My husband and I are buying a house and dealing with Ally bank to get cashier check and such is a complete hassle. The mortgage and title companies require cashier check but it took them 5 days to send us out an official check instead. We paid for expedited service but got an expedited mistake. So now we need to pay extra to wire the funds. Big SNAFU! We won't be banking with them anymore.

They truly are a bank that lives up to their promise. They have good rates and are amazingly focused on taking care of customers. Opening an account was easy, but more importantly, they truly look out for your interests. I was going to open a 6 month CD with them, but customer service advised me to open a 9 month No Penalty CD instead since I could withdraw the money whenever i wanted but earn a higher interest rate. Ally Bank is the real deal.

I just received an alert from Ally Bank suggesting that I could earn more money. They call it a sleeping money alert. I am impressed. I always liked their rates and their customer service and now they are even looking out for me at their own expense.
I would recommend Ally based on my experience,

I thought I'd give some follow up on my original late August post. I was finally able to get my account unlocked in early September with the help of Ally's fraud Dept. Almost immediately, I then transferred all but a few dollars to an account with my local bank. A huge relief, let me tell you.

Around the same time frame (9/7) I send in a 2nd signed affidavit denying responsibility for the approx. $140 in unauthorized charges on my account, which was what originally triggered this whole fiasco. Today is 9/20 and still no resolution. So I called, but got the same story: "We don't have any record of receiving your denial form, but let us check into it."

The form I sent in comes with a pre-addressed postage paid envelope. So how could it disappear, twice? The Postal Service isn't that unreliable.

So now I'm back in limbo again waiting to get a callback from their fraud dept. Unbelievable!

I feel sorry for the well-intentioned reps working in customer service at Ally Bank. But if you are unfortunate enough to have any fraudulent activity on your account, you will be left feeling just as helpless as they are.

There is a definite breakdown in communication between Ally's customer service and fraud departments. If you're considering opening an account there I would advise questioning them on their "disputed charges" procedure and how your account could be affected. Tell them you would like a phone number for their fraud dept. so you can better understand the process. The answer should be your first indicator of what could lie ahead.

To those that say (online) banks need to be extra diligent to avoid fraud, I totally agree. But it also shouldn't come at the expense of the legitimate customer who has meet all security challenges.

Last edited 5 months ago by Tim in Nashville

I am a MBA student currently enrolled in the course, "Marketing Management". I do NOT currently have an account with Ally, but seeing the very effectively cute commercials, prompted me to investigate commentary as to whether their advertising implications were for real, re the claims of, no small print, bait and switch tactics, etc. Reading the above commentaries was very helpful and informational. One day I hope I allow Ally''s reputation to earn my decision to open an account with them.

Nevertheless, readers of these reviews need to be aware that banks of the 21st century need to be cautious about more than just managing the funds, they hold. They also need to execute caution regarding the deposits they potentially receive. Unscrupulous depositors require vetting by hyper-scrupulous means to thwart their potentially deceptive intentions.

Examples deposits of which to be wary, include:
• Drug laundering
• International arms transfers
• Ponzi holding companies
• Off shore political lobby-leveraging
• Pending death or divorce estate issues
• Preparatory embezzlement masking
• Setting-up a favorite enemy, (ex-spouse, boss, politician, etc.), for unscrupulous purposes.

Old procedures are like old wine bottles. [I.e. no ID’s required, immediate access to new deposits]

New procedures are line new wine. [I.e. re-vetting of established business customers applying for new large loans, ID to take out cash, ID to deposit, holding of funds, etc.]

Never pour new wine into old wineskins. Just be nice to people. Explain what and why you do what your do. If you tell a customer you will call them back... do it, with a smile in your voice. jp3-71-1419

I've been with ALLY (previously GMAC ) bank for a few years now. Good interest rates, easy to transfer money to linked accounts, friendly customer service, etc. But for me service has diminished greatly since the name change to ALLY.

In early August '09 I was speaking to customer service about a pending transfer, when the rep asked me about 2 identical debits from my account made within minutes of each other. A good catch by the rep because they weren't mine! At my request the debit card was cancelled and replaced with a new one as a precaution. My account was then locked from any outgoing withdrawals while the Fraud dept. investigated. I signed and returned a form denying responsibility for the charges ($140 total).

It is now late August and my account is still locked. Numerous calls to customer service have been fruitless. They aren't allowed to discuss my account, only the Fraud dept. can. I've been told twice now that I will get a call back within 48 hours. I'm now on hour 36 of the third promise of a call. I've talked to supervisiors, nothing. Not even they are allowed to speak with the super-secret Fraud dept., and neither are you!

So I have 10k I can't access and can't get any answers! My next call is to the State AG. First chance I get, I will close this online account. The feeling of helplessness when something goes wrong is not worth the interest earned!

Beware this bank !!!

The Online Saving Account at Ally bank works for me. My savings certainly benefit from the good interest rate. Don't those who complain so loudly about the deposit procedures know about the word, "criminal". The laws and good sense dictate that reasonable steps be taken to prevent American banks from being used to facilitate illegal activities.

It's very difficult to work with an online national bank if you want to do things in a timely manner. I'm a school teacher who set up CDs that would mature over the summer. Transferring these CDs over to an Ally savings account and then transfefring that money to an external account was a huge headache, far from worth the extra interest I earned. The service was professional and those folks who answered the phone were extremely kind -- but NOTHING they said ever came to pass in the time frame they stated. Rolling a CD over to a savings account? They said 48 hours. Actual time? One week and counting. This kind of banking may work for someone, but it certainly did not work for me. Can't wait to get all of my money out and never, ever go back.

i love them ! i have all my money with them. i set up an online cd, no penalty one, and a savings account. i am getting about 30 bucks every month, where with chase i would have only got like 5 for a balance higher than 10000 $ >!>!>?!?!!?>!>!>!?!?

love them. great customer service. no problem so far ! i hate wells fargo

This is the horrible bank I've ever experienced ever.

I started to apply a no penalty bank two months ago, where the rate was 2.5%. I actually think they are delaying the process on purpose so to give a lower rate. Now it is 1.9%.

I've talked to them on the phone over 20 times. They asked for the application ID, full SSN#, birthday, and then the secret question each time. They keep losing my fax, each time I have to repeat the same story to each reprentative starting from the beginning. I faxed my driver license, other bank statement and brokage account statement, even go to post office to wait for a hour to get an certifciation letter. In the end they claimed they need a stamp. After all these, in the end, they ask for an utility bill. I have to talk to PG&E to add my name (originally only my spouse's name). And they keep saying they didn't find the last fax with the utility bill after I faxed them so many other documents.

I feel something is wrong here. This is defintely the worst application experience so far. I am not even borrowing their money! Are they over cautious or they don't really need the business?

After waiting for the guy for 5 minutes to go through the notes and can't help, I finally closed the application. But I feel super bad because I give them every document i have and all personal stuff. I even have to change my secret answers now!

A frustrated applicant