, the bank's owner,
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, revealed it was considering selling the firm. In November 2016, GE completed the spin-off and merger of Bank BPH's Core Bank to Alior Bank. GE Capital retained the Bank BPH legal entity, including its mortgage business.
Romania
In Romania GE Capital has two subsidiaries:
* ''GE Money'', a personal finance and leasing company.
* ''GE Garanti Bank'', a bank detained by GE Capital in a joint venture with Garanti Bank International from Turkey. GE Garanti is located in Bucharest.
GE Capital sold its Romanian operations to
Garanti Bank
Garanti BBVA (legal name Türkiye Garanti Bankası A.Ş; formerly referred to as Garanti Bank in English) is a Turkish financial services company based in Turkey. 86% of Garanti's stakes are owned by the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argent ...
in 2010.
Russia
Russian ''GE Money Bank Russia'' was located in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. It was sold to
Sovcombank
Sovcombank (Public Joint-Stock Company "Sovcombank", Russian language, Russian: Совкомбанк) is a Russian privately owned universal bank included in the list of 13 systemically important Russian banks. In terms of assets, it ranks 9th ...
in 2013.
Sweden
The Swedish subsidiary was ''GE Capital Bank AB''. Based in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, the bank traded as ''GE Money Bank''. In 2014, GE Capital sold its Scandinavian operations to Santander.
Switzerland
GE Money Bank was the largest provider of small consumer credits in Switzerland. In 2006, the company partnered with
Migros
Migros () is Switzerland's largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. It is also one of the forty largest retailers in the world. It is structured in the form of a cooperative federation (the Federation of Mig ...
, allowing them to offer credit cards contracts through Migros.
The Bank is now
Cembra Money Bank
Cembra Money Bank AG is a Swiss credit institution headquartered in Zurich-Altstetten. Cembra Money Bank operated under the name GE Money Bank until its IPO in early November 2013 and was part of the General Electric Group. Since November 2013, t ...
and went public through an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
(IPO) in 2013.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, GE Money provided mortgages and secured loans through the former First National, acquired from
Abbey National, and offered these through intermediaries. On 25 September 2008, it was announced that the UK Financial Services Authority had fined GE Money Home Lending £1.1 million for failings in its systems, which caused it to overcharge borrowers. It was announced on 29 March 2008 that the GE Capital Bank store cards business and managed credit card business had been acquired by the
Santander Group
Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centres ...
. In 2015, GE sold its mortgage loans in sales to Kensington Mortgage (controlled by
Blackstone and
TPG) and to funds managed by Blackstone, TPG and CarVal Investors. Afterwards, the company ceased taking new loans.
United States
Before June 2, 2014, GE Capital Bank was made up of retail and commercial banks. The company was founded in 1988 and is based in Draper, Utah. GE Capital Retail Bank provided retail banking and credit services to consumers in the United States and internationally. It offered retail sales finance, such as private label credit card programs, installment lending, bankcards, and financial services for consumers. The company also provided retail consumer financing solutions, such as private label credit cards, dual card, flex loans, and all-tender loyalty and gift cards; It offered its products and services through dealers, retailers, associations, contractors, manufacturers, healthcare practices, and service providers. The company was formerly known as GE Money Bank and changed its name to GE Capital Retail Bank in October 2011. GE Capital Retail Bank operated as a subsidiary of General Electric Capital Corporation.
GE Capital Retail Bank acquired MetLife Bank from
MetLife
MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...
in 2011.
As of June 2, 2014, GE Capital Retail Bank is now known as Synchrony Bank.
GE Capital was then composed only of the original commercial/industrial bank in the United States. GE Capital provided credit services solely to businesses and merchants in the United States, and acts as a multi-product commercial finance bank, and uses deposit Accounts to fund commercial loans and leases. The company served various industries, such as automotive, consumer electronics, flooring, healthcare, home furnishings and improvement, HVAC, elective health care, jewelry, landscaping and irrigation, luxury goods, marine, music, outdoor power equipment, pool and spa, power sports, recreation vehicle, sewing, sporting goods, travel, vacuum, and water treatment industries. GE Capital Bank was a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). GE Capital Bank was sold to
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
in 2016.
GE Capital owned
WMC Mortgage
WMC Mortgage Corporation, also known as WMC or WMC Direct, was a Woodland Hills, California
based wholesale originator of subprime residential mortgages.
The company was founded in 1955 as Pacific Western Mortgage Company. It went through several ...
from 2004 to 2007.
Legal issues
In April 1997, a lawsuit against General Electric Capital Corp was filed on behalf of the company's customers who filed for
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
. The GE Capital Corp. was accused of unfair
debt collection
Debt collection is the process of pursuing payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses. An organization that specializes in debt collection is known as a collection agency or debt collector. Most collection agencies operate as agents of ...
practices. The
class action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
lawsuit resulted in $100 million settlement with over 100,000 class members from 50 states. Plaintiffs claimed that the company solicited agreements from bankrupt debtors to repay their credit card debts but failed to notify bankruptcy court of the agreement. Those
reaffirmation agreements legally required the debtors to continue paying off their debt in exchange for keeping the credit card, even though bankruptcy erases
credit card debt
Credit card debt results when a client of a credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt grows through the accrual of interest and penalties when the consumer fails to repay the company for the money they have ...
s. The lawsuit claimed that GE Capital was required by law to file the agreements with bankruptcy courts and did not do so. As part of the settlement, the company agreed to refund, with interest, all credit card payments made after debtors entered into the reaffirmation agreements between January 1, 1993, and June 30, 1997. GE Capital Corp. also promised to advise
credit bureaus to correct any negative
credit reports
:''This article deals with the general concept of the term credit history. For detailed information about the same topic in the United States, see Credit score in the United States.''
A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repay ...
related to class members’ failure to repay reaffirmed debt.
In June 2014, Synchrony Bank, formerly GE Capital Retail Bank, agreed to settle claims of illegal credit card practices that were filed by the federal
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortg ...
and the
United States Justice Department
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...
by agreeing to pay $225 million to Spanish speaking consumers that were harmed by discriminatory practices and deceptive marketing. The bank was also required to pay an additional $3.5 million in civil penalties to the CFPB's Civil Penalty Fund for deceptive credit card marketing.
Divestment
On March 13, 2014, GE Capital announced that it would spin its North American consumer finance division off under the new name
Synchrony Financial through an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
(IPO). On July 31, 2014, Synchrony Financial raised $2.9 billion in its IPO when GE sold 125 million shares (15%) of the company.
On April 10, 2015, it was announced that GE would sell most of GE Capital's commercial and consumer businesses within two years, focusing instead on its leasing businesses connected with GE's manufacturing businesses. The company reached an agreement to sell the majority of its property business to
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
and
Blackstone, valued at $26.5 billion. GE Chairman and CEO, Jeff Immelt, announced the plan in a letter to shareholders. It is "a big change for GE," but he said it is "right for the company." Under the plan, Immelt said that GE expects more than 90% of its earnings will be generated by its industrial businesses by 2018, up from 58% in 2014.GE Capital, meanwhile, will make up 10% of the company's revenues by 2018, down from 46% in 2001. Shareholders applauded the announcement, pushing shares in G.E. up nearly 11 percent, to $28.51, levels unseen since the financial crisis. However, the downsizing is no small matter for a company whose empire encompasses 175 countries and employs about 305,000 people.
In June 2015, the
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB; french: Office d'investissement du régime de pensions du Canada), operating as CPP Investments (french: Investissements RPC), is a Canadian Crown corporation established by way of the 1997 ''Cana ...
announced it would acquire GE Capital's private equity lending portfolio for $12 billion.
References
External links
*
{{General Electric
General Electric subsidiaries
Financial services companies established in 1932
Financial services companies of the United States
Companies based in Norwalk, Connecticut