Australia In
Australia, the GE Money brand encompassed the GE Consumer Finance and GE Capital Finance businesses. The company provided car, boat, personal and consolidation
loans, credit cards, mortgages and
insurance. In May 2002, GE purchased the
Australian Guarantee Corporation (AGC) business from
Westpac, 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 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, 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 to sell the Wizard brand. Ultimately, Wizard was bought by the
Commonwealth Bank. In 2015, GE Capital sold its Australian and New Zealand business to a consortium led by
Deutsche Bank,
KKR and Värde Partners. The business was renamed
Latitude Financial Services 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 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. Its call center operates from
Ostrava.
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. GE Capital sold GE Money Bank France to
Cerberus Capital Management in 2016.
Hong Kong GE Capital was incorporated as a Restricted License Bank in
Hong Kong. Its major focus was in mortgages (homes and automobile) and personal loans. GE Capital sold its Hong Kong operations to
Standard Chartered.
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; in 2012, it sold the remains loan portfolio to
clix capital, and exited the credit card joint venture
SBI Card with
State Bank of India, leaving SBI in place
Italy In 2008, GE Capital acquired
Interbanca, a merchant banking firm from
Banco Santander, in exchange for GE Capital businesses in Germany, Finland, Austria, and the UK. In May 2015, GE appointed
Deutsche Bank 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, GE Money provided specialised financing and services such as
leasing,
hire purchase,
mortgages and
loans to
businesses and individuals across the country. With headquarters in
Dublin, GE Money serviced its
customers through regional
sales centres and a
dealer and
partner network. 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 (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 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 in 2008.
Netherlands GE Artesia Bank, a part of GE Capitals subsidiary
GE Commercial Finance, offered banking services to
High-net-worth individuals as well as corporates in the
Netherlands. 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-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, a supermarket-based banking system. On 24 October 2008, GE Money announced that it was pulling out of the
New Zealand vehicle finance market, with the loss of 80 staff. It attributed this decision to the
credit crunch. 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,
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and
Värde Partners.
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 Banco Monte De Piedad, the Philippines' first
savings bank (and second bank after the
commercial bank Banco Español-Filipino), established under Spanish era. The acquisition was finalized on December 20, 2005 after the Monetary Board of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas approved the purchase 12 days earlier. The bank was renamed GE Money Bank Philippines (GE Bank). It had 31 branches all over the Philippine archipelago and was ultimately acquired by
BDO Unibank in 2009.
Poland Polish
GE Money Bank S.A. was primarily headquartered in
Gdańsk prior to December 31, 2009.
BPH SA (
Bank
Przemysłowo-
Handlowy) is a Polish financial institution 89% owned by
GE Money Bank (prior to 2008 the largest shareholder was
UniCredit), 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,
Kraków and
Gdańsk. In October 2014, the bank's owner,
General Electric, 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 in 2010.
Russia Russian
GE Money Bank Russia was located in
Moscow. It was sold to
Sovcombank in 2013.
Sweden The Swedish subsidiary was
GE Capital Bank AB. Based in
Stockholm, the bank traded as
GE Money Bank. In 2014, GE Capital sold its Scandinavian operations to Santander. and went public through an
initial public offering (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. 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 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 in 2016. GE Capital owned
WMC Mortgage from 2004 to 2007. The company briefly owned
Kidder, Peabody & Company from 1986 until its sale to
PaineWebber in 1994. The capital group also had its hand in broadcasting throughout the early 1990s to own radio and television stations. The company first purchased Pegasus Broadcasting, who owns three television stations
WJBF-TV,
WAPA-TV and
KSCH-TV in 1990. The company next purchased
CBS affiliate
WCSC-TV in 1991, and radio stations
KMOW-AM and
KEYI-FM in Austin later that year. The capital quit broadcasting in stages, starting with the sale of radio stations in Austin to Mercury Broadcasting in 1991, then the sale of
WJBF-TV to
Spartan Communications in 1992, followed by the sales of
WCSC-TV to
Jefferson-Pilot Communications in 1993 and
KSCH-TV to Wing Fat, through a group Channel 58 Inc. in 1994, and five years later, sold its final station
WAPA-TV to
LIN Television Corporation in 1999. ==Legal issues==