Good morning. On Tuesday I asked readers if they could name examples of non-finance companies that had diversified into finance successfully. One reader bravely defended the record of GE Capital, despite its bad end. Others stuck up for the automakers’ big captive finance operations. Several noted that Starbucks basically takes billions in deposits in the form of payments for gift cards. Others looked abroad, to the big payment businesses built by Alibaba and Safaricom. Most interesting: the Manhattan Company was founded in 1799 by Aaron Burr, ostensibly as a water utility with a sideline in banking. By 1808 it was out of the water business, in 1955 it merged with Chase National, and is now part of a little bank called JPMorgan Chase. Email me: robert.armstrong@ft.com
早上好。周二我问读者是否能够举出成功进军金融领域的非金融公司的例子。一位读者勇敢地为通用电气金融公司(GE Capital)的业绩辩护，尽管它最终走向了失败。其他人为汽车制造商的大型自营金融业务辩护。有几个人指出，星巴克(Starbucks)基本上通过礼品卡支付形式接受数十亿的存款。其他人则将目光投向国外，关注阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和Safaricom打造的大型支付业务。最有趣的是，曼哈顿公司(Manhattan Company)由阿龙•伯尔(Aaron Burr)于1799年创立，最初是一家水务公司，兼营银行业务。到1808年，它退出了水务业务，到1955年，它与摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)银行合并，现在是摩根大通的一部分。给我发邮件：robert.armstrong@ft.com