Ally Bank is the new name of the banking division of GMAC since anything “GM” is pretty much tarnished. Can Ally Bank be safe for our money and is it a good option for our money? Let’s find out with this review.
Since changing and relaunching its new name in May 15, 2009, Ally Bank has been trying to gather customer and deposits. What it offers is a higher than average interest rate with its four products: Classic CD, No Penalty CD, Online Savings Account, and Money Market Account.
Products and Fees
The bank has low fees (most of the time, it’s non-existent). In fact, the no penalty CD allows us to withdraw money from the CD without penalty fees as quickly as 6 days after opening the CD.
With the online savings accounts, there are no minimum balances, no account opening minimums, and no maintenance fees. They call it “straight forward and no sneaky disclaimers”.
Is Ally Bank Safe?
What’s most crucial for me with Ally Bank is whether my money is safe, because of its association of GMAC. I’m relieved to see that the bank is FDIC insured, which meant that I’m covered for up to $250,000 with my saving accounts.
Click here to sign up for an Ally Bank account
Ally Bank’s Focus on Customer Service
I haven’t called customer support yet but it’s nice to see that a bank is focused on customer service. The reason I know is because the phone number is up on top of every single page. In addition, they have a “current wait time” widget beside it as well, letting you know the wait time if you were to call. This is a subtle but welcome detail that shows the bank’s commitment to customer satisfaction.
Account Opening Process
The process was simple but what I liked about it is the fact that I can actually open several accounts with one application. One online savings account? One application. Want to add a CD on top of that? Same application.
While this process usually happen once so it’s not that big of a deal, I’m happy anytime when a company makes my life easier.
Ally Bank is or isn’t Right for Me?
The interest rate is high, the money is safe, there are no fees and they literally work harder than everyone else for our business. As a customer, I don’t see why not so I’m giving some business to Ally Bank.
You can sign up for an account here.
- Ally Bank – Official Site
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It’s great to be FDIC insured except when the government runs out of paper to pay for the failure. of all these banks, do you think they {FDIC} have the money sitting in an account for this.
FDIC’s funds are down to about $13 billion at the end of Q1 in their latest report but they are taking steps to replenish them like getting more money from member banks etc.
Congress also passed a bill to allow the FDIC to borrow up to $100 billion from the Treasury, an increase from the previous $30 billion.
So they should be okay in terms of funding. With all the changes and they still run out of money, the government won’t let FDIC fail because it plays the crucial role in the confidence of the whole U.S. savings system so I don’t think we need to worry about FDIC.
I’ve been a customer for GMAC for a long time and it’s been working out okay. There’s a change in name and all these news about the bank but so far, I haven’t really seen any changes (other than the website I log into). The interest are compounded daily and I still see it and can access my cash anytime I want.
In all my 75 years I have not encountered a commercial as disgusting and cruel
as the “horse” commercial where the smart-assed adult delivers his vulgar lines
so well, and the children are being made victims. Horrible!
I have been with Ally (GMAC) for 3 years. I had no problem with GMAC before.
Recently I spend 2 months in Ally and still can not open a new account, this experience is very frustrated. The customer representatives have inconsistent answers. One day they call you with one answer, and please don’t feel surprised for the call from them in the following days with another answer; I fax the documents to them, and they can not find/locate the fax. I am tired with several rounds of this kind of inconsistence.
My question is:
If representatives can NOT provide standard guidance/answer, what’s the meaning of customer service of the bank?
Although they have 7-24 call service, it won’t help if they can NOT solve your problem. (In fact, it wastes your time!)
I am searching for another bank with relative high rates. Enough is enough.
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.
With many baby boomers retiring and looking for a safe place to invest. Ally bank should also offer a rollover IRA CD. Discover bank online offers this and pays a great interest rate.
“In all my 75 years I have not encountered a commercial as disgusting and cruel
as the “horse” commercial where the smart-assed adult delivers his vulgar lines
so well, and the children are being made victims. Horrible!”
AMEN to this woman…Ally bank should be ashamed of themselves. You are exploiting children and they can’t even bank. This commercial was dumb, boring and very sad. You could get the same point across using adults.
I thought the Ally Bank commercial were hysterical and had to open an account just for that reason alone. I am really glad I did because they are the best bank I have dealt with. Opening an account was quite simple, but more importantly, everything about their experience is centered around the customer. I needed a transfer done urgently and customer service offered to wire the funds for me at no charge! A bank that finally cares about customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Ally bank has stolen my money as well. The made a $15,000 withdrawal and keep giving me the run around on looking into the matter. Every time I call they say it will take 24-48 hours to resolve the problem. They won’t let me speak with anyone that can resolve the issue, just representatives that will document the problem. I’m not sure what to do.
Go to ING. Abit lower interest rate, but more professional.
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I have tried ING, Bank of America, E-trade and Ally and I have to say that Ally is just a better experience overall. I have moved all my money over to Ally and am just glad that not only is my money working harder but I also have great service anytime I want.