GM Financial Bank Trademark Foreshadows GM Banking Services Expansion

General Motors filed to trademark GM Financial Bank in December of 2020, GM Authority has uncovered.

Filed on December 15^th, 2020 with the United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO), the application is assigned serial number 90381979 and lists “Banking and financing services, namely, online banking services, paperless electronic banking services, and banking services featuring the provision of certificates of deposit” as its goods and services category.

This new trademark filing suggests that the automaker will use GM Financial Bank as the go-to market name for an expected expansion of its captive finance arm, GM Financial (GMF), into more traditional banking services.

As GM Authority covered previously, it appears as though General Motors is interested in applying for a banking charter that would allow GMF to hold deposits and loans outside the automotive sector. According to earlier reports, GMF has held talks with federal and state banking regulators with regard to forming an industrial loan company, allowing GM to make loans, as well as potentially offer high-yield savings accounts and other insured deposit products.

As some may remember, General Motors previously operated GMAC, which offered similar services prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Following a government bailout, GMAC was rebranded as Ally Financial, and GM eventually divested itself of GMAC, selling its final stake in 2013.

The new banking charter would allow GM to accept deposits, which would then go to support its auto finance business. The deposits would provide the automaker with a low-cost source of capital to support its automotive lending, supplementing the debt that GM Financial already issues.

GM Financial emerged following the automaker’s acquisition of AmeriCredit in 2010, and has since grown to include 10,000 employees in the U.S., with $14.5 bullion in revenue in 2019, and $13.8 billion in revenue in 2020.

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