American conglomerate General Electric (GE) is planning to venture into British savings market by setting up a new online bank.
The new online bank is expected to be launched within next 18 months, and named as GE Direct.
Very recently, General Electric had set up internet bank in Germany, known as GE Direkt.
Reportedly, as part of its plan to diversify its funding base with customer deposits, GE is also weighing options to venture into a number of other European countries.
As a result of the recent financial crisis, British online banking sector, which includes players like First Direct, Cahoot, Smile and Egg, seems to have lost its shine. Egg is expected to be put up for sale by owner Citigroup and Cahoot, set up by Abbey and owned by Santander, has been scaled down.