Ally Bank Review 2022

If you’re looking to reach financial goals faster by saving more money, you’ll appreciate the many perks of Ally’s flagship savings account. No monthly maintenance fees and overdraft fees, plus no minimum balance requirements, means you won’t get penalized for any of your transactions. Bonus: You’ll enjoy a highly competitive rate that will help you grow your money even faster.

Ally also uses smart savings tools called buckets and boosters, which can allow you to organize and identify savings opportunities, track your progress and simultaneously earn interest. This can enable you to accelerate and automate your personal finance goals without having to open multiple accounts or break out your calculator:

• Up to 10 buckets, or digital envelopes, can be used to organize and dedicate your savings while providing visuals of your progress as well as target dates
• Three types of boosters can maximize your savings even further:
  • Recurring transfers automatically transfer funds into buckets of your choice according to a schedule that works best for you
  • Surprise Savings works by linking your savings account to your checking account (even at another institution) and analyzing your spending to identify and transfer over small amounts (up to $100, no more than three times a week) to your savings account
  • Round Ups is a microsavings strategy that rounds up your transactions to the nearest dollar and automatically transfer transfers the money into your savings account

One drawback to this account? You’re limited to only six withdrawals per statement cycle, and that includes point of sale transactions as well as online transfers. And while you won’t pay fees for incoming wire transfers and low or zero balances, you can expect to be charged for services such as outgoing wire transfers, expedited delivery, returned or rejected deposits and complicated requests that require researching your financial institution account history.

Like the savings account above, you won’t be subject to any fees or minimum balance requirements with Ally’s money market account. However, you will enjoy slightly more flexibility with managing your money as you are entitled to unlimited deposits and ATM withdrawals with this account.

This account comes with a debit card and checks once you’ve added an opening deposit. Withdrawals are free at 43,000+ Allpoint® ATMs. If you use ATMs in the US that charge a fee, Ally will reimburse you up to $10 in fees per statement cycle.

Ally also offers safety nets in the form of protection from accidental overspending. If you link either the Ally Bank Online Savings or Ally Bank Money Market account to your Ally Bank Interest Checking account (covered later in our Ally Bank review), and exceed your balance, you can benefit from the bank’s overdraft transfer service and CoverDraftSM service.

This account could be appealing if you’re looking to earn interest on a checking account. Other perks include free overdraft protection and no overdraft fees. You can also access your paycheck two business days sooner, as long as you receive two direct deposits to your checking account within a six-month period.

If you sign up for an Interest Checking account, you’ll receive:

• free standard checks
• postage-paid deposit envelopes
• a Mastercard debit card that you can use to withdraw money at any Allpoint ATM across the US

Cashier’s checks are also available upon request. Because Ally doesn’t accept cash deposits, funding your account will have to take place completely online, which could be a drawback for those who make a lot of cash tips at work or who simply prefer in-person banking.

If you want to add money to your account, you must use Ally eCheck Deposit. This mobile check deposit feature allows you to deposit up to $50,000 per day and $250,000 per 30 calendar days. Other options include setting up direct deposit or sending a wire transfer, online transfer or a check by regular mail.

Ally Bank offers high-yield, raise your rate and no-penalty certificates of deposit (CDs) with terms ranging from three months to five years and no minimum balance requirements. If you’re looking for more liquidity, you can withdraw your funds any time after the first six days following the date of funding your no-penalty CD account, and keep your interest earned.

All CDs at Ally Bank include interest compounded daily, automatic renewal at maturity and a 10-day best rate guarantee for your term and balance tier, as long as you make a minimum deposit into your account within the first 10 days. Because the bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), you can rest assured that your money with Ally —in high-yield CDs or other accounts — will be FDIC-insured.

Ally Bank relies wholly on technology to provide customer service, as it is located online with no physical branches. In addition to its 24/7 call/chat service, Ally also offers mobile apps for iOS, Android and Windows, where users can manage their funds online including checking balances, paying bills and locating nearby ATMs. Customers with Alexa-enabled devices may also access their accounts by using voice commands to manage their accounts and review recent transactions.

For added ease of mind, Ally Bank provides its customers with a security guarantee that protects them from liability as long as unauthorized charges are reported within 60 days.

Online reviews of Ally Bank are mostly positive with a score of 93%; however, some users complain about excessively long wait times on the phone and difficulty navigating the website. While the lack of brick and mortar locations allows Ally Bank to pass on the savings to clients, our Ally Bank review finds there is always a trade-off for those who prefer the familiarity of in-person banking.