Now entering her seventh year as president of Ally's consumer and commercial banking, Diane Morais oversees more than $182 billion in client assets across six lines of business.
In 2022, Ally achieved its 14th consecutive year of growth in retail deposit customers, reaching $137.7 billion in deposits from 2.7 million retail depositors.
To keep the momentum building, Morais added two new lines of business this year: a new credit card and a wealth management service.
The new credit card line was launched after the acquisition of Fair Square Financial, a digital credit card company, in late 2021, which brought 86 employees, 693,000 cardholders and $816 million in loan balances under Morais's domain. That invitation-only credit card joins the bank's current suite of products that includes cards designed specifically for educators and nurses.
"In this environment, the tranche of less established or less credit established consumers is feeling the pinches of inflation, and certainly all of the other stresses out there at a slightly more exaggerated rate. And so having access to a very fair and attractive credit option is helpful for many of those consumers in these times," Morais said. During the course of 2022, the card's loan balance grew to $1.6 billion and the number of cardholders increased by 45% to 1.3 million.
"We're seeing consumers adopting that additional service, so we think that's going to be a growth engine for Ally as we move into the future," she said. "It's just another piece of the tapestry, but so far we're extremely pleased with how the business has performed."
In May, the bank launched
According to Morais, the new service offers substantially lower fees and a $100,000 minimum asset requirement compared to the industry standard of $250,000. "Some people really want access to a human advisor, and how can Ally do that in a way that's efficient? And how can we provide that service to consumers that don't necessarily qualify for private wealth? It's still early days, but we're pleased with its performance."
In 2021, Ally became one of the first large U.S. banks to end overdraft fees for its customers. The bank has taken this one step further this year by offering a new protection tool it calls "CoverDraft." Customers who have their paychecks deposited directly into their checking accounts receive temporary added overdraft protection ranging from $100 up to $250. Ally also added early direct deposit which allows customers to access their paychecks up to two days early.
"CoverDraft has provided more certainty and clarity for consumers. We think broadly about a whole set of capabilities for consumers, really just trying to prevent people from getting upside down, which was one of the main reasons we eliminated overdraft fees," Morais explained.
As has happened within the banking industry, inflation and rising mortgage rates have impacted Ally's home lending business. Loan originations in 2022 were $3.3 billion, down from $7.2 billion in 2021. "We've definitely seen new mortgage activity come down. With mortgage rates hovering around 7%, that's tough for people. So we've seen refinance activity virtually go away," Morais said.
However, she added that the bank is being "very disciplined" about how it serves its customers, and continues to see the majority of its home loan origination activity coming out of its existing deposit customer base.
Morais also leads the bank's Community Reinvestment Act program and its charitable foundation, and in 2022, these programs deployed more than $1.1 billion in loans and investments that primarily benefit low- to moderate-income individuals and communities. Ally also made $33 million in loans and investments specifically to minority- and women-led organizations.
Internally, Morais wanted to ensure that the bank attracts and retains talent. Last year, Ally increased the minimum wage it offers by 15% to $23 per hour for entry level and early career employees.
Morais continues to be connected to her community in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has been on the board of the local Junior Achievement chapter for the past six years. "We have done a number of things to provide pathways to financial literacy and workforce readiness to students in our community." And post-pandemic, she said that it's been a huge relief for students to be able to meet in-person again. "It has been incredibly rewarding to see our facility buzzing with students again. And we're continuing to see a strong need in the community and our schools for these programs."
