TradeKing, an online brokerage firm that prides itself on straightforward, low pricing, has been acquired by Detroit-based Ally Financial (NYSE: ALLY), a publicly traded financial services company primarily known for auto-lending. The purchase price paid in cash is $275 million.

Ally is purchasing the Florida-based company for its online broker/dealer, digital portfolio-management platform; educational content; and social collaboration channels. According the the Wall Street Journal, the acquisition will serve as a stepping stone to help Ally expand its services into wealth management, mortgages, and credit cards. Ally CEO Jeffrey Brown says, “The addition of wealth management is the next key step in Ally’s digital product evolution and will create a powerful combination of segment-leading direct banking and innovative investment services in a single integrated customer experience.”

The deal is expected to close in Q3 of this year. Once it does, TradeKing’s 180 employees will join Ally Financial. TradeKing, with $4.5 billion in assets under management, will operate under the branding of Ally Financial.

In the early days of Finovate, TradeKing presented the TradeKing Community at FinovateSpring 2008. TradeKing Community is one of the first brokerages to create a social network that enables investors to share their online trades with others.