So, I'm looking to open a new checking account - nothing fancy, just something that isn't Wells ****ing Fargo. Does anyone here have experience with Ally? From their fees and such, they seem like the best option, but I'm curious how people have actually experienced them. Online reviews are around, but it's hard to tell anything with them. I appreciate any info. I don't think there's a thread on this.
I have a savings account with Ally. I set up my Chase account to put some cash in there every month and forget about it. Haven't had any problems with them at all. Transferring between accounts is easy. no minimums to start saving, but if you want to withdraw from your savings you can only do it a couple times every month. Customer service is top notch too; the live chat is very helpful. I don't have an Ally Checking account, but I've heard, when dealing with an online bank, it is still a good idea to have a brick and mortar bank (maybe a credit union) to deposit money into then transfer to Ally. You don't need one though but depositing money into your online account is more of an inconvenience
I was considering something like this because I've heard of Ally having issues with direct deposit - unfortunately, I've only heard these things from online critics, and the reality of those are dubious at best.
I would still want the option to go in and talk to somebody for loan purposes, certified checks ect. I get the sentiment, been looking at Smart FCU: https://www.smartcu.org/index_home.php
I use ING Direct, which is an online bank, and I really like them. Their fees are friendly and the web interface is very good. However, they were bought by Capital One recently, so I'm a little worried about possible policy changes. Not having a physical building makes a couple of things harder, but mostly doesn't matter much. They have a system to link your account to another bank account at another bank so you can use them for deposits and such. But, depositing by photo now works well, so you don't need the linked account. The only place it comes up is if you want to deposit cash -- you'd have to mail it in. All in all, I think the internet bank is worth doing if they have a good website. Wells Fargo robs you blind on fees. Some day, the internet banks will start doing that too, but not yet.
My car is financed through Ally Bank. Since they provided me with a 1.9% interest rate, I'd say that they are pretty good. I can't speak for the banking side of things. I will say that chase bank is a FANTASTIC bank, in my opinion. They just do everything right.
My car is financed through Ally Bank. Since they provided me with a 1.9% interest rate, I'd say that they are pretty good. I can't speak for the banking side of things. I will say that chase bank is a FANTASTIC bank, in my opinion. They just do everything right.
I've been using them for a couple years now, mostly as my primary/only bank (have a checking and savings account with them). Not really any problems, though realize you'd be going with an online bank and everything that entails. Good customer support. No problems with deposits. Etc. edit: And yes, I hate Wells Fargo (Chase also has been horrible for me, but I only have a credit card through them). Ally's support has been way better than either, at least for me.
I have Chase and Bank of America. I do not have any problems with them. I will say though... Wells Fargo sucks. I had a truck financed through them and they call you 3 times a day five days before the payment is even do.
Something weird about the last 6 posts in this thread.... Anyway, I tried ING a few years back and it was a pain in the ass. Transferring money took days, sometime a week, just to have it made available. I'm sure things have changed since then, though. At least I hope. I have all my $$ with Chase now. Despite them being an evil big bank, I've never had any problems with them. Their website is fantastic and their phone app is even better. Depositing gig checks with my phone FTW. And I can't remember the last time I was charged a fee for anything, actually.
Have you had any issues with the amount of time it takes for a deposit to actually show up as available? Thanks for the info.
Fidelity has been awesome for me. The only thing they don't offer is cash deposits, but free EFT transfers to and from your other accounts can help you get around that. No fees and all ATM withdrawal fees are reimbursed.
No. With direct deposit of my paycheck, always shows up the morning of payday (similar to what I can recall happening with previous banks). I've not had to deposit money very often by other means, but when I tried scanning a check a while back, I want to say it was available within 48 hours or so (might have to double check that, but it seemed reasonable to me). Transfers to and from others seemed comparable to other banks. The only problems I've had with Ally have been when I needed to quickly withdrawal a large amount of money (e.g., I needed to do this while closing on a house a while back). As you might imagine, you can't walk up to a physical location and receive a cashier's check (you can still request one, but might take 7-10 days to receive it IIRC, which would likely be too long of a wait if you need it quickly). Can still do wire transfers of course (for a fee), and there might be other alternatives too. This doesn't really happen that often for me (and I'd try to better plan it out if I was anticipating it), so not a huge negative. Also just a problem with online banks in general, not really Ally specifically. Wouldn't hurt to have a local bank (maybe a solid credit union) to help with issues like this. My work has an "exclusive relationship" with a local bank, and I've been meaning to setup an account with them for reasons like this (would have no fees and all that good stuff, so no harm in doing so). edit: May have been better than 48 hours: http://www.ally.com/bank/online-banking/make-deposits.html I think I might have scanned the check on a weekend, so it might have been more like 48 hours for me.
Dumb question and probably obvious, but there is no charge to send money from Chase to Ally electronically? I was about to open a Money Market acct through Ally but was confused about transfer fees. I use BOA btw.
No charge (at least from Ally...possible, albeit unlikely, that the other bank may charge for some dumb reason). It may take ~3 business days to show up, but no charge.
ING has gotten better. They started doing the photo deposit a year ago, maybe, and it makes getting money into the account worlds better. It does take days to make funds available from a deposited check, but they make $200 of it available right away. I'm not sure they are any slower than other banks. If they are, that could change now they're owned by Capital One. Of course, none of this applies to Ally, necessarily. But, I'm surprised to read what you have to say about Chase. I have a business checking account with them, so I use their website all the time, and I'm not too pleased. Getting bank records and check images works fairly well, and I appreciate the search functionality. But, the billpay they have sucks. You have to switch back and forth between pages to see what's been paid/pending, and to execute new payments. ING's billpay is so much better. Of course, I've seen much worse. I had an Amex through Sam's Club for awhile, and you the website basically only shows what you owe them and when. You can't even get a bank statement from their site. No API to talk to Quickbooks either. It's so bad, I had to close the account altogether.
