Update 7/28/20: Bonuses posted today.
Extended until March 23rd, 2020
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: Nationwide, new and existing customers
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: $1,000+ in new money
- Hard/Soft Pull: YMMV (perhaps savings is soft and checking is hard)
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit Card Funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: March 20th, 2020
- Insurance: FDIC
Contents
The Offer
- Ally Bank is offering a cash bonus of up to $250 to both new and existing customers. You’ll earn a 1% cash bonus on new money moved to a new or existing account (must move at least $1,000).
- Must sign up by 3/20/20
- Funds need to be moved by 3/31/20
- Funds must be maintained until 6/30/20
The Fine Print
- New or existing Ally Bank Online Savings Accounts, Money Market Accounts, and CDs are eligible for the cash bonus. If you have more than one of these accounts, we’ll consider all of them when calculating your bonus. Remember, the total maximum bonus you can receive is $250.
- Interest Checking accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), accounts owned by a trust, custodial accounts, Uniform Gift to Minors Act (UGMA) accounts, and Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts aren’t eligible for the cash bonus. New money you add to these accounts, or money you move from these accounts to your eligible accounts, won’t qualify for the bonus.
- To qualify for the cash bonus, you need to sign up by 3/20/20. Once you have signed up, move at least $1,000 from an account at another financial institution to a new or existing eligible Ally Bank account by 3/31/20. You will then need to maintain the funds in your account through 6/30/20. Make sure you sign up using an email address that is associated with your Ally Bank account, or that you plan on using when opening your new eligible account.
- We’ll calculate your cash bonus based on new money moved to your account during the funding period, minus any withdrawals you make during that time. Funds deposited after 3/31/20 will not be eligible for the bonus. Your net new deposits must remain in your eligible account continuously through 6/30/20. Keep in mind, transferring funds out of Ally Bank and then back in won’t increase your bonus amount. We’ll round your cash bonus payout amount up to the nearest dollar.
- You must sign up using the same email address that is associated with your Ally Bank account, or that you plan on using when opening your new eligible account.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
The savings account and CDs have no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
Funds need to be kept in the account until 6/30 to receive the full bonus. There will be early exit fees on the CDs as well (forfeited insurance)
Our Verdict
Online savings account earns 1.5% APY, CD yields are 1.75% (18 months). Best case scenario with this promotion you need the funds in the account for three months, making it an additional 4% APY. I think it’s better to assume you’ll have the funds in there for a total of 4 months (lets you fund a bit earlier and gives you time to withdraw funds etc), making it an additional 3%. Basically works out to be 4.5% APY during that period. With interest rates dropping across the board and a lot of uncertainty at the moment this going to be an attractive bonus. Because of that I’ll be adding this to our list of the best savings account bonuses. Ally has offered a similar bonus in the past, the maximum was $1,000 in that instance.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
think it may be eligible for new accounts too if “GETPAID” code is used” 76 days held, cuts into the bonus received, but still better than the Elements 3.25APY for same time period. $387.66 more than if held at Elements promotion.
What do I need to do to get the cash bonus?
If you plan on transferring new money to your existing eligible Ally Bank account, you must enroll here by 10/21/2022.
If you plan on opening a new eligible Ally Bank account, you must use the offer code GETPAID during account opening by 10/21/2022. Learn more here.
Once you have enrolled or opened a new eligible Ally Bank account, move at least $1,000 from an account at another financial institution to your eligible Ally Bank account by 10/31/2022. You will then need to maintain the funds in your account through 1/15/2023.
Edit: Also nice that they send a confirmation email of enrollment.
Ally pulls seem to take 3 days to post to account so keep that in mind. Pushes out of ally are next day.
I got the same offer. I enrolled and will deposit a few days before 10/31
Got the same offer today – email was “Limited time only: get a cash bonus up to $500”
Posted
Did it say anywhere in the promo that we’re supposed to get a 1099-INT for the bonus? I received one today.
It is considered interest. Why wouldn’t they give you a 1099 for that?
Even when you’re answering people you had to ask a question? 😂
Rate dropping to 0.5% tomorrow. 🙁
just got an email saying they are decreasing interest to 0.6%
usually they say that it is still a good deal, but now even the banks are throwing in the towel, advise using the cash for stock market bets or papier-mache
I too did not receive bonus on time so i called them and uploaded the email printout on their portal. Finally CS called me and told me that they will make an exception and give bonus of $250.00 by sep 3rd.
I got my bonus on Sep 3rd.
31/3/20 – Funded $25,000 by required date
12/5/20 – withdrew 1k, bringing balance to 24k
1/7/20 – withdrew funds (left $50 account balance)
28/7/20 – $240 bonus received (labeled ‘Ally Bank Cash Bonus’)
Didn’t see the $250 bonus in my account on 7/28/20 while my sister did receive her $250 bonus on 7/28/20. So, I called Ally on 8/03/20 and the rep helped me to file a claim. She told me to wait 7-10 business days before the result. I didn’t receive any email as of today 08/14/20. I called Ally today again and found out my $250 bonus will be available in the account after 08/20/2020 due to incorrect email using on the promotion which I never changed any setting in my Ally account. Hopefully, I will see the bonus next week.
Ally email says they’re moving to 0.8% interest. We’re going to have to start paying them soon.
Any suggestions for small 6-figure balance elsewhere?
If you have $250k, you can do Chase Private Client bonus.
If he has $250,000, he’s earing $2,000/year with Ally. For a 90 day period, that’s $500. The Chase deal is $725 for this same period., so it’s an additional $225. I guess we do bank bonuses for less, but it seems like a lot of money to lock up for $225. I guess the point is you can invest that $250k as well, but that takes on some risk.
Just spent 43 minutes on the phone with Ally trying to find out why I haven’t received the bonus. I registered but don’t seem to have received an email acknowledgment. I saved the original offer email, saved screen shots of the entire “small print” of the offer off the Ally website, made my $25k deposit on time (3/31) and held the money at Ally until 7/3. I made notes on my calendar about when the money needed to be transferred, etc. Now they’re treating me like I’m trying to get away with something! I’ve held large CDs with Ally since before it was even called Ally, but I’m done with them if they don’t make this right.
I did not get my $250 bonus. My husband (separate account) got his $250 bonus ($25k deposit) on 7/28. He had received a notice from Ally a couple of months ago confirming that he signed up for the promo, but I think it was after the promo had expired. I never received confirmation, so I was concerned that I would not receive the bonus, but it was too late to fix it. I asked Ally CS about it and they said they were unable to research and just to wait and see if the bonus posted.
It didn’t post and CS now says I have to provide a copy of the promo confirmation, which of course, I cannot do since I never received it. So I will close out my account, as well as my husband’s. It’s unfortunate for them, as we had $300K with them.