Financing Receivables and Allowance For Losses On Financing Receivables (Allowance for Losses on Financing Receivables ) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	$ 5,205	$ 6,931	$ 6,190	$ 7,919
Provision charged	1,606	1,932
Other	(100)	91
Gross write-offs	(3,273)	(3,823)
Recoveries	782	812
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	1,290	1,847	1,530	2,045
Provision charged	269	389
Other	(69)	(32)
Gross write-offs	(537)	(670)
Recoveries	97	115
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member] | Americas CLL Financing Receivables [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	662	1,124	889	1,288
Provision charged	57	219
Other	(30)	(72)
Gross write-offs	(306)	(366)
Recoveries	52	55
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member] | Europe CLL Financing Receivables [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	484	433	400	429
Provision charged	158	73
Other	(15)	30
Gross write-offs	(95)	(133)
Recoveries	36	34
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member] | Asia CLL Financing Receivables [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	87	180	157	222
Provision charged	13	77
Other	(3)	10
Gross write-offs	(89)	(147)
Recoveries	9	18
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member] | Other CLL Financing Receivables [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	1	6	4	6
Provision charged	0	0
Other	(1)	0
Gross write-offs	(2)	0
Recoveries	0	0
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member] | CLL Financing Receivables [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	1,234	1,743	1,450	1,945
Provision charged	228	369
Other	(49)	(32)
Gross write-offs	(492)	(646)
Recoveries	97	107
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member] | Energy Financial Services Financing Receivables [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	12	35	26	22
Provision charged	10	11
Other	0	(1)
Gross write-offs	(24)	(4)
Recoveries	0	7
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member] | GECAS Financing Receivables [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	32	15	17	20
Provision charged	26	(2)
Other	0	0
Gross write-offs	(11)	(3)
Recoveries	0	0
Commercial Portfolio Segment [Member] | Other Financing Receivables [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	12	54	37	58
Provision charged	5	11
Other	(20)	1
Gross write-offs	(10)	(17)
Recoveries	0	1
Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Segment [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	787	1,276	1,089	1,488
Provision charged	45	176
Other	(15)	10
Gross write-offs	(339)	(411)
Recoveries	7	13
Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Segment [Member] | Debt Real Estate [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	682	1,092	949	1,292
Provision charged	17	122
Other	(8)	9
Gross write-offs	(281)	(341)
Recoveries	5	10
Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Segment [Member] | Business Properties Real Estate [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	105	184	140	196
Provision charged	28	54
Other	(7)	1
Gross write-offs	(58)	(70)
Recoveries	2	3
Consumer Portfolio Segment [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	3,128	3,808	3,571	4,386
Provision charged	1,292	1,367
Other	(16)	113
Gross write-offs	(2,397)	(2,742)
Recoveries	678	684
Consumer Portfolio Segment [Member] | Non US residential mortgages [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	481	667	546	689
Provision charged	65	30
Other	(2)	32
Gross write-offs	(165)	(112)
Recoveries	37	28
Consumer Portfolio Segment [Member] | Non US installment and revolving credit [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	665	934	717	937
Provision charged	220	311
Other	(8)	64
Gross write-offs	(543)	(664)
Recoveries	279	286
Consumer Portfolio Segment [Member] | US installment and revolving credit [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	1,724	1,846	2,008	2,333
Provision charged	937	941
Other	(5)	1
Gross write-offs	(1,488)	(1,688)
Recoveries	272	259
Consumer Portfolio Segment [Member] | Non US auto [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	79	143	101	168
Provision charged	15	26
Other	(9)	12
Gross write-offs	(77)	(126)
Recoveries	49	63
Consumer Portfolio Segment [Member] | Consumer Other Financing Receivable [Member]
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Total balance	179	218	199	259
Provision charged	55	59
Other	8	4
Gross write-offs	(124)	(152)
Recoveries	$ 41	$ 48