'Door open' for GE credit card

Finance company GE Money is looking at moving into deposit taking and offering credit cards.

Managing director Greg White said, following the collapse of the finance company sector and the global credit crisis, it was a changing scene in New Zealand.

He believed there would be a further shakeout among the 70-odd finance companies that remained, and more chances to compete against the banks.

"I think there's a place for us in deposits in New Zealand. We haven't done it before but we think there's a good opportunity there."

He said GE already met many of the Reserve Bank's upcoming new criteria for non-bank financiers, such as capital adequacy rules and rating requirements.

At the moment it was funded through its parent, GE Capital, which is a subsidiary of giant American corporation General Electric.

The company had always intended to get into credit cards in New Zealand, he said.

However its plans were thwarted when the Commerce Commission launched its case against the credit card companies for allegedly fixing the fee paid by merchants on transactions, known as the interchange fee.

White said GE already had its licence but was forced to hand it in or face being a party to the case. The matter was settled last month.

"That actually opens the doors for us to look at bringing some more competition and innovation to the credit card market.

"If you look at what we've done in Australia and around the world in terms of creating and innovating in that space we have a proven track record of providing value."

GE Money has also recently signed a deal with KiwiBank to offer Kiwibank-branded personal loans.

White said GE had about 17-20 per cent of the personal loan market, and around 60 per cent of the store finance market.