The Ally Interest Checking Account is a feature-rich online checking account that offers one of the best interest rates on the market, unlimited ATM-fee reimbursements within the United States, mobile deposit, free checks, and no monthly fees. You can use an Ally checking account in conjunction with an Ally savings account, which allows you to keep your money in the higher-yielding savings account and instantly transfer funds back to my checking account when needed.
The Ally checking account offers an impressive combination of consumer-friendly features:
1) Interest rate. Ally’s interest rate is 0.10% for balances up to $15,000, or 0.60% for balances of $15,000 or more. This is a very respectable interest rate in today’s ultra-low interest rate environment, but you can actually do better – 0.90% on all balances – by opening a savings account in conjunction with your checking account. More on this later.
2) No ATM fees. Ally doesn’t charge ATM fees, and, more importantly, reimburses for all ATM fees charged by other banks within the United States. This feature is absolutely critical for an online checking account.
3) Mobile check deposit. Mobile check deposit (the ability to deposit checks by taking pictures of them with your phone) is a great feature as a general matter, but it’s particularly important for online checking accounts, given the absence of physical branches at which to deposit checks.
4) No hoops to jump through for advertised rates/features. Unlike many otherwise competitive online checking accounts, customers need not set up direct deposit or use their debit card a certain number of times in each billing cycle to avoid monthly maintenance fees, to be reimbursed for ATM fees, or to be eligible for the advertised interest rate.
5) No monthly maintenance fees.
6) No account minimums.
7) Free checks and online bill pay.
8) When you call, a human picks up. And there’s usually no wait to speak to a customer service representative. I know this because the website actually lists the wait time, if any, for their customer service line.
9) Very reasonable, clear-cut fees for services that all banks charge for. Ally’s fees are listed here.
As mentioned above, you can open a savings account — which earns .90% APY — in conjunction with your checking account, and then transfer between the two as needed. Transfers occur instantly, so it makes sense to keep excess funds in the savings account until and unless they’re needed. Just note that – pursuant to federal law, apparently – only six withdrawals and transfers (in the aggregate) are permitted from a savings account per month before an “excessive transaction fee” of $10/transaction kicks in. S just be sure to limit your account transfers to 6 times per month.