Who They Are
I know that I am behind the wagon here, but I still wanted to highlight this “newcomer” to the online banking arena. For anyone who has missed it Ally Bank is a re-branded GMAC bank. Ally is a fully FDIC insured entity, specifically they are insured under FDIC Certificate number #57803. So for those of you afraid of you money now that GM is filing Bankruptcy don’t worry because the FDIC has your back. More than that they aren’t actually GM. In November 2006 Cerebrus Capital Management picked up a 51% ownership stake in GMAC. And for those who follow the news you may remember GMAC applying to be a bank holding company so they could get their hands on some TARP Cash. Since then GMAC has become Ally Bank and they have taken on a pretty giant advertising campaign. You may have seen the commercials… everywhere. They have done a great job re branding and they are offering some great products.
What They Offer
—Rates Quoted here are as of 06/11/2009 01/08/2010 rates are subject to change at anytime and you should check with Ally.com for current rates–
Traditional CD’s – Ally offers anywhere from a 3 month CD for APY to a 5 year CD at APY. Like other traditional Certificates of Deposit you are going to pay a fee if you make any early withdrawals. For 3, 6, and 9, month CD’s they charge 3 months interest and 18 month and over you are charged 6 months interest if you withdrawal early
No Penalty CD’s – One of the products Ally is really pushing is their No Penalty CD. They offer only a 9 month CD. What they are doing is offering a CD at a rate lower than their traditional CD but you don’t have to pay any fees if you want to withdrawal your funds after the first 6 days of funding your CD. You can open a CD with $0 but your rate and term don’t actually go into effect until you fund it.
Savings Account – Ally’s savings account offers a competitive rate at APY and based on my current rate list that puts them in the top. With fully FDIC insured deposits, no fees, and no minimum balance it seems like a pretty good bet for an online savings account.
How They Compare
Ally looks like a great deal, their rates are super competitive and the no penalty CD is a great concept. They are only .03% above my current savings rate so I won’t be opening an account anytime soon but I know people who were happy with their GMAC accounts. Your deposits are FDIC insured and the rates can’t be beat so if you are in the market I would definitely consider going with Ally Bank.
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Ally bank = con artists!
My wife and I tried to open a CD account with them. After several back and forth phone calls and requests to establish our residence and mailing addresses (in addition to our original paperwork and copies of our drivers licenses they wanted utility bills and a copy of our PO Box receipt), we told them to return our money. Their customer service said they would send our original check back. They didn’t. We never had an account with them but they cashed our check. Our bank statement showed the check was paid.
When I called to ask why my check was cashed, no one could explain. They told me that they would send my complaint to an escalation team for immediate resolution and they would call me back with the results 2 days later. No one ever did. When I called them to find out the status of my check, I was told that my account was pending and that in 5 days or so, they would review the matter. After yelling at the CSR, I was put on hold and eventually told by the rep that she made a mistake, my check was already mailed. I would have it in 7-10 working days.
A few days later, Ally called me again. This time, I was told that I would have to prove that the check had been cashed in order to receive a refund. So basically, they never opened an account for me, they cashed my check, lied to me that they had already refunded my money, then called me and told me that I had to prove my check had been cashed to get a refund. This is after they acknowledged receiving the check and accidentally cashing it. They knew the check number and the amount but still no refund. Unbelievable.
In all, they’ve held my money hostage for a month. Someone either lost or stole my check and they won’t give my money back yet. Don’t give this company your business.
I am sorry to hear about your experience with Ally, I haven’t heard of anyone else having these types of problems with them and I appreciate you sharing your opinions with us. Stop back by and let me know how it turns out, I hope you get your money back.
I bank at ally and I’ve been pleased. Not blown away but they’re still working out some bugs. We left ING for ally because of the higher rates. Their customer service is quick to help straighten out any problems.
To be shamelessly self-promotional, here’s my review of ally. http://bit.ly/ptfH5
I closed my account after two months. Interest rate kept dropping. Website didn’t accurately show account transactions. They kept insisting on snail mail for some things
I have tried several banks and I have to say Ally Bank is my favorite. They have great rates and I just noticed that they have live chat help 24×7 in addition to the round the clock phone customer service.
The No Penalty CD in particular is my favorite product.
hi I just closed my last account and opened an new checking account with ally and now I am thinking and hoping that I made a wise decision. Anyone with a checking account with ally please inform me if this is a good decsion for me to have this bank (ALLY) thanks would appreciate all information regarding this bank.
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