It provides financing, including factoring, cash management, treasury management, mortgage loans, Small Business Administration loans, leasing, and advisory services principally to individuals, middle-market companies and small businesses, primarily in North America.

Under the reporting mark CEFX, it leases locomotives and railroad cars to rail transport and shipping companies in North America.

During the war, CIT offered its 2,000 employees a month's bonus, life insurance, and a guaranteed job on return if they served in the United States Armed Forces.

RCA promptly sold CIT's four manufacturing businesses: Picker X-Ray, Inc., Gibson Greeting Cards, Inc., All-Steel, Inc. (office furniture), and Raco, Inc. (wall boxes for electric switches and outlets.)

The Madison Avenue building was sold in 1982 as the company moved to a newly constructed headquarters facility in Livingston, New Jersey in 1983.

[2][5] On November 15, 1999, CIT acquired Toronto-based Newcourt Credit Group in a $4.2 billion transaction, which created one of the largest publicly owned leasing companies.

[15] Under the leadership of CEO Jeff Peek, assets at CIT rose 77% from 2004 to the end of 2007 as it acquired companies in education lending and subprime mortgages.

[16] On July 1, 2008, the company announced the sale of its home lending division to Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion in cash and the assumption of $4.4 billion in debt and the sale of its manufactured housing loan portfolio, with a face value of $470 million in loans, to Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance for approximately $300 million.

[17][18] In December 2008, CIT became a bank holding company to receive $2.33 billion in funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

[35] On August 3, 2015, CIT Group acquired OneWest Bank,[36] established in 2009 by a consortium of private equity investors led by Steven Mnuchin, for $3.4 billion in cash and stock.

[40][41] In October 2017, the company sold Financial Freedom, acquired as part of the acquisition of OneWest Bank, and its reverse mortgage portfolio.