I’ve been a fan of Ally Bank since the early days and it’s been my main bank for many years.
I’m a big fan of Ally Bank as a bank given all of its perks and it’s made even better when there is a bonus. If you want to learn more, our deeper review of Ally Bank will help you understand why I like them so much.
Ally typically offers two types of bonuses –
- Ally Bank – for checking, savings, and other deposit products
- Ally Invest – for self-directly and managed brokerage accounts
Table of Contents
Ally Bank – New Year’s Eve $250 Baby Bonus
I’m listing this one first but it applies to be very small subset of potential depositors. 🙂
If you had a baby born on December 31st, 2020 then you can get $250 from Ally Bank into a custodial Online Savings Account. You just need to sign up for the promotion and upload a copy of your baby’s birth certificate before July 31st, 2021. You don’t even need to deposit money, they’ll stick in a dollar just to keep it active.
You can’t do this until you get a Social Security Number (which you probably have by now but just in case) because you’ll need it to open the account.
Ally Bank – No Active Deposit Bonus
Ally Bank will periodically offer a bank bonus based on deposits but as of right now, November 2021, the bonus is no longer available.
What did the bonus look like when it was available?
Ally Bank has run different types of bonuses in the past. The most recent one is your more typical “open an account, deposit funds, and get cash” and they ran this in the Spring of 2020. It was very appealing because it did not require a direct deposit.
They offered up to $250 if you opened up an Ally Bank savings account, money market account, or CD and fund your account with at least $1,000 in new-to-Ally Bank funds. Keep the funds in the account for three months and get the bonus for 1% of the amount you deposited up to $250. (you can still see the terms & conditions of this offer on their site)
What made this offer unique was that it was available to new and existing customers. They calculated the bonus based on the amount you transferred so existing customers were not left out.
Ally Invest – up to $3,000
Ally Invest is the brokerage arm of Ally and the bonus is based on the amount you deposit into your account. Once you get the bonus, you can’t withdraw the amounts for 300 days or you forfeit the bonus. If you’re in a pinch, you can withdraw it but you risk the bonus.
The bonus is based on this schedule:
| Deposit or Transfer Amount | Your Bonus |
|---|---|
| $10,000 – $24,999 | $100 |
| $25,000 – $99,999 | $250 |
| $100,000 – $249,999 | $300 |
| $250,000 – $499,999 | $600 |
| $500,000 – $999,999 | $1,200 |
| $1,000,000 – $1,999,999 | $2,000 |
| $2,000,000 or more | $3,000 |
To qualify for this bonus, you can transfer your assets from another brokerage and Ally Invest will even credit your transfer fees. In an ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) transfer, the other brokerage may charge you a fee to transfer your assets in-kind (meaning you don’t sell anything and incur a capital gain) but these are expensive. Ally Invest will pay this fee if you transfer at least $2,500 in assets once you show evidence of the charge. (this doesn’t apply to termination or maintenance fees, just the ACATS fee)
How Does This Bonus Compare?
Since Ally Bank doesn’t have an active bank promotion, it’s hard to compare but here are a few great live offers.
Chase Bank’s best checking bonus offer live will give new Chase checking customers $200 when they open a Chase Total Checking account and set up and receive a direct deposit within 60 days. You have to keep the account open for at least 6 months or the bonus will be taken back. There is a $12 monthly service fee that is easy to get waived, such as having a monthly direct deposit of $500 or more.
If you don’t want to mess with a direct deposit but you have a large balance, Citi’s promotional offer is exceptional if you have $50,000 to move over. Get $700 when you deposit $50,000 in new-to-Citibank funds and maintain it for 60 days. This offer is also possible with “just” $15,000 in new funds but the bonus drops to $300.
If you have more modest funds, another bank bonus offer to consider is Bank of America. You only need $25 to open an account and once you get two qualifying direct deposits of $250 or more within the first 90 days, you’ll get $100.
If none of these catch your eye, we maintain a list of the best bank promotions here.
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