GE Capital Corp. has received regulatory approval to securitize up to $5 billion of the credit card receivables originated by its Monogram Bank unit and its inaugural offering is expected shortly after the closing of the Bank One, JPMorgan Chase merger, sources said. JPMorgan Securities will reportedly underwrite the pending transaction. The first offering from the RFS Funding Trust will be a senior/sub floating rate offering of a yet-to-be determined tenor, according to records filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
With more than 100 million accounts, totaling roughly $60 billion, GECC is one of the leading private label credit card issuers in the world. Loss rates for the portfolio sat at 6.5% through 2002 and, using GE's 2003 year-to-date estimate, would average 6.3% since 2001. Additionally GECC reports a steady 7% decline in cost per account since 1999, currently at $32.82 per account.
Monogram Bank is listed as originator/servicer with RFS Holding as the transferor. The receivables in the trust are presumably from GE Capital's retail and private label originations. GECC offers credit cards on behalf of home improvement chains Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Co., as well as retail giant Wal-Mart, various units of The Gap Inc. and even the gas cards for ExxonMobil.
