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                                                                Exhibit 31.1


                            Certifications


I, Frederick W. Geissinger, President and Chief Executive Officer,
certify that:

1.   I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of American
     General Finance, Inc.;

2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
     statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
     necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
     circumstances under which such statements were made, not
     misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
     financial information included in this report, fairly present in
     all material respects the financial condition, results of
     operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
     periods presented in this report;

4.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible
     for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
     procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-
     15(e)) for the registrant and have:

     a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
         such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed
         under our supervision, to ensure that material information
         relating to the registrant, including its consolidated
         subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
         entities, particularly during the period in which this
         report is being prepared;

     b)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
         controls and procedures and presented in this report our
         conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
         controls and procedures, as of the end of the period
         covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     c)  Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
         internal control over financial reporting that occurred
         during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the
         registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
         report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
         likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
         control over financial reporting; and

5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
     based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
     financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
     committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons
     performing the equivalent functions):

     a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
         design or operation of internal control over financial
         reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
         the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and
         report financial information; and
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     b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
         management or other employees who have a significant role
         in the registrant's internal control over financial
         reporting.


Date:  November 3, 2004


                                 /s/  Frederick W. Geissinger
                                      Frederick W. Geissinger
                                 President and Chief Executive Officer