Ally Bank Aggressively Courting Angry Bank Customers
February 22, 2010
Perhaps ironically, because Ally Bank itself is a re-branding of the GMAC finance company that has used tremendous sums of taxpayer dollars to keep itself afloat, Ally Bank has been attempting to capitalize on bank customer dissatisfaction. Spying opportunity in bank customer anger, Ally Bank seeks to portray itself as the anti-bank bank.
Ally Bank: A Consumer-Oriented Approach
One example of this approach is the no penalty CD product offering from Ally Bank. This offer is notable for its generous terms. You can get a 1.25 percent interest rate on a 9-month CD, and if you need to withdraw the funds prior to the maturity date, you can do so with no penalty. This product also boasts a 10-day best rate guarantee and daily compounded interest.
Ally has other products intended to tickle the fancy of the money market, high interest checking, high interest savings account conservative investor crowd. For instance, Ally reimburses ATM fees from other banks on a checking account with an interest rate of 1.15 percent. Furthermore, Ally has a money market account with no minimum and no monthly fees at a rate of 1.49 percent.
Ally Attacks the Competition
Meanwhile, Ally has been publicly ridiculing banks that charge hidden fees and use "sneaky disclaimers." Ally's TV ads show a guy in a suit tricking children, implying that this is what bankers do to customers.
Rival banks have not been too fond of Ally's bold approach, and late in 2009 the American Bankers Association even sent a letter to the FDIC asking why Ally should be allowed to provide such high interest rates on savings accounts when its parent company, General Motors, is a taxpayer-funded enterprise.
Whatever the criticisms, the strategy is working. According to a Bloomberg report, Ally Bank secured $2.9 billion in new deposits shortly upon beginning its anti-bank re-branding campaign.
