GE Consumer Finance

GE Money is part of GE Capital operating division of General Electric. The division, headquartered in London, claims 130 million global customers and offers a range of financial products, including private label credit cards, personal loans, bank cards, auto loans and leases, mortgages, corporate travel and purchasing cards, debt consolidation and home equity loans, and credit insurance.

Major countries of operation

United States

In the United States, GE Consumer Finance is one of the largest issuers of private label (store) credit cards for a number of U.S. retailers. For many years, the servicing arm for the private label credit cards was known as Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia (MCCBG) [cite web
url = http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/CustomerServiceSub.aspx?CatTyp=CSR&CatID=12490
title = J.C. Penney privacy policy
accessdate = 2007-12-31
date = 2007] . Other products available in this market include GE Money Savings and the GE Money Mastercard.

Canada

[GE Money - Canada] provides 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 is a provider of alternative residential mortgages and patient financing through its [CareCredit] unit.

New Zealand

In 2002 GE Finance purchased Australian Guarantee Corporation's New Zealand-based finance company to create the AGC Creditline Card (now GE Creditline Card), which provides financing for retailers such as Harvey Norman. 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.

Australia

In Australia, the GE Money brand encompasses the GE Consumer Finance and GE Capital Finance businesses. The company provides car, boat, personal and consolidation loans, credit cards, mortgages and insurance.

At the end of 2002 to beginning of 2003 GE purchased the AGC business from Westpac Banking Corporation, 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 controls 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 and BuyersEdge cards which all offer interest free terms at participating retailers.

GE Finance also has 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 ColesMyer group.

In 2004, GE Capital Finance purchased the Wizard Home Loans business. Because of the success of the Wizard brand, it is the only business that will not be rebranded as "GE Money". Fact|date=July 2008

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom GE operates a number of credit cards and store cards, particularly ones offered by Arcadia Group. It also operates the Moneybasics money advice site with the charities Credit Action and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. It provides mortgages and secured loans through FirstNational (acquired from Abbey National) and offers 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 in systems which caused it to overcharge borrowers. [cite web
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/sep/25/mortgages.property
title = FSA fines mortgage lender £1.1m
accessdate = 2008-09-25
date = 2008]

Republic of Ireland

GE Money Ireland, is part of the European operations of GE Consumer Finance. In the Republic of Ireland, GE Money provides 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 services its customers through regional sales centres and a dealer and partner network. [cite web
url = http://www.gemoney.ie/gemoney/company_WhoWeAre.cfm
title = GE Money Ireland profile
accessdate = 2007-06-20
date = 2007]

Japan

GE Consumer Finance Co.,Ltd(GEコンシューマー・ファイナンス株式会社) is part of the Japanese operation of GE Consumer Finance. From April 2005, it began to provide GE Money brand in Japan. The Japanese operation was sold to Shinsei Bank in 2008.

Philippines

GE Money, in an effort to expand its presence in Southeast Asia, acquired a majority stake in the now-defunct Keppel Bank Philippines. The acquisition was finalized on December 20, 2005 after the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas approved the purchase on December 8, 2005. The bank was renamed GE Money Bank Philippines. At present, GE Money Bank Philippines has 31 branches all over the Philippine archipelago.

India

GE has its branch in India, it operates with more than 118 branches as of July 2006. It has good business from its southern states.It has a branch in Coimbatore, Erode, Salem Saradha, Trichy, Madurai, Tanjore, Palaghat.

See also

* GE Capital Bank

References

External links

* [http://global.gemoney.com/ Official site] .
* [http://www.moneybasics.co.uk Moneybasics]