VAUXHALL’S sister company, Opel, is now moving into online retail banking in Germany via its Opel Bank GmbH unit, which also provides financing for Opel vehicle sales.

Opel Bank already has over 200,000 financing and leasing customers and its new services will enable customers to make online cash deposits with fixed or daily maturity over a period of up to three years.

Opel says that this move will help it strengthen brand loyalty, attract new customers and increase customer loyalty.

Opel returned to automotive financing and lending back in 2013 GM Financial – GM’s own in-house financial unit – reacquired its auto lending operations from Ally Financial Inc.

Opel Bank also says that it may extend consumer banking operations to other European markets, depending on their performance in Germany.