GMAC Vanishes as Ally Spreads

Having rebranded its GMAC Bank to Ally Bank last year and changing GMAC Financial Services to Ally Financial in May, GMAC is now rebranding its auto finance business as Ally. It's the latest move as the company looks to scrub the GMAC moniker entirely and adopt Ally across its business.

Ally provides financing for GM and Chrysler dealerships in North America, as well as their customers. This latest Ally rebranding move "comes at a time when relations between Ally and its former parent, General Motors Co., are souring," notes The Wall Street Journal.

Ally president Bill Muir told AP the move to the Ally name "allows us to invest in a brand that we own and can build upon for the long term."

The new bank brand launched in May with TV and print spots and the mission statement: "We're Ally, an online bank built on the foundation of GMAC. We believe banking took a wrong turn somewhere between fees and penalties. So we're taking banking in a new direction: Straightforward."

It's a message that other banks and financial services are embracing, as Barry Silverstein notes in his latest story.