Ally Bank could very well be the BEST online bank ever.
In the Oct 2012 issue of Money® Magazine Ally Bank was named Best Online Bank for having fantastic rates, zero monthly maintenance fees and no Ally ATM fees … plus reimbursement of other banks’ ATM fees. For two years IN A ROW Money Magazine has recognized Ally Bank as being the best online bank overall. Money Magazine also recognized Ally for having the ‘Best One-Year CD’ and ‘One of the Best Savings Accounts‘.
And with Ally Bank having a new mobile app to deposit checks with your smartphone camera, and their own kind of debit card rewards (look out PerkStreet), their “no nonsense” approach to banking could very well catapult them to the top of the online banking world.
Let’s face it, virtually every bank offers some sort of online presence so what distinguishes one online bank from another? Service and Product Offerings – Ally has 24/7 live customer service, noATM fees, very competitive rates, a “raise your rate” CD, even a “sleeping money alert” that sends you an email reminder to let you know when your money could be working harder.
Join the thousands making the Switch to Ally Bank! Click HERE to get started!
The ONLY negative I can find for an online bank such as Ally is their inability to accept cash deposits, but if you maintain an account at a traditional bank for things like a safe deposit box (a good idea for anyone), Ally makes it super easy to transfer funds from that account to your Ally accounts so you can maximize your interest earnings. And if you’re sick of your current bank, don’t forget to read How to Switch Banks in Six Easy Steps.
Have you heard about Ally Perks?
Ally Perks are offered at local and national retailers and restaurants for everything from family dining and fast food to clothing and sports supplies. Ally Perks offer a variety of shopping options from online to in-store. These “perks” are added to your account and are visible when you log in (you can also sign up to receive email alerts letting you know which new Ally Perks offers are available).
How do Ally Perks work?
Easy!
- Open and deposit money in an Ally Interest Checking Account
- Once you receive your Ally Checking Debit Card, you can start getting Ally Perks when you shop.
- To see what offers are available, log in to your account and select Ally Perks
- Then simply make qualifying purchases using your Ally Checking Debit Card, and they automatically put money back in your Ally account (for example, $10 back on a qualifying $100 purchase)
- Log in at ally.com to set your preferences and monitor your offers
And you don’t HAVE to get your Perks deposited back into your Ally Interest Checking account either. You can have them deposited into your Ally Bank Savings Account instead – this is precisely what I was speaking about when I wrote 17 Sneaky Savings Strategies!
Best of all, it costs nothing to sign up!
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For me the biggest issue with Ally was not being able to make cash deposits with them. I didn’t want to stay with my current brick & mortar bank. A workaround that has been working for me is, believe it or not, AmEx/Walmart’s Bluebird prepaid card. The card is free to get online & has no fees, except if you use an ATM (which I don’t need it for that purpose). I can make cash deposits on it free at any Walmart cash register. Bluebird can be set up to make deposits or withdrawals from any US bank account. I can then go online and transfer all or part of my deposit into my Ally account (or use the card anywhere AmEx is accepted). It takes about one to two business days for AmEx to make the transfer.
So, I guess for cash deposits, Walmart is my new brick & mortar… without all the extra fees.
Great system! I’ve seen the new “bank” option at Walmart but haven’t really investigated it.