Ever since I lost over $100 in bogus fees, at Wells Fargo
Bank, about ten years ago, I’ve pretty much hated banks. That all changed about four years ago when I
gave up brick and mortar banks and moved all our money to an online bank called
Ally. I learned about Ally bank on my
favorite financial discussion forum: bogleheads.org. Bogleheads, as they are called, were just raving
about Ally bank, so I decided to give it a try.
At first, my wife was reluctant because she dreaded the idea of redoing
our automatic payments. So, I agreed to
do that work and she was on board with the change. I never thought I’d fall in love with a bank,
but it happened…Here’s why I love banking at Ally:
Some of the highest interest rates in the industry!
Everyone needs to have a checking account, savings account,
and emergency fund. Why leave all that
money sitting in a brick and mortar bank making almost ZERO interest? Move it to Ally and begin earning some of the
highest interest rates in the industry!
Currently, an Ally savings account earns an interest rate of 1.6%. Their no penalty CD earns up to 1.9%. This is where I keep my emergency fund
stashed.
Awesome phone app and website!
The Ally phone app is one of the most frequently used apps
on my phone! I can quickly and easily
move money from checking to savings and back to checking again. I can quickly move money into my kids’
sub-accounts when they’ve earned money doing work around the house. I can deposit a check with a few clicks. I’ve used most of the major banks’ phone
apps, for bank bonus signups (more on that in another post), and Ally is hands
down the best phone app and website. On
the rare occasion that you need to talk to someone, there’s always a super
helpful person on the other end!
Free or reimbursed ATM fees!
Ally uses 43,000 All Point ATM machines for free. The phone app can quickly locate those
machines for you. On the rare occasion
that an All Point machine is not nearby, Ally will reimburse you $10 per month
for any other ATM machine. I think I’ve
only had to use a non-All Point ATM machine once at Denver International
Airport. Within my Ally account, I have set
up a checking account just for our ATM cards.
I leave this with a zero balance until we need to withdraw money. That way, if someone steals my ATM card,
there isn’t any money in that account.
When we need to withdraw money from our ATM, I just click a few buttons, on
my phone, and transfer the money from our savings account. I should note that I maintain an ATM account with
Charles Schwab bank because they reimburse 100% of international ATM fees. I only use my Charles Schwab ATM account when
I’m traveling internationally.
No gimmicks, games, or minimums!
I know I could make a bit more interest at banks like Redneck
bank (yes, it’s a real bank) but I just don’t like playing their games. Making ten ATM purchases a month, etc. is
just not the type of thing I like to waste energy on. If it’s for you, go a head but I prefer a
solid, no games type of bank. There are
a handful of other banks that offer similar, or even higher interest rates than
Ally but I just don’t like their product, phone app, minimums, fees, etc. as much
as I like Ally’s whole product.
Multiple checking, saving, and CD accounts.
This may not be unique to Ally but I like the unlimited
number of “sub accounts” that I can have under my main account. For example, besides our main savings
account, I have a separate savings account for each of our kids, one for after
tax investing, and one to fund CDs. Besides
our main checking account, I have another just for our ATM cards. I keep this account at $0 just in case there
is any fraudulent activity. I quickly
move money into the ATM checking account when we need to make a withdrawal. I can do all of these things with a few clicks
on my phone.
Downsides to Ally?
The only major downside to Ally is that you cannot deposit
cash. This is not a problem for our family
as we rarely receive cash. When we do,
we can just spend it down at restaurants or some other entertainment. If you have a job where you receive a lot of
cash, you could set up a brick and mortar account and then transfer deposited
money to Ally. Personally, I haven’t
stepped into a brick and mortar bank for almost five years and don’t miss them
at all! Suckers really are for suckers!
NOTES: I got back all
the bogus Wells Fargo fees with their latest settlement. I still wouldn’t wish my worst enemy bank
there—I’ll never understand why so many people still do.
The only time I bank with any bank besides Ally, is to pick
up a nice fat bank sign up bonus. Within
the last six months, I’ve made $1,250 in bank bonuses just by moving my emergency
fund around. $500 from Marcus bank, $500
from Key Bank, and another $250 from Simple Bank. Bank bonuses are announced on another favorite
site of mine: DoctorOfCredit.com. I try
to earn at least two thousand dollars, on bank bonuses, each year. It’s hard to pass up free money 😊
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