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NEW YORK -- Its TV and print advertisements poke fun at the bait-and-switch tactics of other banks. Its interest rates on certificates of deposit have been the most generous in the industry. Ally Bank's tactics have drawn in customers, but they've also irked rivals and gotten the attention of regulators. At the heart of the bank's aggressive wooing of depositors is this: As the rebranded banking unit of GMAC Financial Services, Ally Bank has the backing of billions of dollars loaned to GMAC by the federal government. After the name change in May, Ally offered a 2.8 percent interest rate on 1-year CDs. That was more than double the national average of 1.23 percent, according to Bankrate.com. Federal regulators have since intervened, after an industry group expressed concerns about Ally's ability to afford to pay such rates for deposits. Still, company executives note that Ally's rates remain competitive. Ally currently pays 1.

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