Ally bank who who prides themselves on being free of red tape and offering no nonsense savings accounts and CD’s is now offering an online checking account. I recently talked about problems with my online checking account and Ally has taken all those things I hate and made them disappear with their Ally Interest Checking account. I feel like I got the real pony from the commercial, not the toy one. Here is the skinny on their checking account offering:
Account Features
.50% Interest Rate as of
$0 Monthly Fee
Free Bill Pay and online banking (duh!)
Free Debit Card and Checks
No ATM Fees at any ATM
Postage Paid Deposit envelopes
Direct Deposits available immediately
ACH/ETF’s available 3-5 days
About the ATM Fees
Saying you won’t be charged an ATM fee is a bit of a stretch on Ally’s part. Let’ rephrase it to you won’t be responsible for any ATM fees you are charged. The ATM you are using is most likely going to charge you for the transaction, Ally will reimburse you for all ATM charges at the start of the next billing cycle. Downside is you lost interest on that $2.00 fee, upside is you didn’t lose the $2 and .50% of $2 isn’t Jack.
Opening an Account
Opening an account takes five steps which they say you can complete in approximately 10 minutes online, I was able to get mine done from start to finish in 3.5 minutes. It was by far the easiest account opening experience I have had yet with an online bank.
What you need on hand
Social Security Number
US Mailing Address
Funding Account Routing Number
Funding Account Account Number
A PEN!
The process itself is pretty straight forward. You first need to define if you want a single or joint account, you then select your account type, opening deposit, and account nickname. You then have to fill out the standard personal information including your SSN and date of birth. You then need to fill out the information for the funding source of your new account, including how you want to verify the account if you choose to keep it linked.
When you complete the process you are given the option of ordering an ATM Card and checks and presented with your account information, including your account number. Here is where I screwed the pooch, I forgot to PDF this page or write down my account number. That account number is pretty damn important when you want to setup direct deposit and link other accounts. WRITE IT DOWN. The online interface doesn’t have anywhere that it shows your complete account number so you are going to have to either wait on your checks/welcome letter or get on the horn with customer service.
Why I am Switching
Ally is everything my current online checking account is not.
They reimburse me for my ATM fees which I am going to get because no matter what bank I am with their ATM’s are never near where I am. It is Murphy’s law.
They aren’t going to hold my paycheck hostage for three days. My current online account holds my direct deposits hostage, I hate that I have to wait three days after I get paid to touch the money.
Their Customer service is awesome (well so far). Before I opened the account I used their online chat to pick their brains and they were super helpful answering my questions. After I opened my account I used their online chat to get my account number I failed to write down super helpful again. Unfortunately I forgot to write it down before I closed the window.
This is my first stab at doing a video blog post so don’t hate on me to bad. I tried using a webcam but the audio sucked and the video quality was sub par, this final version of the video was shot using my iPhone and I actually think it turned out surprisingly well. If response is good I may invest in some real equipment but for now the iPhone seems to be working. I chose to do a video review because I think it will give you a better idea of how I really feel about a book, check it out and let me know what you think.
Monday I talked about how I was going to use SmartyPig to save for my investment account opening balance so I thought I would give you a little more information on SmartyPig. SmartyPig is not your typical online high yield savings account. They have taken your savings and made them goal oriented like no bank ever has before. The entire idea behind the site is to get you to save for specific goals in a specific time frame. If you have a vacation you would like to take in the summer figure out how much it is going to cost you, set a goal, and start saving. This a great way to pay cash for things you would typically be putting on credit. By using a SmartyPig account you are able to track your progress towards achieving your goals. They even make it easy to take your savings goals to the social web with Facebook and Twitter integration. Here is a brief look at the sign up and account setup process along with some of the better features.
Account Signup
Signing up for a SmartyPig account is much the same as signing up for any other online banking account. The basic login information collected includes your name, e-mail, and phone number. They require you to complete security questions, choose a “secure” image, and help you to generate a secure password. Once you complete your login credentials you are required to provide a SSN and address which is then used to pull credit information to verify your identity. They ask typical questions about your credit to verify you are who you say you are. It is a super quick and painless process that got me rolling in no time.
Account Setup
This is where things start to look a good bit different from your typical online banking institution. Before you can setup your first goal you will have to setup a savings account. All you have to do is give it a name like “Kyle’s Super Smart Savings” and then provide a funding source for the account. This is usually going to be your checking account or some other account you can link using the banks routing and account number. They did not require me to verify deposits to link my account.
Once you have your savings account setup it is time to get to meat of the matter and setup some goals. I am currently working towards saving up the $500.00 it is going to take me to open an investing account at ScottTrade. All you have to do is define what you are saving for, the category it goes in, your dollar goal, and when you want to meet the goal by. Then you need to setup your funding source, provide your initial deposit (no less than $25), and optionally setup a recurring schedule for funding the goal.
SmartyPig Goals
Sweet Features
SmartyPig has gone out of their way to make their site not only visually appealing and easy to navigate but they offer some great incentives to bank with them. As of 01/20/2009 they were offering a high 2.01%APY and if you compare that to other banks it is at the top.
One of the options on the goal configuration page was to “Accept Contributions.” What enabling this option allows you to do is to publicize your goals to friends and family and allow them to contribute towards your goal if they so choose. You can even setup a widget to allow your friends, family, or blog readers to contribute to your goals easily and securely. I was going to include the widget for you but it turns out the landing page includes my full legal name and there is no way to change that. Something to keep in mind when you setup your own widget, anonymity is not an option.
Probably the coolest thing they do is offer cash incentives if you use your goal money to redeem gift cards at major retailers. Right now if you are planning on taking a Sandals vacation you could change your savings into a Sandals or Beaches gift certificate and get an additional 10% on your savings. If you had saved up $5000 they throw in an additional $500, that is is pretty solid. You can even parse out your savings across multiple gift cards, so if you are saving up for holiday shopping you can get some real extra bang for your buck, especially at Macy’s where they offer a 12% bonus. Visit SmartyPig for the complete list of retailers and bonuses.
Yesterday I wrote about why you need a home inventory and a general overview of what type of information you need to include. My second passion is definitely tech and since Apple’s slogan is “There’s an App for that” I went out to find one to help me get my home inventory in order.
CashCrate is one of those Get Paid To (GPT) Sites where you are paid to complete offers, some free and some not so much. It has become tremendously popular with stay at home moms, college students, and just about anyone else with a few minutes and a desire to make some money at home. There [...]
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