There's been a long history of non-finance companies branching out into finance.
- Sears: had Allstate for insurance and Discover Card for credit. Unlike most "branded" credit-cards, Sears did its own underwriting for the Discover Card i.e. they owned the Greentrust bank behind that card. (That is unlike Amazon Prime card being underwritten by Chase Bank.)
- G.E. General Electric: financial services GE Capital like loans and leases
I remember finding out that many music stores use GE Capital to finance the inventory of all their guitars hanging on the wall. (Industry lingo of "floor planning".[1]) Sort of strange to realize that a lightbulb company has a bigger subsidiary that sells financial services. It's more profitable to make money by selling money than by manufacturing lightbulbs.
- Sears: had Allstate for insurance and Discover Card for credit. Unlike most "branded" credit-cards, Sears did its own underwriting for the Discover Card i.e. they owned the Greentrust bank behind that card. (That is unlike Amazon Prime card being underwritten by Chase Bank.)
- G.E. General Electric: financial services GE Capital like loans and leases
I remember finding out that many music stores use GE Capital to finance the inventory of all their guitars hanging on the wall. (Industry lingo of "floor planning".[1]) Sort of strange to realize that a lightbulb company has a bigger subsidiary that sells financial services. It's more profitable to make money by selling money than by manufacturing lightbulbs.
[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=ge+capital+floorplan+financi...