Ally Bank Checking Review, After 3 Months As Primary Account

(Update October 2011: Ally has just announced that eCheck online deposit is available to all interest checking, online savings and money market accounts. So even if you just have the online savings account, you can deposit checks into it via scanner from home. I’ve updated my review below accordingly.)

It’s been a few months since I opened up an Ally interest checking account to complement my existing 5-year CDs and online savings account. Click here for a rundown of features that show why I made the switch. I’ve managed to try out many of their “perks”, including their official Perks program. Here are my experiences:

Unlimited ATM Rebates Anywhere in US
I’ve made a few ATM withdrawals at random ATMs, and the surcharges have been credited at the end of the month as promised. (I wish they were credited immediately.) Actually being charged those fees made me realize how fast $2-$5 a pop can add up. My fee rebates were almost higher than the interest I earned one month! I actually feel bad making Ally pay for something I could avoid, so whenever possible I still use my local bank’s ATM card for now. International ATMs are not eligible.

Free Overdraft Transfers from Savings
The checking account pays less interest than savings, so it is best to open both and keep as much money as you can in the savings. The Ally online saving account currently pays APY, and is one of the places I keep my emergency fund cash. With their free Overdraft Transfer Service, Ally will automatically transfer the required funds from savings if your checking goes negative. I actually initiated this last month when I wrote a check, here’s the screenshot from my account:

Ally transferred an amount equal to a round number near the overdraft amount plus $100. Alternatively, you can set it to auto-transfer a preset amount over if your checking balance dips to a certain threshold.

eCheck Online Deposit
Ally eCheck Deposit is a feature where you can scan in your checks over the internet with a desktop scanner. A smartphone camera-based app is supposedly in the works. This is now available on all interest checking, online savings and money market accounts. I have made multiple deposits successfully on a Mac after following their instructions carefully. (On Mac OS X, users have to use 32 bit mode for Firefox or Safari and Javascript. Chrome is always 32-bit.)

The process is straightforward. You must endorse your check with your signature, the phrase “For Ally eCheck Deposit Only”, and your account number. You can also deposit directly into your Online Savings account. The funds availability policy is such that checks submitted before 4pm Eastern will post the next business day, otherwise the 2nd business day. Your deposit starts earning interest as soon as the check posts, although for large deposits you may have a hold preventing immediate withdrawal.

Ally Perks Debit Card Rewards
This is a free rewards program that is linked to your Ally Checking debit card. It’s not a % cashback program on everything like that offered at PerkStreet Financial, but instead is more of a coupon-style service that works at specific online or brick-and-mortar merchants. I did see a few opportunities for some easy savings, for example $1 off a $1 minimum purchase at iTunes, $5 off $50 at Lowe’s in-store, and $2 off $7 at Subway.

You don’t need any coupons or codes, just pay with the Ally debit card and the discount amount is deposited directly into your checking account. I plan on checking in from time to time for any useful discounts, but this program certainly won’t convince me to buy things on their debit card. I’ll stick with credit card rewards.

Find more in Banking | 10/26/11, 6:43pm | Trackback

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Smithee Update: Six Months in San Diego

This article is by Consumerism Commentary staff writer Smithee, who is juggling about a dozen clients and creative projects as a freelancer.

It’s been a year since I was laid off and decided to become a full-time freelancer, and it’s been six months since my wife and I made a risky decision to move the family from Dallas to San Diego. Overall, we think moving was the right thing to do, but there are a few things keeping me anxious.

I’m writing this update from the Starbucks near the house we’re renting in San Diego, because Starbucks has air conditioning, and the heat and humidity in the house were too difficult to ignore. The good news is that today is only about the tenth day that it’s been too hot in San Diego since we moved back in April.

As I hoped, moving to a place with nice year-round weather has had a good effect on my ambition and productivity levels. Some people like warm weather, but I found that Texas’s six-month-long summers would infect my outlook and attitude, creating tense and downright depressing work relationships.

In addition, working for myself means I can create my own hours and I’m not suffering from road rage or dealing with the rising gas prices. To be fair, though, San Diego’s rush hour is literally only an hour long, which is a level of sensibility I never saw in New Jersey, Seattle, or Dallas.

Most days I even have enough time in the morning to sit down and eat breakfast outside, which is part of my American dream.

Including fixing up the old house, packing, storing and moving all the stuff, animal medicine and drama, paying an agency to rent out our house in Dallas and $4,600 for the first & last months’ rent plus a security deposit in San Diego, moving wasn’t something we could do with cash on hand. We’ve created over $10,000 in credit card debt for the privilege of living somewhere better, and it almost always seems like the right decision.

Long-time readers might remember that I spent over a decade with thousands in credit card debt, before I finally buckled down and, with the help of a respectful salary, wiped it out over about nine months. I hate credit card debt, and knowing those balances are out there building interest against me causes some anxiety. The silver lining is that the “San Diego debt,” unlikely my legacy solo debt, is something that my wife and I are both contributing toward reducing, so it should go away that much more quickly.

The best part about our move (financially speaking) is that we’re saving at least $200 a month on air conditioning, which is the same amount more that we’re paying for housing. If we didn’t have to spend so much on rent deposits and agencies, it’d basically pay for itself. Over time, it will.

We’re not really reducing debt in a meaningful way, yet. At the moment, my wife has the big dependable salary. My work sometimes generates large paychecks, but freelance work is not reliable, so I’ve been spending more time finessing and futzing with each month’s household budget instead of putting payments and savings on auto-pilot.

I’ve been using the 50/30/20 guideline, and in the months where I have large freelance income, we’re able to save quite a bit. I know what I’m supposed to do is keep saving until we have three months’ worth of emergency savings available, or put it toward credit card debt and then build emergency savings.

What I want to do is use it to pay off the car loans early. One is on a schedule to expire in January, and the other one in June of next year. They add up to over $1,000 a month, and unlike the credit card debt, they always require the same regular payment amount, or else bad things happen.

In fact, once the car loans (and the old IRS installment) are completely paid off, we could fulfill all of our “needs” (the 50 part of 50/30/20) with just my wife’s salary. If things go the same way they have been, and if there aren’t any expensive emergencies, isn’t it smarter to free up $1,000 a month for saving or debt payments?

That’s the trick, isn’t it? You’re supposed to assume there will be emergencies that require you to have saved up a lot. I’ve never had that much saved in my life, but I’ve also never been hit with a truly expensive emergency, and I am impatient to be out of debt.

Photo: robsettantasei

Published or updated September 7, 2011. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.

About the AuthorSmithee formerly lived primarily on credit cards and the good will of his friends. He is a newbie to personal finance but quickly learning from his past mistakes. You can follow him on Twitter, where his user name is @SmitheeConsumer. View all articles by Smithee.

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