<PAGE> 30

                                                                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 Corporation;

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
<PAGE> 31

    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:  May 4, 2004


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