Discover Financial Services exec Michael Rhodes to take the lead at Ally Financial as new CEO
Ally Financial, an online bank, lender and trading platform headquartered in Detroit, US, has named Michael Rhodes as its new CEO, effective 29 April.
Michael Rhodes named as new Ally Financial CEO (Image: LinkedIn)
Also due to join its board of directors, Rhodes is set to take charge of the company’s digital banking and auto financing operations, heading its 11,000-strong team across 13 US locations.
He is to assume command of Ally Financial from Doug Timmerman, who has served as interim CEO since the departure of Jeffrey Brown in January. Brown has served the position since 2015, and is cited as enabling the company to become “more strategically, operationally and financially sound”.
Recognising the “exhaustive search process” that ultimately ensued as a result of Brown’s departure, Franklin Hobbs, chairman of Ally Financial, says the board has tasked its new CEO with leading “the next stage of its evolution”, an effort that will be championed by his “versatile consumer banking experience” and “focus on using data and insights to drive decision-making”.
Rhodes is to take up the post directly from Discover Financial Services, where he has been serving as CEO and president since March.
Prior to this, he worked at Canadian banking giant TD Bank for over 12 years, where his expertise extended to overseeing the bank’s retail products, its North American credit card and merchant services, and supporting its ability to leverage emerging technologies. Further afield, his career has also seen him hold various senior positions at Bank of America and MBNA America Bank.
