Latitude Financial Services Explained

Latitude Financial Services
Type:Public
Industry:Financial services
Founded:2015
Hq Location:Melbourne, Australia
Area Served:Australia
New Zealand
Operating Income:AU$657.5 million
Assets:AU$7,347 million

Latitude Financial Services (shortened to Latitude Financial or Latitude) is an Australian financial services company with headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria, also doing business in New Zealand under the name Gem Finance. Latitude’s core business is in consumer finance through a variety of services including secured and unsecured personal loans, credit cards, car loans and interest free retail finance.[1] it had around a 6% share of Australia’s personal lending market, making it the biggest non-bank lender of consumer credit in Australia.[2]

History

Latitude began as the Australian and New Zealand personal finance and motor dealer finance operations of Australian Guarantee Corporation acquired from Westpac in 2002 by GE Capital.[3]

GE Capital sold its Australian and New Zealand business in 2015 to a consortium led by Deutsche Bank, KKR and Värde Partners.[4] The business was renamed Latitude Financial Services.

On 20 April 2021, Latitude completed an initial public offering at $2.60 per share and became listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.[5]

On 24 February 2023, Latitude announced it was ending its Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service in Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.[6]

On 27 March 2023, Latitude reported to the Australian Stock Exchange that it had a cyber breach involving almost 8 million of Australian and New Zealand drivers licenses, thousands of passport numbers, fewer than 100 monthly financial statements, and 6 million customer records provided before 2013.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: GE Capital Finance to be renamed Latitude Financial. Drummond. Shaun. 2015-11-04. Sydney Morning Herald. en. 2018-10-19.
  2. News: Rebranded Latitude fighting the big four over personal lending. 2016-12-19. Australian Financial Review. 2018-10-19. en-US.
  3. https://www.accc.gov.au/public-registers/mergers-registers/public-informal-merger-reviews/acquirer-ge-capital-australia-target-agc-finance-ltd Acquirer: GE Capital Australia; Target: AFC Finance Ltd
  4. News: GE Finance sold in record-setting deal. Sydney Morning Herald. 2015-04-11. 2015-03-16.
  5. Web site: Wood . Mike . Latitude valued at $2.8 billion as IPO hits ASX . 2023-06-16 . www.brokernews.com.au.
  6. Web site: Latitude closes its BNPL service in Australia and New Zealand Media Releases . 2024-04-09 . www.latitudefinancial.com.au.
  7. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-28/latitude-financial-customers-frustrated-lack-of-communication/102151166 Latitude Financial customers frustrated at lack of communication after millions of personal records stolen in cyber attack