Ally Bank

Ally Bank

Formerly GMAC

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Overall Rating2.4 out of 5
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About Ally Bank

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Ally Bank has financial roots that go back to 1920, but it was established as a digital bank in 2009. It was one of the first 100% online banks, and now it is a full-service bank offering checking and savings accounts, investment and retirement services, and loans for auto and home purchases. Customers can expect fee-free products with no account minimums, such as the No-Penalty Certificate of Deposit (CD), which allows early withdrawals.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • No account minimum or overdraft fees
  • High APY

Cons

  • No physical bank locations
  • No cash deposits

Bottom Line

Ally Bank has low fees and higher yields, all with the ease of online banking from your preferred tech device. Customer support is available 24/7 for support; there are no in-person services.

Featured Reviews

Verified
Denver, CO

Ally has always been responsive to my questions either online or via phone. They make me feel confident in banking with them and using new transaction practices. Their rates are c...

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Verified
Hollywood, CA

I am having a very positive experience with Ally Bank. … The Web interface is easy to understand and fast. Interest rates are much better than brick-and-mortar banks’. … Ally Bank...

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What is Ally Bank?

Ally Bank is a completely digital bank; there are no brick-and-mortar locations. It offers many benefits and features for customers, including no account minimums for savings accounts, checking accounts and certain CDs. Many accounts offer a higher-than-average annual percentage yield (APY).

Some features of Ally Bank include:

  • No overdraft fees, low balance fees or cashier check fees for savings and checking accounts
  • Everyday rewards credit card with up to 3% cash back
  • Self-directed investing with cryptocurrency options and commission-free exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
  • Personal, auto and mortgage loans

Ally Bank’s savings account comes with tools that make saving for financial goals simple. The buckets option allows you to separate your savings into sub-accounts without the money leaving your main savings account. Surprise savings happens when Ally Bank transfers safe-to-save money from your linked checking account to your savings.

How Ally Bank works

Signing up for an Ally Bank account should take less than 15 minutes online. You can also choose to sign up over the phone with a specialist at any time. Opening a new account will require you to provide the following:

  • Social Security number
  • U.S. residential address
  • Legal name and birthdate
  • Driver’s license

Later in the application process, you can add up to four joint account holders, depending on the account. For individual retirement accounts (IRAs), only one account holder is allowed.

Applying for additional accounts or services is a similar process, though once you have one account, it should be easier to apply for another. Investment accounts and loan applications might require additional information to qualify.

Even though you will not be able to deposit cash into your account, you will still be able to deposit checks up to $50,000 in a single day and $250,000 total within 30 days through the mobile app. If you need to deposit more than the electronic limit, you can mail additional checks to Ally Bank.

Withdrawing cash is also convenient, with over 43,000 free-to-use ATMs across the country and up to $10 ATM reimbursements per statement cycle for out-of-network ATM usage.

Ally Bank products and services

Ally Bank is a full-service online bank that offers many accounts and services to meet your financial needs.

The Interest Checking Account has no account minimum and no overdraft fees. Plus, you can get paid up to two days early when your paycheck is set up through direct deposit.
As of the publishing date, the Online Savings Account comes with a high APY of 3.30%, no minimum balance and no account maintenance fees. There are three different CDs to choose from, including the No Penalty CD, which allows early withdrawals, and the High Yield CD, which offers up to 4.25% APY.

There is no minimum deposit to open a CD, and you receive a 0.05% bonus when you renew your CD with Ally Bank.

Ally Bank offers personal, auto and mortgage loans, as well as refinancing. For personal loans, there are no application fees, and you can check if you pre-qualify without hurting your credit.
Ally Bank offers four different credit cards. All include complete fraud protection (includes $0 fraud liability) and no fees for going over the limit or having a returned payment. The Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard gives you 3% cash back at gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores.

Ally Bank fees

Ally Bank is very transparent about its fees. It has eliminated several fees, including account maintenance fees and overdraft fees, making the account simple to use. It does charge fees for the following:

  • $10 fee for each withdrawal after the allowed six per statement cycle
  • Expedited delivery fee
  • Outgoing domestic wire
  • Research fees

FAQ

What debit card does Ally Bank use?

The Ally Bank Debit Mastercard comes with the Interest Checking Account.

Does Ally Bank require proof of income?

For savings and checking accounts, Ally Bank does not inquire about or check your income or employment status. However, for a loan or line of credit, such as a credit card, personal loan, auto loan or mortgage, you will need to provide your annual income and will need to show proof through bank statements or W-2s, depending on which product you are applying for.

Does Ally Bank use Zelle?

Ally Bank allows you to select Zelle from the payments menu within your Ally checking account.

Can you use Ally Bank with any ATM?

If an ATM is part of the 43,000 no-fee ATMs in Ally Bank’s network, you will not be charged a service fee. If you use an ATM out of network, you will be charged a service fee. However, Ally Bank will reimburse up to $10 in ATM service fees each statement cycle.

Is Ally Bank legit?

Ally Bank is a legitimate online bank. Unlike other online financial technology companies that are not legally allowed to be called banks, Ally Bank is legally a bank and FDIC-insured. It has over 8 million customers and uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption and two-step verification to protect customers’ financial information.

Ally Bank Reviews

ConsumerAffairs has collected 1,442 reviews and 1,848 ratings.

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Reviewed Sept. 20, 2023

Yes, I have positive experiences with Ally. I joined gmac bank in late 1990's. I took advantage of high apy during the booming internet stuff and the bubbling economy at that time. Later it changed to ally and I'm still with it doing ONLY transferring funds, depositing checks, online saving, cd's, and self investment, which my save me lots of troubles.

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Reviewed Sept. 14, 2023

One thing after the next with these people, horrible customer service, signed up for a promotion I didn't get either, customer service is a crap show and they should all be fired. This is probably the worse bank I have ever dealt with ever. I could go on and on over and over but all I got to say is horrible place.

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    Reviewed Sept. 1, 2023

    We recently fell victim to a scam artist resulting in our withdrawals at multiple ATMs to pay toward said scam. This was traumatic, embarrassing and hurt us financially. We reported this to police and Ally, our bank. We followed all steps and procedures advised by Ally, who stated they would investigate. Two weeks later, we noticed our checking account was closed, with no advanced notice. We called Ally, and were told investigators had “terminated Ally’s relationship with us”. They closed all accounts without notice, on the last week of the month, immediately before mortgage, credit card, loan payments came due. They did not even give 30 days notice to mitigate the damage that would predictably occur to us.

    They snail-mailed the checks with the cash from said accounts, thus locking out any rapid access to our only liquid assets when all payments came due, potentially causing long lasting credit damage, financial damage from late credit card payments, missing loan and life insurance payments, not to mention buying food and school supplies as it's also the first week of school for our daughters, while scrambling to get funds into another bank, which involved breaking into retirement savings. If Ally flagged us as suspicious with the national bank ChexSystems, it’s possible we may have issues opening accounts with national banks in the future. We do assume they flagged us as having “suspicious activity”. This despite giving them the contacts, names, incident numbers of the police involved in our case.

    In fact, this was a rare case where one of these officers directly witnessed the scam occurring in real time, in person, and who could corroborate we were the victims of the scam, not the perpetrators. Ally was informed of this on not one, but two separate phone calls with their fraud department. Ally’s investigators did not bother to speak to the police, or spend more than two weeks looking into this; they simply summarily closed all our accounts without notice, causing more and longer lasting harm, financial and emotional, than the actual scammer to their previously loyal customers. Apparently this is all legal, and consumers have no recourse other than file a complaint to regulators, which we have done. I understand this is not illegal, but it clearly is a terrible way to treat customers you claim to support and value when they are going through a traumatic event.

    We called a third time, requested they investigate further, that we would willingly submit to a thorough review of our records and finances, but never heard more, other than being told all decisions are final. We were informed that investigators are not required to call us directly, or to disclose their reasoning for the account closures. We turn to banks to protect our assets, make sure our funds are readily accessible and stand by their customers. I understand people commit fraud against banks and they need to protect themselves. But this needs to be balanced against supporting customers, and not harming them.

    In this case, they could have verified our account of events with one or two phone calls and spoken to the officers on the ground at the time. They could have given us reasonable notice prior to closure. Instead, our own bank has harmed us more than the actual criminal that scammed us. Ally is not, in fact, your ally should the worst happen and you fall victim to a scam.

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    Reviewed Aug. 29, 2023

    Let me talk to a supervisor. I have gotten twelve different answers from nine different CSRs. One rep tells me there is a certain amount in my deceased father's accounts. Two or three months or so later I FINALLY get the correct answer to the question "What forms do I need to open an Inherited IRA?". The amount deposited was 25% less than I was originally told. To add insult to injury, I was told on 8/8/2023 that a check for an amount equal to the difference had been sent on 8/1/2023. Check never arrived. Called again on 8/21/2023. Providence tells me the back office is looking into it. Research will take 1-2 days. Processing the check will take 3-5 business days. I get two checks for a tenth, 10%, yes, you read right, A TENTH of what I was expecting. And my account balance goes down even more than the amount of the checks.

    I speak with Heather on 8/29/2023. She speaks with the mysterious Back Office. They say there was never the amount in my deceased father's accounts that I was originally told. And that the checks were less because of the taxes taken out. Okay. Why when I add those two checks back into the last account balance do I come up with an amount $200+ less than the original account balance? Just to muddy the waters further, there are numerous transactions that I never authorized where money is taken out, then another amount deposited, then another amount taken out again, and another amount put back in. Is this a Ponzi scheme on Ally's part to withhold money from account holders?

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    Reviewed Aug. 22, 2023

    I have multiple times tried to work with them. Decided to refinance. My new bank was appalled of how they handled it. Did you know they will only paper mail a pay off letter so then it delays pay off and they keep adding up in interest. So now pay off higher. My bank called and I warned them about being transferred multiple times. It is shady business. And good luck. I sat on hold for 20 minutes. Then they told me they were not licensed to speak with me in my state. Then another 20 min. I refinanced and they made it soooo hard and were rude to me and my new bank. They are reporting them. They will not work with you.

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    Reviewed Aug. 22, 2023

    Ally bank was great until one day my mobile deposit for my paycheck was held for 5 business days. After 30 minutes on the phone and repeatedly asking to speak to a supervisor, and being told “they will tell you the same thing I am telling you” to try and avoid getting the supervisor on the phone. They were unwilling to reach out to the other bank to allow the funds to clear and remove the hold. Very poor customer service and I will be discontinuing any business with Ally going forward.

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    Reviewed Aug. 22, 2023

    I obtained a car loan from Ally Bank for a leased vehicle. After one year, I sold the car to a dealership, who paid Ally Bank an additional $6000 for the car, and I had paid the full year's interest on the lease. However, after the car was sold, Ally Bank sent me a letter stating that I owed them a disposition fee of $500. I contacted their customer service department, but the representative was rude and only repeated that I had to pay the fee. I explained that I did not break the lease, but rather the dealership purchased the car, yet he still insisted that I pay the fee. I have purchased many cars before, and have never been required to pay a disposition fee when the car was sold to a dealership. I request that others avoid obtaining a loan from Ally Bank, as they may also have to face similar difficulties.

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    Reviewed Aug. 18, 2023

    ZERO stars. Liars, terrible customer service, thieves. Need I say more? Why hasn’t anyone taken these people to court? I would be ashamed to work for this company. The company harasses you with calls, hangs up on your calls no matter which number you try and even discontinues chatting conversations. This is truth.

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    Reviewed Aug. 10, 2023

    I have been well satisfied with my Ally saving account, but now Ally Bank requires me to "specify my pronouns." The bank should care more about my money and not at all about my pronouns. I will take my saving elsewhere.

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    Reviewed Aug. 5, 2023

    PLEASE, don't ignore the negative reviews all over the web, and I highly advise against using them based of the small percentage of folks who say they had a good experience, especially those telling you to ignore the negative reviews. This company is bad energy and it's not worth the risk. They stressed me beyond belief by essentially holding $1#,### dollars of mine (life savings) hostage shortly after opening a new account. Forced me to jump on a call and it took hours of my life away, and they asked me bizarre questions and made me feel like I was be interrogated by police officers. Was hard to reach someone who I felt somewhat comfortable talking with too, as I kept getting a call center in India (no disrespect to those hard working people obviously).

    This bank is not your ally. Many other banks who will not cause your blood pressure to boil over. I signed up before reading reviews (big mistake I made). After reading reviews, this practice of freezing your account access is more common than imagined. And the sheer number of complaints of them essentially stealing people's money, are not uncommon. That's scary. Luckily I was able to pull 99.9% of my money back to the original bank via ACH, but not without stress. As soon as my receiving bank saw the money, I get an email from Ally saying my account on their end was closed. I stressed for another week thinking that maybe the ACH would get messed up and the money would bounce back to a now nonexistent account. Thankfully, after one week, it seems to be safely back into my bank.

    I check daily now just to make sure (literal PTSD from this experience). All in all, this bank is bad energy all around. Run the other way. They still owe me about $110 (initial deposit), but I'm done with this entity. Hopefully they do me right and send that $110 as a check to my house. If not, I will just walk away and let that sit in the ether forever. I just want to move on from this experience. Ugh. Worst experience in my entire life.

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    Ally Bank Company Information

    Company Name:
    Ally Bank
    Website:
    www.ally.com