DETROIT, Feb. 21, 2018 -- Ally Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) today announced that it has made an investment in Greenlight Financial Technology, Inc., creator of the smart debit card for kids, teens, and college students. The investment supports Ally Ventures' goal of promoting innovation through key alliances with young companies that are developing new financial services technologies. It also aligns with Ally's broader corporate focus on financial well-being, and empowering consumers with smart digital financial products, along with knowledge, tools and resources to help them better manage their money.
"Ally Ventures is a key part of Ally's broader innovation strategy," said Dinesh Chopra, chief strategy officer at Ally Financial. "As we look to differentiate our products and services in the marketplace and build unique and engaging digital customer experiences, it's essential that we stay on the forefront of emerging technology."
"Through Ally Ventures and our accelerator relationships, we have forged meaningful alliances with several companies, like Greenlight, that are developing innovative technologies that are shaping the future of financial services," said Peter Greene, head of Ally Ventures. "We will continue to proactively seek opportunities that advance Ally's strategic objectives."
Greenlight provides a financial platform aimed at helping parents raise financially savvy kids. The company offers a mobile app and smart debit cards with parental controls, so that kids can learn to make good financial choices. Using the Greenlight platform, parents can flexibly control how their child spends money, by choosing the exact stores to allow spending. The platform offers a more secure alternative to carrying cash, and can instantly shut off via the mobile app if needed, providing peace of mind for parents and children.
Greenlight's offerings support Ally's broader purpose of helping customers to achieve financial well-being through a powerful combination of smart digital financial products and services, and education, tools and resources that build financial knowledge. Ally promotes financial education through its WalletWise program, which provides in-person and online courses, along with practical tips and tools to help consumers understand financial concepts like budgeting, credit and investing. The company also published a free digital children's book called Planet Zee and the Money Tree to help teach financial concepts to kids.
"We're thrilled that support from Ally Ventures will help us bring Greenlight to millions of additional families and help parents prepare their children for financially successful futures," said Tim Sheehan, CEO and Co-Founder of Greenlight.
About Ally Ventures
Ally Ventures was established in 2017, as the strategic investment arm of Ally Financial. The group is focused on supporting Ally's growth as a leading digital financial services company by identifying and investing in innovative technologies that have the potential to diversify its product offerings and enhance customer experiences. For more information visit www.allyventures.com
About Ally Financial Inc.
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a leading digital financial services company with assets of $167.1 billion as of December 31, 2017. As a client-centric company with passionate customer service and innovative financial solutions, Ally is relentlessly focused on "Doing it Right" and being a trusted financial partner for its consumer, commercial, and corporate customers. Ally's award-winning online bank (Ally Bank, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) offers mortgage-lending services and a variety of deposit and other banking products, including CDs, online savings, money market and checking accounts, and IRA products. Ally also promotes the Ally CashBack Credit Card. Additionally, Ally offers securities brokerage and investment advisory services through Ally Invest. Ally remains one of the largest full-service auto finance operations in the country with a complementary auto-focused insurance business, which together serve more than 18,000 dealer customers and millions of auto consumers. Ally's robust corporate finance business offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies.
For more information and disclosures about Ally, visit https://www.ally.com/#disclosures
Media contact:
Sari Jensen
Ally Communications (Media)
646-781-2539
sari.jensen@ally.com