Ally Bank is a new entity that's arisen out of the former GMAC. It should have been a chance to doing something very different, but it still looks like old banking.
Here's what they say on their website.
"We are Ally Bank, built on the foundation of GMAC Financial Services. And with that experience we’ve learned that these times demand change and a new way of doing business. So we’re taking banking in a new direction.
We’re a bank that values integrity as much as deposits. A bank that will always be open, accountable, and honest. Yes, honest. We won’t deal in half-truths, kindatruths, or truths only buried in fine print. That’s because we don’t have anything to hide. We’re always going to give it to you straight.
That means no monthly fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balances. It means developing new products that give you more options, like our No Penalty CD that lets you withdraw your money if you need to. And it means keeping our promise that our rates will always be among the top. It’s just the right thing to do."
Is this bank really doing anything different, it sounds good, but the promises and products seem fairly standard.
If the financial services industry is going to rebuild its reputation, it's going to need to invest in some serious product development. Without this, it's just going to be a series of hollow promises.
Posted by Ed Cotton
(2) However, all of the brands in the market understand that the next big opportunity lies with Gen X, but they are taking time to craft their strategies, making sure they get them right and the image doesn't conflict with that of the parent brand.
These are ideal conditions for the emergence of an upstart, in the form of the perfectly named Thrasher, not a skate magazine, a grunge band, but a mutual fund.
A fund focused single-mindedly on the cool Xers, yep the same ones, who were singing along to Beck's Loser and were never supposed to confirm to the ideals of the Baby-Boomers.
Thrasher appears to know these people, what they look like, what they want to hear, but more than that, they know what they want in cool brands. Thrasher's fund let's Xers invest in the brands they love and spend most of your money on; H&M, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Microsoft?, Bank of America, American Apparel, Chevron?,etc. It remains to be see if Thrasher's bold entry forces the hand of the establishment players to throw their hats into the ring and launch their own Xtreme funds.
Via American Madness
Posted by Ed Cotton