Ally Bank is a one-hundred percent digital institution that has practically become synonymous with online banking itself.
After rebranding themselves from GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation) in 2009 to Ally Bank following the 2008 financial crisis, they’ve gone on to position themself front and center in the online banking world.
In September of 2019, they announced that they had soaked up over $100 billion in consumer deposits just months after their 10th year anniversary.
Today, Ally Bank offers a full suite of FDIC-insured deposit accounts with competitive APYs that always stay in-line or ahead of their peers.
Ally Bank’s variable-rate deposit account consists of an interest checking account, an online savings account and a money market account. Their fixed-rate, certificate of deposit accounts consist of standard CDs and a handful of specialty CDs.
For the purpose of this review, we will focus on Ally Bank’s variable-rate money market account.
In this post you'll learn:
Ally Bank Money Market Account Details + APY
Ally Bank’s money market account is about as hassle free as they come. It has no minimum deposit requirement to open the account and no monthly balance requirement once the account is opened. The account also has no monthly fees to worry about and features one of the top APYs (annual percentage yields) on the market.
The APY is tiered based on balance amount, however as of the time of this writing all balances come with the same yield. When the savings rate environment becomes more favorable, this will likely change.
Ally Bank Money Market Account Rate
| Balance | APY |
| $0 – $5,000 | 0.50% |
| $5k – $24,999.99 | 0.50% |
| $25k or more | 0.50% |
To put the yields above in perspective, the current national average for a savings account sits at just 0.07% APY and the national average on a money market account sits at roughly 0.11% APY.
Interest is compounded daily for maximum growth. Keep in mind though that this rate is variable and is subject to change at any time without notice.
Accessing Your Cash
Per Federal Regulation D, you are limited to just 6 withdrawals or transfers per statement cycle. If you exceed this amount, Ally Bank will charge $10 for each additional transaction after the sixth. Please note, that due to COVID-19 Ally Bank is currently refunding these excessive transaction fees. We will update this post when Ally Bank’s policy changes on this matter.
Despite limited digital withdrawals and transfers, you are allowed an unlimited amount of monthly ATM withdrawals.
Upon opening the Ally Bank money market account, Ally will send you a debit card that should arrive in the mail no later than 10 business days after your initial deposit. Your first order of checks will also come within this time frame.
With your Ally Bank ATM card you can make unlimited cash withdrawals from your account for free at any of the 43,000+ Allpoint ATMs across the country. Ally Bank will also reimburse you up to $10 per statement cycle for fees charged at other ATMs.
Adding funds to your money market account is quick and easy with Ally Bank’s mobile app for Android or IOS phones. With the Ally Bank eCheck Deposit feature you can snap a photo of your check and deposit it on the go.
If you have any issues accessing your funds or with the account in general, Ally Bank features 24/7 support with live, actual people.
You can get in contact with them a number of ways outlined on their contact page, or you can give them a call directly at 1-877-247-2559. You’ll notice Ally Bank even shows the estimated customer support wait time at the top, right-hand corner of their homepage.
Ally Bank Fee Schedule
Depending on how you use your Ally Bank money market account, you may encounter various fees from time to time. Below is a complete breakdown of how and where you may encounter these.
Ally Bank Fee Schedule
| Action | Fee |
| Returned deposit item | $7.50 |
| Overdraft item (paid or returned) | $25 |
| Excessive transaction fee | $10 (currently reimbursed) |
| Expedited delivery | $15 |
| Outgoing domestic wires | $20 |
| Account research fee | $25 |
Unlike many online banks and credit unions, Ally Bank does not charge for incoming wires – either foreign or domestic.
With Ally Bank, you’ll also be entitled to free standard or expedited ACH transfers, copies of online statements, postage paid deposit envelopes, and free cashier checks and regular checks.
Ally Bank Money Market Account vs Online Savings Account
Ally Bank’s online savings account is a similar product to their money market account in many ways.
The accounts currently pay the exact same APY and have the exact same balance tiers. They also have identical fee schedules and nearly identical account features.
Ally Bank Money Market Vs Online Savings
| Money Market | APY | Online Savings | APY |
| $0 – $5,000 | 0.50% | $0 – $5,000 | 0.50% |
| $5k – $24,999.99 | 0.50% | $5k – $24,999.99 | 0.50% |
| $25k or more | 0.50% | $25k or more | 0.50% |
So what’s the difference?
The difference is in the tool set that the online savings account offers. The online savings account offers 3 automated savings tools that the money market account does not. These are:
- Recurring Transfers – Set up automatic transfers into your savings account that works for your budget. This can be a fixed dollar amount or percentage of deposit.
- Round Ups – This feature is powered by an Ally Bank algorithm. It tracks your Ally Bank interest checking account transactions and determines when it can round-up to the nearest dollar. Once you’ve built up $5.00 in ’round-ups’ the feature will deposit these funds into your online savings account.
- Surprise Savings – Another algorithm feature, this tool analyzes your linked interest checking account for funds it determines as “safe-to-save.” Then it transfers these to your online savings account.
Final Thoughts
All Bank is one of the most popular online banks in the country for good reason. It offers a full suite of FDIC-insured savings vehicles with both fixed and variable rates.
They provide themselves on keeping their yields extremely competitive when benchmarked against the top offers on the market.
Their online features and toolsets are robust and comprehensive and have won a number of awards over the years.
If you’re in the market for a money market account with low maintenance and a high yield, then Ally Bank should certainly be on your shortlist.
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