GE Capital was the financial services division of General Electric. Its various units were sold between 2013 and 2021, including the notable spin-off of the North American consumer finance division as Synchrony Financial. Ultimately, only one division of the company remained, GE Energy Financial Services, which was transferred to GE Vernova when General Electric was broken up.
Overview On July 8, 2013, the Financial Stability Oversight Council designated GE Capital as a "systemically important financial institution", 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, the CEO of General Electric, 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 and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation GE Capital Real Estate was sold to The Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo. The majority of GE Commercial Lending & Leasing was sold to Wells Fargo. Operations in Germany and France were sold to Crédit Mutuel. Operations in Australia were sold to Sankaty Advisors. Mubadala GE Capital, a joint venture with Mubadala Development Company, was sold to MidCap Financial, a portfolio company of Apollo Management. GE Capital Rail Services was sold to First Union Rail, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, and Marmon Group GE Capital Bank was sold to Goldman Sachs. GE Healthcare Finance Services was sold to Capital One. GE Capital Equity was sold to Ardian. GE Capital Transportation Finance was sold to BMO Financial Group. GE Capital Corporate Finance ― Aircraft was sold to Global Jet Capital, a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners, the Carlyle Group and GSO Capital Partners. GE Capital's Mexican equipment lending and leasing operations were sold to Linzor Capital Partners. GE Trailer Fleet Services 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 GE Capital's American restaurant finance operations were sold to First Horizon National Corporation, Wintrust Financial and Sterling Bancorp. Its hotel franchise operations were sold to Western Alliance Bancorp. GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) was sold to AerCap in 2021. Electric Insurance Company was sold to RiverStone International in 2024.
Current operations GE Energy Financial Services provides commercial lending and leasing, as well as a range of financial services for commercial aviation, energy, and support for GE's industrial business units.
Former operations 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.
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 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.
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.
It was the second bank in Norway to offer US style credit cards 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.
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