Ally Bank

Ally Bank

Formerly GMAC

 3.6/5 (943 reviews)
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Overall Rating3.6 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.

Top Ally Bank Reviews

Rated with 5 stars
Verified

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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Rated with 5 stars
Verified

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

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Page 1 Reviews 0 - 10
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: May 25, 2023

These people had me for over two months trying to fix an error on my wife vehicle title. I was trying to sell the vehicle when I found my wife name was typed incorrectly. They said that I have to have all the information they asked in order to fix this. They ask for the DMV address and they sent the documents there when they supposed to send those documents to the Tax Collector office. After more than 2 months when I called them back they told me that is my fault because I gave them the wrong address. Is not their job to know where to send vehicles titles in order to fix names errors? Now they said that I have to wait for time needed to correct this and in the meantime I can’t sell the vehicle and I have to continuing making payments if not they will repossessed the vehicle. I feel like they are ripping my money.

Be the first one to find this review helpful
Rated with 5 stars
Verified Reviewer
Original review: May 18, 2023

As a senior I like the on-line banking Ally provides, never an issue in 13 years with savings accts. and great rate CD's. Ally offers 24 hr messaging as well as operator assistance. Paper mailed statements or online only. Once again I've never had the slightest issue. Enjoyed the generally best rates in CD's for 13 years of banking with Ally.

2 people found this review helpful

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    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: May 12, 2023

    A withdrawal I made was flagged as fraudulent and I received an email saying to contact Ally Bank. After about 30 minutes of very long awkward pauses I asked them why they needed some of the information they were asking for and why there were so many long pauses as it seemed suspicious. They immediately began acting more rude and hung up on me. I called back and I explained what happened with the first call and explained to them that I in fact made the withdrawal. They said "no problem" and that it should be resolved within a couple days.

    After about 5 days and 4 phone calls of following up, I received an email saying my accounts were closed and that they did not have to provide a reason. Eventually they told me it was due to fraud and there was nothing I could do. They said they put a check in the mail for the balances, without verifying the address and with no tracking despite being over $80k in cash.. coming in paper.. in the mail. I was an account holder for almost 10 years and they ended the relationship flagging me as a fraudster, which has made it difficult for me to open further accounts. Stay far away from Ally. Their high interest rate can be obtained elsewhere and their customer service is not worth it.

    4 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: May 11, 2023

    They unlawfully repossessed my vehicle when I was making monthly payments in the amount of my normal payment plus additional money each month to make up for missed payments last year. They did not give provide the Cobb Notification letter they are required to send me since they were accepting my late payments. They have had class action lawsuits against them for this exact issue and also within the state of Minnesota where they paid $780 in settlement due to them not following proper protocol per state laws. I got behind in payments when I was laid off last year, notified them of my layoff, they wouldn’t do any payment arrangement or payment assistance since my loan was so new so when I regained employment I have been paying monthly payment plus additional amount each month to get caught up.

    They closed my account in February regardless of those payments they had been accepting (without me knowing it until today) and continued taking my payments. Last payment was on 4/17/23 for $900. They repo’d vehicle on 5.7.23 with no Cobb notice sent to me. I would have been able to get completely current with my auto loan within the next 30 days if they would notified me of the repossession action and allowed me to make large payments now and then in two weeks when I get paid again. They are telling me since they closed my account they won’t even allow a payment arrangement to get current and I either pay loan in full or they will sell my vehicle.

    3 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: May 9, 2023

    It was all good, until one day I requested Ally to temporarily increment my debit card cash advance limit to $5000. At the time I had >$400K between Ally checkings, savings and CDs so it should have be no issue if I wanted to withdraw $5K, right? Ally kept pushing me back and forth for >10days and >15 phone calls, during which I heard many different narratives (aka lies) from the operators about why it was taking so long to increase the cash advance limit. Eventually I gave up and decided to move all my finances to a more reliable institution.

    2 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: April 21, 2023

    I had an auto loan with Ally. I called and asked for a payoff and was given the amount. I was told that if I sent a cashiers check, it would be processed in 4 days. I obtained a cashiers check from my bank for $15, 000. I sent the check overnight to the address the Customer Service Rep gave me. I checked the tracking and it was delivered the next day. I called Ally to make sure they got the check and was advised that no one works at that address and a courier picks the checks up and brings them to a different address. That was the first problem. Two days later the courier picked up the check. On the fourth day I called to see if the check cleared and was advised that it wasn’t 4 days since they received the check. It was four days since I sent the check, but it was only two since they picked it up. I was told that it would be 7-10 days to get my title after they processed my check. I thought that was unacceptable.

    6 days later they processed my check. I called, again, to ask if I could have my title overnighted to me. The CSR told me that after the check was processed, there was another 4 day waiting period and then 7-10 days to get my title. I asked to speak to a manager. I spoke to the manager and he told me the same thing. I asked to speak to someone in accounting and he told me that all the other departments aren’t manned and that he would send an email and call me back. I waited a day and no one called. I called back and spoke to a CSR and asked for a manager. I told the manager someone was supposed to call me and no one ever did. This manager told me he would send an email to his manager. I told this manager I would like to speak to someone out of the call center and I was advised that no one out of the call center will speak to people on the phone.

    It has been over a week and I still don’t have my title. The same day I paid off my car, I paid my wife’s brand new Nissan off. I paid it off online and, the next morning, the account was closed out and we had the title in 2 days. Ally bank is horrible. I bought my vehicle from Ford and that is the bank they used for my loan. I wouldn’t recommend Ally bank to anyone. It is unacceptable to wait a total of 18 days to get a title after you pay a loan off. Especially paying with a cashier's check. A cashier's can be verified in about 5 minutes. I should have read read the reviews right after I received the loan.

    5 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: April 18, 2023

    Very bad experience leasing a truck through this leasing company. My truck had an accident and they charged all kind of overages and did not return any overage paid by the insurance company. They did not reimburse and extra payments made by the insurance company.

    3 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: April 16, 2023

    If I could choose a negative rating I would! I invested in CD accounts with Ally because they are a large bank with really good rates. On March 15 I closed a 6 figure CD and asked for the funds to be dispersed in two other CDs and gave the amounts for each. Ally created two CD accounts but never funded them. After many phone calls, case numbers and the run around they funded only one account with all of the money. Clearly not what I asked for. I made more phone calls, spoke to several supervisors who assured me they would rectify it, more case numbers and more supervisors but no resolution.

    Fast forward and what Ally did was cancel the CD which had the total amount and create a checking account to deposit the funds into. They then said they would create two new CDs and fund those properly. After more supervisors. Case numbers and their famous line of “waiting for approval from the back office, check back in 2 days” the 2 accounts were properly funded. But wait… they penalized me over $800 for closing the CD early that THEY created and funded incorrectly! So now more Case Numbers, more supervisors, more back office excuses and I am told they acknowledge the error on their part and will refund the funds. This was on 3/31. So guess what… you guessed it several more calls, more supervisors, more case numbers and more blaming the back office and as of today 4/16 I still have not received the funds that Ally in essence STOLE from me.

    I was told today they there are no supervisors available and “the back office is waiting on approval, call back Tuesday” They then had the nerve if they could help me with any more backing needs!!! I laughed out loud. Once my CDs have matured I will NEVER bank with Ally again. I would rather have a lower percentage yield on my money than have to deal with the incompetence I have dealt with in the last month.

    9 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: April 13, 2023

    Is my first time open joint account And Ally Bank make me run and don’t go back. My bf have auto loan at ally and it work well, then we try to open account. But today I know Ally wasn’t a good bank. Their requirements super bad, if you are not US Citizen you can’t be qualify to open an account on them. It need to be both US Citizens. If not, they will denied you application. This is not fair to everybody that are not US citizen. If I know it earliest I won’t choose Ally anymore, wasting my time. Call and ask for 2 days, end up with nothing done. Just get back to Chase, if ALLY never have good offer I won’t choose them. Ignore this bank, their system always run down. They are also discriminate bank.

    2 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: April 4, 2023

    Opened money market with Ally and it was a nightmare since day 1, they (ally) have all types of software issues, was never able to access the account and when I finally could access it froze, not able to navigate, when contacting customer service for assistance, they weren't at all helpful in fact they made the situation more stressful, ended up closing the acct due to extremely poor service And spending too much time trying to resolve issues, not worth it.

    8 people found this review helpful
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    Ally Bank Company Information

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