After being GMAC Bank first and then changing it’s name to Ally Bank, everyone’s no doubt seen the new advertisements that emphasizes no fine print. With the bank being connected with General Motors, the first thing I can think of is whether my money will be safe. Of course, I went to research further before my readers could be ripped off with this bank so this review represents my opinion of putting money with its savings account offering.
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Safety of Ally Bank
First things first, Ally Bank saving accounts and CDs are all FDIC insured so our money is safe for up to $250k per account. To increase the amount that you are covered for even further, you may want to open separate accounts under your name and also joint accounts so you get a higher limit. (Another way is to open accounts across different banks, which might be easier.)
Products Offered from the Online Bank
Ally Bank offers 2 main products that we are really concerned about – an online savings account and a certificate of deposit with above average rates. The extremely good interest rates for this type of product and the bank being FDIC insured prompt me to open an account with them.
When I opened an account, it was also nice to see that I can actually open multiple savings accounts and certificate deposits all on one screen. No more submitting multiple applications and spending time filling the exact same form more than necessary.
Ally Bank is Another Excellent Option
There’s really many options out there to compete for our money, but it’s nice to see a bank with competitive rates with a simple interface. The name GMAC may spook you in opening an account, but the safety of the FDIC guarantee should provide comfort, especially since you are getting more interest by going with them.
After 2 years of originally reviewing this bank, I am still an Ally Bank customer. But before you decide, make sure that you read through some of the other user reviews below. Though most people only speak up when they have a problem, you can get an idea of the types of issues people have with their accounts.
- Ally Bank – Official Site
Other News You May Want to Know About the Ally Bank
Is GMAC Really GM?
Many people asked me about this already, and I actually had the same question myself. I always thought that GMAC Financial Services was part of General Motors but I was wrong. GMAC is actually a standalone banking operation that provides lending and banking services. The difference with GMAC to a traditional loan company is that instead of offering mortgages and home equities to consumers, GMAC offers loans and lending to GM and Chrysler dealers to finance their operations.
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Hi Bill. This is gonna be long if you want specifics. A couple of things I felt were sneaky or deceptive are. 1) If you ask specific questions before you set up an acct. and are told one thing and exactly the oposite happens after you set up, that is sneaky or underhanded. This means you already have done all the work to set up. Also getting money bak out IS harder than they tell you before hand as well. Our particular issue was privacy and specifically our SS#s. My husband is a Police officer of 14 years and does a lot of ID theft cases. Virtually everything a person would need to steal your ID will go through the mail together unless you set up email only accts on-line, but they don’t tell you that until it allready has been mail and in my case 13 calls later. Even then you will have to send it back through the mail, no faxing ect. Someone said all banks do this and that is not true. Neither my Key bank or my parents credit union have done this to us. 2) I noticed the first few calls we were given the option to rate Ally. However if you get “call backs” on problems or the service person knows you are unhappy with your outcome you don’t seem to get the same chance to rate them. You just get dissconected. That tells me those good rateings are scewed. I have got things worked out now and my acct has been unfrozen. The reason we were told it was frozen was because of too much activity. There was a lot of activity because each rep gave us different info and told us to do or try something different than the one before. Many gave bad advice we later found out didn’t help. For example we were told we could fax senstive info back and we did, but nope you can’t do that. We were also told they didn’t recieve the fax then another person said he saw it clearly had been recieved. The inconsistancy took thirteen contacts for one single problem. I feel like there is no continuity to training these workers. Not that I think that is the workers fault. I am not as mad as I was but I still have regret overall.
It gets better. My husband just picked up my mail and even though we already sent our SS#s back though the mail to them they sent them again. Oh, and with a wrong address. They used our Pysical instead of mailing and I have told at least three reps to use the mailing. It’s a good thing the Post Office knows us. Oy. What is wrong with these people. They sure are taking a lot of chances with my info despite our making it painfully clear how we feel. Now I am just plain furious again.
i am not saying they are perfect…but please get your information correct……the bank does not deal with your auto account- at all…and the bank is completly in the US….however the auto division of ally financial is out of the country and has your auto loans—if you call the bank- you are calling someone in north america
Was seriously considering opening an account…think I’ll keep looking.
I have been an Ally Bank customer for a while now and I love them. Now with the ability to scan a check and send it in to make a deposit and you don’t have to wait on the mail – I love them. I have not had any issues and they are very friendly when I have any questions. I actually just had to dispute a charge today from a company that keeps charging me and they were more than helpful. It took a while to get all of the information gathered with them to do this but I previously worked for US Bank and know it takes just as long through them to do this. I would say don’t reconsider. It has been a wonderful option for my family thus far!
I have been with Ally since it was GMAC Bank. I have been extremely happy with them and glad to be one of their customers. I have never had an issue with them myself and I tend to think that many problems people have had, they caused themselves. Of course not all of them, but many. Heck nothing is perfect, if it was, there wouldn’t be erasers on pencils or a delete button on your keyboard when auto-correct fails, hmmmmm….
This bank is not very orginazed. We tryed to set up a trust account and when I called checking on the account and asked to talk to someone in the Trust account department I was told that the operator could not transfer me.?? She did put me on hold and ask that department my questions and then came back on the line and told me what they said. I found the process very strange since they told me on one of the many calls to fax some paperwork to them and they gave me a specific number. Of course the fax never got there, even 2 hours later??? I told them to send everything back and I would find a different bank. The lady on the phone said she understood and then asked if there was anything esle she could help me with…She didn’t help me to begin with so why start now… I was very frustrated… DO NOT BANK HERE… BEWARE..
i don’t have any negative comment to say, by just lookin at the basic reviews.this is very (temptin) to open an account with ally.its devasating to hear about these complaints,hope they clear them up.
The worst mortgage refinancing experiences I’ve ever had. I had a GMAC mortgage and decided to refinance to a lower rate. 5 months of worst experience. After providing every possible info to them, they found another and another missing info. They lost certain files after another processor took over my file. After 5 months of back and forth phone calls, faxes we finally had a settlement date appointment. The dept. head assured me that they had all of info needed. I took time off from work to come home by 2 pm for the settlement. However due to some additional BS they never showed up and never bothered to inform me of any delays. I called and threatened with a lawsuit for intentionally delaying the process. The dept. head appologized for the screw up and reschedualed for the next day. Even the title company that came to my house for settlement told me that GMAC/ALLY is the worst company to deal with when it comes for remortgaging and financing…
NEVER AGAIN…
I took a loan from Ally on my Dodge to get a lower price and pay it off early. It has been a nightmare to try and pay the bill. All the phone calls for the car loan are outsourced and when I have tried to pay it off I get sent to several departments and have to tell my story over to each person. It has been so frustrating. No one is consistent with the regulations within the departments. I have asked to speak to a branch in America or a corporate number, but they are not allowed to give it to me. They have been promising a refund for a payment for the last three months and I have to call weekly and have them constantly tell me it will be sent out in 3-5 business days. I wish I could have someone in corporate listen to the hours of conversation that has occurred. Their add says, “I love my bank”, well, “I HATE THIS BANK.”
Just does not sound like Ally. I have had nothing but good dealings with them. Maybe call here in the USA. Not sure what is the issue but maybe you are calling the wrong place.
K
If you read the comments from real customers on this thread, it sounds exactly like Ally Bank / GMAC. Their ethics are questionable, errors are always in their favor, customer service is non-existent.
If the auto loans are in forgein countries why isnt the interest charges staying here to. Its our hard earned money thats paying for the loans and all extra money should stay here no t in some foreign country same as all companies that finanice anything here. If they have a building in Utah is it just a calling center? Tell us where the “brick and mortor” building thats got its name on it and you can walk in and see a rep. there and discuss your account with them…(no such place and probably wont be).
We have an old car lease with GMAC LEASECO Corporation. GMAC/ALLY is a holding bank. No name on the lease but ourselves exists and no one honored the lease but us. They mob rule, hide information, have my private information in another country, and no way to negotiate. This is a weakness in security. For the life of me, I cannot understand these people taking our taxpaying money and then treating us as citizens and customers in this way. Where is their conscience? WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS BEHIND THE EMAILS, TELEPHONES, INTERNET PAGE . Even if you don’t see the white of our eyes…WE ARE NOT STUPID…Lawsuits claiming massive fraud when they foreclosed on mortgages on the way for this bank. You can hide behind the internet, but you can’t hide or run forever. You will be in the same position as you were before robbing us….and you will go down treating people like you have.
I’m surprised that this blog is still up. It used to be run by Ally Bank but it is now under the care of a person named David Ning (really?). I don’t think it will be up much longer, because of all the negative postings. Ally Bank lied to me consistently for over a year about a “new product” that was of interest to me. They strung me along. My opinion of this bank is that they are a bunch of lying scumbags. Just saying.
06/11/11 on FOX news at noontime yet another ‘bully” marketing commercial using children one gets an icecream cone the other “not a new customer” gets none….when will these idiot promoting anguish vrs. intelligent customer service!Where did your marketing department get their educatio? This world has become far too rude and needs to wake up to the fact that it is not cute but, offensive. How about polite customer service when someone calls try putting a smile on faces (adults and children)…..maybe a can buried in a secret place is not such a bad idea to go back to afterall…YOUR Co. sure provokes that type of thinking…..oh, and by the way, your RUDE receptionist informed me that ALL ads with children had ben pulled and had been replaced with adult actors…WRONG….and would that be less ofensive really….ally correctly spelled would be bully!
Things must be getting wonderful at Ally if that is all you can find to bitch about!
I’ve used internet banks for a very long time – first Netbank, then ING (still use it as a backup) and in the last 6 mos or so Ally. I also have experience with several traditional banks.
No bank is perfect. Many years ago Standard Federal “accidentally” withdrew $6,000 from my savings – which I didn’t catch until a few months later, since this was a “rainy day” semi-dormant account – and instead of apologizing, they blamed me for not checking my statements every month. It all came down to a rather suspicious explanation of “teller error”. And to add insult to injury, they didn’t make up the difference in acquired interest until I called the district managers’ office. But NetBank was by far the worst, at the end.
ING is a great bank, never had an issue with them, but they refuse to let you write paper checks, so having them as a main bank is not practical.
Ally, so far, seems to be fine. I did have an issue with a bounced deposit check from another institution – this was a bank-issued check, Ally claimed the check was canceled by the other bank, the other bank denied that. All I know there was a screw up and two banks blamed each other. Ally CS did try to work with me to resolve the issue, and after two weeks the other bank suddenly offered to refund my bounced check fee, which makes me think they found a problem on their end without acknowledging that. Otherwise, Ally seems to be just as good as ING, at least as far as banking is concerned (didn’t deal with investments in either bank). Ally’s advantages are paper checks (which they provide for free) and the fact you can use any ATM and they will refund the ATM fees at the end of the month (there’s a limit but I am only using it 3-4 times a month so I don’t ever hit it). ING has a built-in $1000 credit so that if you overdraft you only pay small interest amount vs large overdraft fee. Also ING uses a (supposedly) more secure login method, although no US bank I am aware of is using the secure token technology they employ in Europe. Ally is easier to get in touch with, they offer instant chat option through their webpage. Ally also offers a slightly better rate on savings and few extra CD options. Bottom line is, both are fine. However I just read that ING’s US branch was bought out by Capital One, which doesn’t have such a stellar reputation.
I have to agree with Ward Cee – the post by ‘GG’ is nothing more but a hidden paid commercial for Ally. As a real customer of Ally Bank I had nothing more but troubles with Ally – see my posts before.
As a company owner I know how important it is to post the ‘right messages’ everywhere to balance negative reviews (I won’t hide – my company also has some negative reviews. We are not perfect).
So with all due respect, GG, it was a really nice try. However, you missed only one tiny yet big detail – customers that don’t have problems, usually don’t post messages. Why would they? If they are happy with the bank, no need to google negative reviews about Ally. So next time try to come up with something that sound more reliable. And please give my best regards to Ally’s arrogant managers.
No offense GG, but your post sounds like a commercial for Ally to me. There’s even a nice bone about ING being good for balanced credibility, and then the ding that they are being bought out. If you are reading these reviews with an interest in banking with Ally, I recommend going beyond this review to see what other (real) customers experienced.
First of all how do I know you don’t work for Wells Fargo or for another competitor to Ally. If you google bank reviews (negative or positive) you are taken to many different blogs. I didn’t see this blog was only limited to negative comments
Everyone Listen carefully. You cannot rely on anything posted on this site. Anyone that visits this site can leave a comment without authentication or authorization of the individual. I can post comments right after one another with a different name and you would not even know. With that, how can one trust a site like this. I sent a message to the administrator of the site but they didn’t get it.
You will never know the true identity of the person behind a message, weather positive or negative. A better place to find out information about Ally is the BBB. Also, if you are skeptical, try opening an account with limited funds and use the services for a few months and see how they perform for you.
Perform due diligence by using known methods of checking companies out, not by using this site.
Regards,
RJ
This blog used to be run by Ally Bank but it is now under the care of a person named David Ning (really?). I don’t think it will be up much longer, because of all the negative postings. Ally Bank lied to me consistently for over a year about the introduction of an IRA product that was of interest to me. The cost to me for this string of bs was between $4K and $5K. Better banks and better deals can be found using bankrate.com. Ally has cute commercials but they’re not worth your business.
Just to set the record straight, MoneyNing.com was founded and ran by me (David Ning) since 2007, long before Ally even became an online bank. The company was also never involved with the operations of this site.
Thank you David, I stand corrected. I will assume that you are not an employee of Ally or any of it’s associated companies unless I hear back from you to the contrary. If you are not employed by Ally, please let me know what the objective of your blog is because I am really interested. You can tell by my posts that I was very angry about Ally continually giving me schedule information and then changing it only to change it again and again. Anyhow, thanks for your reply and correction.
I am fortunate enough to run my own business so I’m not an employee of Ally or any financial institution.
I started MoneyNing out of curiosity of running a blog and a passion about strengthening my personal finances, but the site has grown to what it is today. If you poke around a bit, you’ll see that the site hosts a ton of articles discussing a wide range of topics on money matters and some of these reviews are just a small part of my site.
I’m sorry to hear about your bad experience with Ally but on the other side of the coin, I’ve been a customer of theirs since they started the offering and had no problems. Thanks for sharing though since the aggregate of your dealings with the bank in addition to my own is what will help other people get a truer picture so they can make their own decision on whether to sign up.
My husband and I opened a CD with ALLY which matures 10/19/11. I called 3 days ago to see how I can add to it at maturity and no one seems to be able to locate my CD. It has been turned over to the fraud department, but no one will tell me why. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? I’m worried sick.
Has anyone got a USA contact number or email for ally in the auto financing dept, I have been directed to India for hours on end with false promises for the last three months getting nowhere. the only way i can see at the moment to get their attention is to suspend my auto payments Any help would be very appreaceated
I signed up for automatic payments and they took one out when due and took another one 2 days later. They informed me that they would not be able to send a check for 10 days. Go figure !!! It came out so easy but I wont get it back for awhile.Its Christmas time and I really needed the money, but they would not help at all. Plus I got an overdraft fee from my bank. They were kind enough to wave that, being I never go over what I have in my checking account. As soon as the hoildays are over I,ll be finding a new bank, and dont recommend Ally to anyone. And come to find out, I wasnt even talking to anyone in this country.
Wow! SO surprised to see some of the negative comments about Ally on here. I assume as in most cases in life that some people WILL come across a negative experience. This however has NOT been the case with my own personal experiences in dealing with Ally Bank as a “new” customer for the past 90+ days.
I chose to open a free online savings – no minimum balance savings acct with Ally after doing a simple Google search for “best free online banks” which narrowed my search down to finding an online bank that would NOT require a significant initial deposit. As a matter of fact, I opened my acct with no reqd deposit. I chose to apply for the acct online but since have had the majority of my communication w/Ally via phone. (@Jay if you visit the Ally.com websitte they show several contact numbers for them. I believe the call center is in Oregon but the two addresses I have for them are 1 in Philadelphia, PA and one in Horsham, PA)
I cannot HONESTLY more avidly express my personal recomendation for this bank and their high level of customer support personnel. I am NOT an employee of ANY bank or ad service…simply a disabled single mom who is slowly trying to regain my “footing” financially after waiting 6+ years for my social security to finally be approved.
They are JUST offering some new feature which enables you to access your funds – honestly I can’t recall the name…but it would allow me to transfer funds via e-mail believe it or not, which would have gotten my funds to a friend who needed some help about 2 days faster than an acct transfer. I wish I had fast access to the new info maybe David will post about that service for you all to read.
Sorry to ramble on, I was curious to read the Ally review and wanted to share my personal experience. I’m so glad that DAVID(moneyning) shared my enthusiasm.
Ally Bank is by far the worst banking experience in my life. Ally’s fraud department unleashes a torrent of early morning calls from untrained, unprofessional thugs who are supposed to be checking unusual transactions. Instead, they come across much more like a boiler room of con artists turned bill collectors. The fraud department that is calling clients all day is neither trained in customer service, nor security. Besides the most abusive language that I’ve ever heard from a bank, they gave out my checking balance to a caller without checking the identity, and then closed my account based on a phone call also without checking identity. I could not believe that it was a bank that I was dealing with. Ally’s fraud department caused me to feel that not only was my money threatened, but my life as well. Truly dysfunctional at best and perhaps one of the worst operated companies in the world.
I have just recently opened (2) CD’s with Ally and it was a very good experience. The customer service rep that I talked with on the phone was professional and she made sure she was talking with me by checking all my security questions. I was leary of Ally at first thinking how can a bank have such high interest rates while every other bank’s rates aren’t even in the same universe. I’ve already accrued more interst in 2 weeks then all of last year with another bank. I will most likely open a savings account with them soon.
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