Review of Ally Bank
It is often said there is nothing more constant than change and in this Ally Bank review we prove that Ally Bank not only understands that maxim but how to respond to it.
In 1919 Ally Bank began as GMAC as the finance arm of General Motors to make financing a new vehicle easier for the customer and easier for the dealerships. By 2006 GMAC found itself offering more than just auto loans and became independent of General Motors. In 2008, it became a bank holding company and the company morphed intoAlly Bank. By 2009, already with decades of experience in consumer lending, Ally Bank was already starting to be recognized as a leader in the banking industry first by Kiplinger’s for outstanding customer support and best online savings accounts. Then in 2010, Money Magazine ranked Ally Bank as one of its “100 best money moves.”
In our Ally Bank review, we found that Ally bank is a company which not only has a long-standing tradition of excellence but understands that in order to maintain excellence, sometimes you need to change, according to what is best for your customers and the marketplace. Perhaps one of the things which sets Ally Bank apart from most other online banks , is the commitment to let you keep as much of your money as possible–any ATM transaction fees are refunded to your account. With the unpredictability of the financial sector and life, you can count on Ally Bank to help you respond to those changes to keep your financial goals intact and stand beside you as your financial partner.
Free Online High Yield Savings Account
Our review of Ally Bank showed that it believes the purpose of a savings account is to save your money so they have eliminated monthly account fees. And because they understand the unpredictability of life, there is no opening balance or minimum balance requirement with this online savings account. With your opening deposit you begin earning interest on one of the highest yield savings accounts available in the industry today. Interest is then compounded daily to give your money the greatest earning potential. Opening a high yield savings account is a simple 10-minute process but in the event you need assistance the award winning customer support team is available 24/7 by phone or chat to assist you. After your account is open and funded you are allowed six transactions per statement cycle. And account tracking and maintenance is also available 24/7. Your deposits are all backed by the FDIC so you can feel confident your money is safe. The high interest rate also gives you the confidence your money is in a good place and working to accomplish your savings goals.
Three Options for High Interest Rate CDs
We’ve put together a quick video that goes over the three types of CDs offered by Ally Bank. Watch it or you can read about them below the video:
The 11-month No Penalty CD means just that—no penalty for early withdrawal coupled with high interest rates makes this cd one of the most flexible available. If life happens anytime after the first six days, Ally Bank will return your full deposit plus interest no strings, no questions and best of all no penalties. The interest rate for this product is fixed for the life of the term but Ally Bank offers a 10-day rate guarantee. Most banks only allow you to lock the rate on the day your certificate of deposit is funded. But should the rate edge even higher in the first 10-days of the term you can take advantage of the higher rate. There are no fees or minimum opening balance requirements with this high interest rate cd. CD Interest is compounded daily to maximize your return. And if life has been kind to you this certificate of deposit is automatically renewable at maturity.
If you are interested in a longer term but also like flexibility, the 2-year Raise Your Rate CD could be the option for you. While the term is fixed for two years on this high interest savings account, should a more attractive rate become available during the term you may lock in the new higher rate. However, the option to lock-in a higher interest rate is only available once. This product also carries the 10-day rate guarantee which is not part of the one-time Raise Your Rate option. The interest rate is also compounded daily and is without fees and balance requirements. Within ten days of the maturity you can withdraw the interest as income or let it roll over to a new term. This was an impressive cd feature we found while reviewing Ally Bank.
The High Yield CD takes all the guesswork and monitoring out of long-term savings and puts it into high interest rates. Terms for this certificate of deposit are available from three months to five years and the interest rate apy is fixed until maturity. But for your piece of mind this certificate of deposit also comes with the 10-day rate guarantee so if a new rate is available in the first 10-days you can lock-in the higher rate. As with all Ally Bank high rate cds, there are no fees and no minimum balances. This certificate of deposit is renewable at maturity for extended savings.
A Money Market Account—High Interest Rates with Check Privileges
Ally Bank offers high yield money markets to grow you money while you are not using it and a free check card and zero ATM fees for the moments when you need to spend—the best of both worlds. Ally Bank money market accounts are carefree as there are no minimum balance requirements and the interest rate is compounded daily to maximize flexibility and return in one simple step.
Summary of Ally Bank Review
Our review of Ally Bank demonstrates that Ally Bank it is all the know-how of over 90 years experience and round-the-clock access of an online bank in one place— www.ally.com. With so many online from which to choose
one thing which distinguishes Ally Bank from the competition your account is totally free of regular fees. And if you use an ATM to access your money and that ATM assesses a surcharge Ally Bank refunds the charge. But free also means quality. Ally Bank has been recognized by Kiplinger’s and Money Magazine as offering superior online savings accounts. In conclusion, our Ally Bank Review suggests that Ally bank is one of the best banks in the nation.
Related Ally Bank Reviews and Posts
Ally Bank Savings
Ally Bank CD’s
Video Review of Ally Bank.
Ally Bank Money Market
Leave a Review OR ask a question:
May 17, 2012 at 9:32 am
I do not use Ally Financial, I am using Ally Auto to finance my car. I can say that I haven’t had too many problems with it, although there was a couple of time I tried to login to make a payment only to have the site down; my payment was still made on time. I have not, as yet, had cause to use their customer service and am looking into opening an account with them.
The way I see it, if they are as horrible as some of the comments say, I can create an account with little to no money in it, call their customer service and see for myself.
December 9, 2011 at 11:07 pm
There is a difference between ally bank and ally financial who handles auto loans. Anyone whos had probs with ally for the most part are speaking about the auto side, the bank side is awsome!!!
October 12, 2011 at 2:39 pm
ALLY BANK IS HORRIBLE. I RARELY USE THE ACCOUNT, BUT EACH TIME I HAVE NEEDED ACCESS TO MY MONEY THERE IS A MAJOR ISSUE. MONTHS AGO I COULD NOT HAVE A WIRE XFER DONE. NOW I AM SITTING ON HOLD FOR THE 6TH TIME TODAY ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE. THEY HAVE BLOCKED MY DEBIT CARD DUE TO SOME RANDOM SYSTEM ERROR AND THEY HAVE TOLD ME 4 TIMES NOW IT IS REACTIVATED. EACH TIME WE GO TO TEST/PUMP GAS, WE ARE BEING DENIED. I AM SICK OF ALLY BANK. I WILL BE REPORTING THEM TO THE FEDERAL RESERVE AND CLOSING MY ACCOUNTS. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS HAVE THE NERVE TO SOUND SINCERE, BUT NO ONE THERE SEEMS TO DO WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SAY THEY WILL DO. THE “OPERATIONS” DEPT IS THE ONLY AREA THAT HAS TRUE AUTHORITY TO TAKE ANY TYPE OF ACTION AND THEY ARE HORRID. NOW THIS CALL THEY ARE FINALLY TELLING ME THAT THEY DON’T KNOW WHY I WAS TOLD THE CARD HAD BEEN REACTIVATED BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY TO REACTIVATE THE CARD ONCE DEACTIVATED. REDICULOUS!!!!!! DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU. STAY AWAY.
August 18, 2011 at 11:55 am
well…bad news is the site is down again…and on the early morning of 8/16 called in an early withdraw of a 5 yr CD; and the funds are not available today as I understood they would be. Good news is everyone on the phone with cust service has been great…this got moved up the ladder and I got my funds. they are still the best rates with the lowest penalty for early withdraw and actually really nice about it…not perfect…but, they try. I will certainly stay with them.
July 7, 2011 at 8:53 am
I’ve been trying to get to my account online since July 5th. Each time I click the login button I get the message that the site is down for upgrades. From another person’s comment I see that this must have been the case since at least June 27. So they are down for 2 weeks with no apparent warning and no physical bank branches.
June 27, 2011 at 10:48 am
Ally has been “upgrading” its system for the past week or so. And has been completely uncommunicative about it. They’ve taken the entire website down twice now, and when it’s been back online it hasn’t yet been fully functional. Mind you, they did all this with no advance warning and have made no attempt to communicate with customers about it. No acknowledgement of the problems, no messages or announcements of any sort. I’ve tried emailing them, using the chat feature and calling them. Everyone is very apologetic, but the information they have is completely piecemeal and haphazard. It’s as if the IT and development people have been put in charge and they aren’t telling anyone anything. You can’t justify taking an online only bank completely offline with no warning and no information about when it will come back online and then refuse to acknowledge the problem. It’s like closing all branches simultaneously with no warning and no advice about when they will reopen and then refusing to admit you did anything wrong. I’ve moved my money back to my credit union accounts and am looking for a new bank.
May 7, 2011 at 11:56 am
Obviously anyone leaving a positive comment on here either works for Ally or has not had to deal with Ally trying to get gain any kind of access to their website. They obviously outsource their customer service to India which makes it an oxymoron because they offer absolutely no customer service. I pray that all large banks like this go under. They should have been allowed to go under and not bailed out. Ally, GM, Bank of America, AT&T, Chase, TXU and on and on can all go straight to hell as far as I am concerned.
May 4, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Is your bank outsourced for customer service?
April 29, 2011 at 3:47 pm
GMAC/ALLY is A LIE. Customer service is obviously outsourced and KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE COUNTRY , PROVINCE OR STATE LAWS. General Motors is not connected is not connected to GMAC/ALLY is not connected is not connected to the dealearships is not connected is not connected to the COUNTRY is not connected to GMAC/ALLY. Convenient for big corporate business that wants to hose it’s citizens for the POOR, POOR job they are doing.
April 26, 2011 at 7:39 pm
I took a loan from Ally on my Dodge to get a lower price and pay it off early. It has been a nightmare to try and pay the bill. All the phone calls for the car loan are outsourced and when I have tried to pay it off I get sent to several departments and have to tell my story over to each person. It has been so frustrating. No one is consistent with the regulations within the departments. I have asked to speak to a branch in America or a corporate number, but they are not allowed to give it to me. They have been promising a refund for a payment for the last three months and I have to call weekly and have them constantly tell me it will be sent out in 3-5 business days. I wish I could have someone in corporate listen to the hours of conversation that has occurred. Their add says, “I love my bank”, well, “I HATE THIS BANK!”
March 12, 2011 at 1:45 pm
A great and informative article on ally.I have an account there and totally agree that ally bank has one of the best customer services.
March 12, 2011 at 1:12 pm
The anecdotes submitted by the author merit great attention. The review is very much consistent. The reading of this content highlights a genuine knowledge
March 12, 2011 at 12:28 pm
ally bank is new for me but has got good reviews among people so thinking of gathering some more information about it before joining it.
January 23, 2011 at 1:31 am
I have had Ally for a few months now, and it is way worth it. They have great features
January 23, 2011 at 1:29 am
NO ONE can beat ally bank on customer service.
January 22, 2011 at 12:12 am
Ally bank is one of the few banks that does chatting with bankers, so that you can easily find a solution to a problem.
January 22, 2011 at 12:10 am
I just opened an account with Ally and have used their online customer chat function a couple of times. I have been very impressed with their response and timeliness. Also their rates are very competitive.
January 20, 2011 at 1:58 am
I have had an Ally account for over a year, I’m very happy. Your ally bank review is good.
August 21, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I just have to say that Ally bank offers one of the best(if not the best) cd accounts. Their penalty for withdrawal on a 5 year cd is like only 2 months! Talk about a friendly bank!