We made the switch to Ally Bank several years ago after reading about high interest savings accounts on /r/PersonalFinance. I was shocked that a bank could offer a 1.2% APR where Chase was offering 0.02% and hooking customers on it.
Needless to say, we nervously made the switch and wondered what it would be like to not have a physical bank for our savings, but after several years we have barely noticed.
Our strategy is to keep our checking account with the pay periods bills + a small liquid emergency fund balance in case we don’t have time to transfer from Ally or aren’t capable of using a credit card. We also keep an Ally Bank debit card with a checking account there should we need to access it.
We keep several accounts with Ally based around savings goals, our accounts are structured as follows:
- Emergency fund
- Taxes
- Vacation
Things We Like About Ally Bank
- No monthly fee’s or minimum balance requirements
- You have access to over 43k ATM’s
- 1.45% APY (interest you earn) per year on savings accounts as of 04/2018
- We’ve always had great experiences with telephone support
Things We Wish We Could Do With Ally Bank
- Deposit actual dollar bills directly