At A Glance
Ally Bank is one of the top full-service online only banks. Although you cannot visit any branch locations, Ally makes up for it in experience by providing round-the-clock customer service, convenient mobile tools, higher interest rates and no monthly fees. This online giant offers it’s 1.5 billion customers industry-leading checking and savings account options, as well as rewarding credit and lending products. Even though Ally Bank is online, you are still given access to a debit card to make use of their nationwide network of 55,000 ATMs.
Mission Statement: “Do right, talk straight and be better”
Ally Bank commits to doing right by the customers and communities they serve by understanding what really matters to them.
| Benefits | Drawbacks |
|
|
Types of Accounts
Ally Bank offers a wide range of banking products and services packed with useful features:
Certificate of Deposit Accounts
Online Savings Account
Ally Savings accounts are very competitive in the online banking industry offering a 2.2% APY on all balance tiers. You can open as many savings accounts as you wish as it requires no minimum deposit to open and has n service or maintenance fees. It’s important to note that only having savings account at Ally does not include a bank card. In order to obtain one, a money market account or a checking account would be required.
Money Market Account
This type of account at Ally bank is known as a hybrid account between a checking and savings account. It’s designed with the best of both worlds in mind. It offers a competitive interest rate and gives you access to spend your money instantly with an ATM card as well as free checks.
- Balances below $25,000, earn you a 0.90% interest rate
- Balances above $25,000, earn you 1.00% interest rate
Bound by federal regulations, payments and transfers out of the Ally Money Market account are limited to 6 per month. However, ATM cash withdrawals are unlimited.
Interest Checking Account
The Interest Checking account at Ally bank is fee-free and provides a modest return on your cash. It is the ideal account for everyday spending, paying bills online and cash withdrawals. On top of it, Ally also offers up to $10 reimbursement per statement cycle for other bank ATM fees.
- 10% on balances less than $15,000
- 60% on balances greater than $15,000
Certificates of Deposits Account (CDs)
Ally holds a competitive advantage over other banks when it comes to their CDs with standard and liquid options that include these benefits:
- No minimum deposit required to open a CD account, which is extremely rare
- 10-Day Best Rate Guarantee
- Three types of CDs are available to best suit your personal needs
| High Yield CDs | |||
| ANNUAL PERCENTAGE YIELD | |||
| Terms | Less than $5,000 | $5,000-$24,999.99 | $25,000 or more |
| 3 month | 0.75 | 0.75 | 0.75 |
| 6 month | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 month | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1.25 |
| 12 month | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| 18 month | 2.35 | 2.5 | 2.55 |
| 3 year | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.55 |
| 5 year | 2.65 | 2.65 | 2.65 |
| Raise Your Rate CDs | |||
| Terms | Less than $5,000 | $5,000-$24,999.99 | $25,000 or more |
| 2 year | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| 4 year | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| No Penalty CD | |||
| Terms | Less than $5,000 | $5,000-$24,999.99 | $25,000 or more |
| 11 month | 1.8 | 2.05 | 2.2 |
- High-Yield CD: This standard type of CD requires you to commit to leaving your money in the bank for a period of time but offers the most flexibility on terms varying as short as 3 months or as long as 5 years. This type of CD is also available for Ally IRAs. Note that withdrawing before the end of your term may result in a penalty fee.
- Raise Your Rate CD: In this case, Ally offers you the opportunity to have flexible rates on your CD so that you aren’t stuck with a low rate for multiple years. You are eligible to increase your rate once over the 2-year term or twice over the 4-year term if our rate for your term and balance tier goes up.
- No Penalty CD: These liquid CDs are immediately available to you to cash-out after an initial six days with absolutely no penalties or fees. The only drawback is that the interest rates are a little bit lower than the other options.
IRA and Trust accounts
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) are also available to you at Ally bank. You can choose from three types of IRAs or use a Trust account:
- IRA High-Yield CD (3 months to 5 years)
- IRA Raise Your Rate CD (2 or 4 years)
- IRA Online Savings
IRA accounts often offer certain tax benefits when you choose between a Traditional IRA, a Roth IRA or a SEP IRA.
Investments
Ally Bank offers investments for self-directed investors you can select their own stocks, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds. Using Ally Invest automated platform investing is made easy for you as long as you know what you’re looking for. You can start trading for just $4.95 per trade. There is also Managed Portfolios where you are assigned an investment manager to explore your investment needs starting at $100.
Investment accounts are protected by Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), so security is a non-factor. In other words, it means if the bank defaults, the government will pay claims up to $500,000, including a maximum of $250,000 for cash claims (FDIC-Insured). While SIPC protects your funds in the case the bank defaults or fails, it does not protect against investment losses from the overall market.
Loans
Ally offers industry competitive rates for home and auto loans. If you are looking for loan options with Ally, they may be able to help with credit cards, auto loans, and home loans.
Banking Features
Opening an Account is relatively simple at Ally. Visit Ally.com or call 1-877-247-2559 to get started. As with any other financial institution you will need to provide a base of personal information.
Account Fees as mentioned are not a part of Ally’s everyday banking products like checking and savings accounts. However, certain transactions may come at cost:
- Returned deposit item: $7.50
- Overdraft item paid/returned (maximum one fee per day): $25.00
- Excessive transaction(s) fee: $10.00 per transaction
- Expedited delivery: $15.00
- Outgoing wires (domestic only): $20.00
- Account research: $25.00 per hour
- Cross-border/currency conversion transaction: Up to 1% of the transaction
- Stop payment item: $15.00
- Overnight Bill Pay (delivery by mail): $14.95
- Same-Day Bill Pay (electronic delivery when available): $9.95
24/7 Customer Service including live chat is available to all Ally Bank customers. Customer service can also assist with transactions over the phone like deposit checks and make transfers.
Mobile app allows customers to bank on the go with ease. It has received high ratings and is completely free to use. It is available for download for iOS and Android users.
About Ally Bank
In 1919 General Motors founded this company as a means to provide financing for GM customers. It was only in 2010 after rebranding Ally Bank was born and took on a life of its own. Now with approximately over $95 billion in deposits Ally Bank ranks 19th on the list of largest banks in the United States.
Since Ally bank is solely an online bank, there have been concerns of possible breaches or hacks. Nonetheless, Ally follows the same industry-standard security requirements to protects customer information and has no history of past breaches.
The Bottom Line
Ally Bank is one of the most reputable online banking giants and is great for the millennials or anyone comfortable doing all of their banking from their smartphones, computers and other digital devices. With over 55,000 ATM locations across the nation, customer service 24/7 and no fees, customers are able to get the most out of their deposits. If you are in need of a more high-end banking experience and often require quick access to cash than this Internet bank may not be for you.