Ally Launches Referral Program ($100/$50) [Direct Deposit Not Required]

Update 3/2/25: Good through 12/31/25. Lookback period has also been changed for previous customers.

 note if you are already an Ally customer (with any Ally product), or has had any Ally account open since January 1, 2024 (was June 1, 2023), you are not eligible to participate in this Program as a New Friend.  

Extended to 04/30/25

Update 8/8/24: This is now an open program and no direct deposit is required.

  • Enroll in our referral program by 12/31/2024.
  • Open a new Ally Bank Savings Account within 30 days of enrollment.
  • Set up (within your new account) and start a qualifying monthly automated recurring transfer within 30 days of account opening.
  • Complete at least 3 back-to-back monthly automated recurring transfers.

Ally has launched a pilot referral program. The person being referred receives a $100 bonus and the person referring receives a $50 referral bonus. The person being referred needs to receive a direct deposit within 60 days of sign up to receive the bonus. The standard Ally bonus is 1% of the deposit and that is available for new & existing customers, as that offer works for existing customers you’d be able to do both of these if that offer returns.

You can find a referral link in this dedicated comments thread. Do not share or request referrals in the comments below.
    William Charles
  • On March 2, 2025, 21:40

View Comments (358)

  • 5/19 account opened through referral link
    5/21 $5 real dd
    5/22 $5 account funded by pull from other bank
    5/28 $100 bonus hit

  • DP

    4/13/25: Enrolled in referral program with someone's referral code and opened the spending account.

    4/16/25: $100 regular (free) ACH push from Chase Business Checking coded in Ally as a direct deposit. Trans Description: JPMorgan Chase Ext Trnsfr | Trans Type: Deposit

    Just waiting 30 days for the bonus to hit.

    • Did you get it? It's been 35 days and I got nothing.

      CSR said I need 3 months of it and I said the terms say otherwise. I had to have it escalated.

  • I just received email for this, too. The thing I don't understand is are people still clamoring to sign up for ally?

  • Good news for those who haven't received an email from Ally about their referral link!

    Saw this message in my online account: Share and earn rewards! Your personal referral link is now in your profile. Grab it here.

    Under Personal Information, there is this message: Invite friends, let the cash roll in. Refer a friend to Ally and you both could get paid. Learn how. I can click "Learn How" to see the referral link.

    Not sure if this has been rolled out to all Ally accounts.

    • Negative DP, not good news. No, P1 does not have that link under the profile.
      https://secure.ally.com/profile

      P2 does, whom already had the link from the Ally emails.

      I actually searched my email inbox this weekend. I've been an Ally member since 2018. Not once have they sent me any promotional or informational emails. P2 gets bombed with emails about Ally Invest... and just last week, an email about mobile check deposit as an account feature, for example.

      And yes, before someone suggests it, P1 is opted into promotional emails in Ally's Privacy Preferences settings. Last year, I even toggled it to "Off", then back "On".

      I contacted support twice about opting into promo emails, and they are hellbent on ignoring the question and instead just tell me about the referral program.

      • I've been an Ally account holder since 2018 too. Like you, not once have I been targeted for any sort of promotion.

        ~20 minutes ago I received an email regarding the referral link that is available in my profile. Hopefully you get yours soon. @guest_1889995

        • Yeah, I saw your DP on the Contact Us page.

          It's not that I don't get promotional emails... they send me nothing other than account status emails, like when I submit a transfer, the kind you cannot unsubscribe from.

          Conversely, just this month, not even two weeks into March, my P2 has received:

          "Congrats! Here’s 6 months of fee-waived financial guidance with Ally Invest Personal Advice."

          "(Name), a pre-approved credit card with a 0% intro APR has your name on it"

          "Digitally deposit your check"

          • They have paid me the savings account bonuses in the past, so that was very nice. Guess they are my silent partner.

      • I remember Ally often includes languages like they reserve the right to disallow you to participate in this offer or any future offers. Maybe somehow there is a gamer or abuser flag on your account? I hope not.

        • I'd say that is unlikely. Pretty much any offer I've done, P2 would have done.

          And I have participated in their public offers for savings account balances and a checking account, without issue. They like to use the terms about "fair play", and always paid out regardless, so I cannot be too evil.

  • Can my “qualifying monthly automated recurring transfer” just be a penny a month for three months? Or am I missing something?

    • Less than a $1 transfers might get seen as trial deposits and not count. Not worth missing out on a bonus to save a few cents in interest. @guest_2019982

      • I think Ally wants you to set up the automatic recurring transfer from Ally, so it will be an ACH pull if the money is from an externa account. Even that can be considered trial deposits? I haven't seen this before.

        • Regardless, whether you want to chalk it up to not looking like a gamer, or not looking like a system-generated small transaction, I would make it $2 or more.

          It does say the money does need to go INTO the new savings account.

          FAQ:
          How do I set up a qualifying recurring monthly automated transfer in my newly opened Ally Bank Savings Account?

          "Log in to your new Ally Bank account using your credentials and navigate to 'Transfers' which can be found in the main menu or dashboard. From there, follow the steps to set up a transfer and select the frequency at which you want the transfer to occur. Keep in mind, the program requires you to complete an automated recurring transfer into your newly opened Ally Bank Savings Account at least once a month for at least 3 months in a row."

          • Um, maybe I did not explain well, I meant Ally wants you to log into your Ally account to set up the automatic recurring transfer (of money into Ally Savings), so it will be an ACH pull. If the automatic recurring transfer is an ACH push (into Ally) from another account, I can understand it may be considered trial deposits as you said.

          • I am agreeing with you that it needs to be a deposit, and needs to be setup at Ally, and needs to be reoccurring. Not sure why we are beating the dead horse on this one... or why you are taking pause with my wording.

            We don't know the inner works of what triggers the bonus, and would be safer not to be pennies. But most everything gets gamed around here, so this offer should be no different.

          • No doubt we are on the same page about being cautious not to do penny transfers for this offer. After you brought up trial deposits, I was just curious if you have seen banks treating an ACH pull of a small amount as a trial deposit, because that is very counterintuitive and odd in theory. If there is one, I would be interested to know.

          • I seem to recall there are some banks that will call out in the terms that "micro-deposits" will not work. Chase's $900 checking/savings bonus is one. For the purposes of getting a bonus, the programmer could consider such small transfers as a system transaction. Like Chase, direct deposit for the checking offer, I believe, needs to be $1 or more. I know $1.00 from Novo worked.

            But, it's pretty rare to see deposit account offers where ANY amount will work... 1 cent might work just fine at Ally, but why risk having to deal with the aftermath if it doesn't?

          • @guest_1889929,

            You explained it very well before as I understood exactly what you meant. Your latest comment reminds me of this comment: #1853747. I will never apologize to someone for them having poor reading comprehension skills but you and @guest_1853747 are nicer than I am. 😀

          • Don't you have someone to go ask about their Chex stats? @guest_2015395

    • In theory, it should work as the terms do not specify a minimum amount for the automated recurring transfer, and the terms document does say "a monthly automated recurring transfer of any amount." In practice, I would do at least a few dollars just to be on the safe side (i.e., in case Ally cites reasons of abusing or gaming the offer).

  • Can we reopen the referral thread? Manual Salazar is getting all the referral love at the moment.

  • Absent a current referral thread, I opened a Spending account via the personal page of a frequent contributor. I had an old login from 2023, so the whole procedure took me less than 5 minutes. I entered a small initial deposit at opening, while a $100 DD will land on Friday, completing the bonus requirements.

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