Ally Bank Offering a Limited Time 1% Cash Bonus

[Drake3287]

I can only imagine how many deposits Ally must be getting with this, not to mention what the 1% payout is costing them. I guess they wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't a money maker.

 

[audreyh1]

Thank you so much. I’ve been putting off opening an account with Ally and you just gave me the push I needed. Many thanks for bringing this to our attention

You had better enroll immediately online. Enrollment Deadline is tomorrow, then you’ve got until 11/5 to complete transfer of funds.

 

[clifp]

I can only imagine how many deposits Ally must be getting with this, not to mention what the 1% payout is costing them. I guess they wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't a money maker.

It's a customer acquisition strategy. Even in the days of the internet it is still somewhat a pain to move money.

Odds are in a few months when my Pen Fed CDs mature I'll end leaving the money there instead of moving it to someplace else. Even if it's a slightly better deal.

 

[audreyh1]

It's a customer acquisition strategy. Even in the days of the internet it is still somewhat a pain to move money.

Odds are in a few months when my Pen Fed CDs mature I'll end leaving the money there instead of moving it to someplace else. Even if it's a slightly better deal.

Except that existing customers were also offered the deal to bring additional funds. So to me it’s about pulling in assets for the end of the year.

We’re unlikely to leave our CDs with Penfed unless they come up with some terrific new offers. We don’t like their new early withdrawal penalties.

 

[Another Reader]

It's a customer acquisition strategy. Even in the days of the internet it is still somewhat a pain to move money.

Odds are in a few months when my Pen Fed CDs mature I'll end leaving the money there instead of moving it to someplace else. Even if it's a slightly better deal.

I have not seen much interest from PenFed in chasing customer deposits. Their rates and terms are not very attractive right now. That may change if a lot of people pull their money out.

 

[samclem]

I can only imagine how many deposits Ally must be getting with this, not to mention what the 1% payout is costing them. I guess they wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't a money maker.

I was wondering about their approach, too. If they had just added this 1% to their interest rates (esp for their short-term accounts), it would have put them at the top of the rate listings and that would have been quite an attention-getter. OTOH, this method lets them advertise a short-term "deal" (gets people motivated to act), and will probably attract a lot of people that don't actively shop rates all the tine and hop from bank to bank. Those "lazy" customers are bound to be more profitable than the finicky ones.


I was glad to learn about this Ally deal (via the big "sticky" "CD rate" thread). I moved some of my MIL's money into Ally a few months early, and she'll get a nice little bonus. Thanks, guys!

 

[calmloki]

Good ol' Penfed sent me a note the other day noting that I had set my CD NOT to auto-renew. No new offer yet. 12/02/2018 is coming right up PenFed..

 

[jazz4cash]

Some people think CD's are the worst investment you can make while others can't open them fast enough! Just depends on your tolerance for investing and of course everyones financial situation is different.

The only folks I know that think CDs are the worst investments you can make haven’t looked lately beyond the pathetic offerings at most brick and mortar banks, not the folks around here. BofA’s regular rate for 5 yrs is 0.75%! At least they have 13 mo for 1.1 but they are sneaky aggressive about auto rolling into a new note.

 

[Golden sunsets]

If it's an Ally checking account, then no - you cannot do that to qualify for the offer. It must be new money to Ally.

The annualized return is higher as you are also getting the 1.9% (annualized) savings account rate during that 2.5 months.

Not correct. The $100,000 can move in and out of other Ally accounts, once deposited.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[steady saver]

I had signed up before the deadline and was just going through the "opening my account" and depositing money today. What I didn't realize was that this deal is simply to open an Ally Savings account. You can put the money in savings and then pull it back out anytime after Jan. 15th and do what you want...take it back, leave it in, invest in one of their CDs...
I was confused b/c I hadn't read the fine print well and b/c of the conversation in the thread I was just assuming I was buying a CD. Nope. All good on my end. I don't really care if it's a CD or a savings account if they give me 1% back...

 

[Drake3287]

I believe you could have opened any of the approved type of accounts. CD, Money Market or Savings. Either way it's free money, to bad it won't cover what I've lost in the stock market recently!

 

[samclem]

I was confused b/c I hadn't read the fine print well and b/c of the conversation in the thread I was just assuming I was buying a CD.

Don't feel bad, I also didn't read things closely and didn't realize this good 1% bonus deal does not apply to tIRAs or Roth IRAs. I found that out when I called to work through the funding/transfer details with them. Poop!

 

[steady saver]

Well I did it. I was able to sign up and start the transfer of funds process. The only glitch is that we needed to lift my DH's credit lock with TransUnion and he was not having any luck with them trying to establish that he is really who he says he is. That's a challenge for another day as he's at work right now. So I simply opened it in my own name and will turn it into a joint account later.
OP, thanks for the heads up. I am earning an easy $1K for not a lot of effort. And that money was just sitting in a very unproductive credit union money market account.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I managed to scrounge up $60K in an attempt to capture a decent chuck of the bonus $ (well $600 of $1000). I'm now looking forward to my Pen Fed certificates maturing as I don't have much left in terms of ready cash. (Yes, I realize I could take money out of the Ally account if needed - just at the cost of losing the bonus on that portion of the $).

Northpointe bank just raised their MM rate to 2.30%, so things are still moving up. However, I would not be surprised if we see a little slow down on the rate increases given the October 'bumpiness' of the stock market - simply because you know that there are people who have sold equities and have moved some of that $ into 'safe' investments - perhaps increasing the flow of funds to these high yield saving/MM/CD investments.

 

[jetpack]

Just noticed an error in the OP. The offer states:
"Funds must remain in an eligible account through 1/15/19."

Not Feb. So, I guess our cash is freed up tomorrow. Then, bonuses paid 2/15/19

 

[Dtail]

Just noticed an error in the OP. The offer states:
"Funds must remain in an eligible account through 1/15/19."

Not Feb. So, I guess our cash is freed up tomorrow. Then, bonuses paid 2/15/19

Correct.

 

[Drake3287]

I just posted this on the other CD thread but I wonder if anyone including Ally will be offering any new specials or higher rates now that million's of dollars have suddenly become available.

 

[adrift]

Just received a note from Ally saying the bonus will be paid "on or around February 5, 2019".

 

[Dtail]

Just received a note from Ally saying the bonus will be paid "on or around February 5, 2019".

10 days earlier than originally reported. Nice.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Just received a note from Ally saying the bonus will be paid "on or around February 5, 2019".

We received the note as well, after removing $50K today to fund a Navy Federal 3.25% CD.

 

[Drake3287]

10 days earlier than originally reported. Nice.

I think "or around" are the key words!

 

[audreyh1]

Just received a note from Ally saying the bonus will be paid "on or around February 5, 2019".

Yes, I received that email from Ally this afternoon confirming my expected bonus amount and the Feb 5 pay date into my savings account. Sweet!

I had spent the morning upgrading my no penalty CDs and taking advantage of their 2.85% 14 month CD offer.

 

[adrift]

Ally just credited the Payback Time Cash Bonus.

 

[Dtail]

Ally just credited the Payback Time Cash Bonus.

Confirmed. It wasn't there this morning.

 

[Drake3287]

Yup, easiest $1,000. I ever made.