Update November 2022: Ally has raised the rates on their CDs and savings accounts, but notably the 11-month No Penalty CD is now at 3.10% APY, which isn’t amazing, but if you are already committed to this deposit bonus, it is a way to raise your effective interest rate while both still qualifying for the deposit bonus and maintaining liquidity. Note the terms state “Your new money must remain in an eligible Ally Bank account: Online Savings, Money Market or a CD.”
Original post (offer is now expired):
Ally Bank has a new “Get Paid” cash deposit bonus (link for existing customers) that is offering a 1% cash bonus (up to $500) on new deposits on top of their existing interest rate. Valid for both new and existing customers. Given the holding period, this roughly equates to the same total interest paid as a 3-month bank CD at 6.25%+ APY. Thanks to reader Paul for the heads up. Here’s how it works:
- Open an account and/or enroll by 10/21/2022. You must enroll or you won’t get the bonus. New customers use the promo code GETPAID. Existing customers must enroll with the same e-mail as linked to their Ally bank account.
- Fund your account by 10/31/2022. This means your account has to be approved, opened and funded by this date. Move at least $1,000 from another financial institution to a new or existing eligible Ally Bank account. Remember, transfers can take up to 3 business days.
- Keep money in your account through 1/15/2023. Your new money must remain in your eligible Ally Bank account through 1/15/2023. Keep in mind, any withdrawals made during this time may reduce your bonus.
- Get your cash bonus on or by 2/15/2023. Get a 1% bonus on the money you moved, up to $500.
Ally had a similar bonus in 2018 and 2020. Note the following extra details:
- Cash bonus applies to new money added to an eligible Ally Bank account, not your total balance.
- Your new money must remain in an eligible Ally Bank account: Online Savings, Money Market or a CD.
- Minimum cash bonus is $10 ($1,000 deposit), maximum is $500 ($50,000 deposit).
Here’s an example:
1. Take your 10/11 end of day balance total across all eligible accounts. Ex. $5,000.
2. Take your 10/31 end of day balance total across all eligible accounts. Ex. $15,000.
3. Your max possible bonus is 1% of $10,000 = $100. If your total balance across all eligible balance ever goes below 15,000, then your bonus goes down as well. Let’s say your total balances from 10/31 onward through 1/15 varies from $12,000 to $18,000. Your bonus will only be 1% of $7,000 = $70.
Rough math. The current rate on the Ally Online Savings account is 2.25% APY (variable, likely to rise again soon, but who knows what the future holds) as of 10/12/22. Given that you can an additional 1% bonus in roughly 3 months, the bonus itself works out to the equivalent of a 4% annualized yield. 2.25% + 4% = 6.25% total annualized yield over 3 months (no guarantee, this is just an example estimate). You could also open a CD to lock in an even higher rate.
Should I move money out of Ally and back in to qualify? No, it won’t make any difference as Ally has already thought of that. Basically, your comparison point is your balance as of the end of day on 10/11/22. From the full terms and conditions:
We base your Cash Bonus calculation on the New Money you deposit into an eligible Online Savings account, Money Market account, or CD at Ally Bank between 10/12/2022 and 10/31/2022 (and then keep in your account through 1/15/2023). This means money you move out of Ally Bank and then back in won’t qualify for the bonus, and any withdrawals you make from an Online Savings account, Money Market account, or CD between 10/12/2022 and 1/15/2023 may reduce your bonus amount. Transfers of funds between existing Ally Bank accounts won’t qualify for the bonus. Remember, check deposits and transfers from other financial institutions can take a few or more days to complete, so make sure to start any transactions well enough before the 10/31/2022 deadline for those transactions to clear by or before 10/31/2022.
We’re all about playing fair, so if we believe you’re trying to game or abuse this offer, you won’t be allowed to participate in this offer or any future offers.
Existing customers. As a longtime Ally accountholder, I’m happy again to see that this offer includes existing customers, even if it has to be new money.
Bottom line. Ally Bank has a new promotion to attract new money (or bring back old money). You get a 1% cash bonus (up to $500) on new deposits on top of their existing interest rates. At the current rates for their savings account, this works out to a 3-month holding period paying roughly 6.25% annualized interest. You must enroll soon by 10/21/22 and your account must be opened and fully funded by 10/31/22 at the very latest.
Looks like I will be scraping up all the idle cash from my various accounts in the hopes of maximizing this bonus.
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I think you have a typo in the article – twice it says the max bonus is $500, but once it says $250. Looks like $500 is correct.
Thanks, fixed.
I have a checking account, savings account and CD accounts with Ally all under the same email address. If I transfer funds from another institution into my existing Ally savings account, can I still move money out of that Ally savings account (i.e. move some money from savings into a CD later this year) and still qualify for the bonus in January or would this be considered a “drop” in the savings account balance?
If you are an existing customer, does the money have to arrive in its “ultimate” account? i.e. does the money have to directly come in from the outside to a savings account to get the savings rate+bonus or can it come into your checking account and then be transferred to a savings account to get the savings rate+bonus?
If I move money from outside to the Ally money market and then move to the Savings, do I get the bonus? I do not have my outside account linked to the savings account.
+1
Going on two decades reading, thanks for all the content Jonathan! I don’t bank with Ally yet but going to try this promo. Curious, if I open with $80,000 and draw funds during the promo period (say, $20,000 — leaving $60,000 in the account), will I still receive the $500 bonus since I’ll still have more than the $50,000 required to get the max amount? My concern is that they’ll consider the draw to come from the initial $50,000 and somehow lessen the bonus.
One thing to be aware of: for new customers, they limit transfers OUT to $10k per day. After 90 days, the limit goes up to $500k per day.
There used to be a limit of 6 withdrawals per statement cycle, after which they would charge $10 per transaction. But the text says they currently arent charging that fee. Not sure if it might come back.
If i put in 50000 at 2.25 apy, I get $1125 after 1yr plus the $500 bonus = $1625 I figure that to be 3.25 APY for the year. so I;m confused with you quoting 6.25 %. Please explain.
The key word is “annualized”. They are paying you 1% of your balance flat, but you only have to keep it there for 3 months. After the 3 months, you can move it somewhere else. 1% in 3 months = 4% annualized on top of the usual interest rate.
Say you have 10k at Ally already. You deposit 50k for the bonus. In a couple of weeks you spend 5k or so.
Does your bonus amount get reduced?
Yes it would be reduced. They clearly say you have to keep it until 1/15/23.
The money market account is a checking account. Money goes out all the time.
I have an Ally checking account too, but it’s not about the net in or out, it’s just the total daily balance across your accounts. Whatever the low point is during that period, that’s what they look at.
Is this low balance based on the date you enroll or the date the enrollment ends ie 10/21/22?
I just think of this promo as “how much of the money can you keep in Ally the ENTIRE time from 10/31 to 1/15?”. Ally is trying to gather long-term deposits. If you take a marble out of the jar, it no longer counts towards this game (even if you put it back in later).
But can’t it be argued that I merely spent $5k of the old money, and left the new money ($50k deposit) untouched?
I have some cash in my ally invest account. Can I withdrawn this money and put it into saving acct?
Good question, I would live chat with Ally to be sure, but it seems like it would count.
From their questions section:
“..any withdrawals from an eligible account at Ally Bank before then may reduce your Cash Bonus.”
This is way too vague, Ally!! I wonder how the scenario I posted above would play out. I don’t trust the online chat reps to answer this hehe.”
Here’s an example:
1. Take your 10/11 end of day balance total across all eligible accounts. Ex. $5,000.
2. Take your 10/31 end of day balance total across all eligible accounts. Ex. $15,000.
3. Your max possible bonus is 1% of $10,000 = $100. If your total balance across all eligible balance ever goes below 15,000, then your bonus goes down as well. Let’s say your total balances from 10/31 onward through 1/15 varies from $12,000 to $18,000. Your bonus will only be 1% of $7,000 = $70.
Thanks for the link. I did not get anything from Ally as an existing customer. I do all online but notice their posted wait time for phone calls seems atrocious. 60 minutes +
If you look at the response to the deal FAQ, “What account(s) are excluded” it suggests to me that eligible new money needs to arrive directly in the savings account without first stopping over in checking or an ineligible account. Pertinent text from the response to this FAQ,
“ New money you add to these excluded accounts—or money you move from these excluded accounts to your eligible accounts—won’t qualify for the bonus.”
I don’t think it matters where it comes from. At the end of every day, Ally will add up the sum of Online Savings, Money Market, and CDs. That’s the number. Whatever the low point of that number is during the holding period is what they will use for this bonus.
I don’t think it’s a fancy calculation at all. Ally wants new money that you keep for a while, not just a day or week.
(10/31 total minus 10/11 total) – (low point during entire 10/31-1/15 period) = how much new money Ally says you have added for this promo.
Your explanation is what I thought would have been the case before reading the referenced FAQ. The wording in the FAQ suggests they are reserving the right to do a more nuanced calculation. Whether they follow through or not is unknown. By excluding funds coming from excluded accounts they could avoid paying the bonus on new funds they’re likely to receive anyway (e.g., existing direct deposits).
I see what you are referencing.
My reading is that you can’t just move $50k from your Ally checking into your Ally money market account by 10/31 and call that “new to Ally money”. I think that’s a reasonable condition.
If you want your future direct deposits to count in keeping your balance up during the holding period, you could simply switch your direct deposits to go into your savings account or a money market account. If you are concerned about the 6 withdrawal limit, simply open up another savings account.
Hi Jonathan,
You mention: “You could also open a CD to lock in an even higher rate (6.25%)? Where can we find such CDs?
https://www.ally.com/bank/cd-rates/
Can I open two individual accounts and collect the $500 twice (once for myself, once for my wife)? I’d guess, yes. But does it matter if the money comes from an outside joint account?
If one account is in your wife’s name (using her tax ID), and the other in your name (using your own tax ID), then yes, each account will qualify for the bonus. Where the money comes from doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a source from outside Ally.
But here’s another (and more nuanced) scenario:
I own an individually titled savings account with Ally using my tax ID. My wife too owns a savings account with Ally (using her tax ID), but I’m secondary owner on the account. Can both accounts qualify for the bonus?
Regarding the update, a lot of people were worried this move could make them ineligible for the bonus on the Doctor of Credit blog post, to the point where they were posting conversations with Ally Reps with clarification. Seems many are not willing to chance it, but if you are already signed up and you move money by today (Nov.4) it seems like it should work. For myself I’m going to stick with the savings account as they are consistently raising the rate there anyway.
It seems pretty clear to me. Ally will add up the balances of all the eligible account type each day. This would be simple and easy to code. If a CD happens to mature and gets deposited into savings during the maintenance period, that shouldn’t affect your bonus. Same as if you funded a new CD with your savings balance.
I guess the question is whether a CD opened after 11/4/22 would be considered an ‘eligible account’. I reread the T&C and it’s just not clear from it that that is the case. Very confusing.
My brother did this (opened new CD on 11/7 using new funds transferred before 11/4 to Savings). Was told that the funds in the new CD did not count towards the promo. Fine print indeed and to me not in the spirit of the promo.
I have been with Ally for years since you first started talking about them. But people should know that it is next to impossible to reach anyone there. The phone lines have a 30 to 60-minute wait. Live chat has 4 hours of wait time and emails take several days.
Good afternoon MMB folks! Another 2nd decade follower here. ???. So I was curious to see if 1/17 was payday on this but I suspect bonuses may show in revolving interest accrual periods. (We’ll see…maybe sooner)
But I assume since we’re post 1/15/23 that we can move money around again without any effect on this bonus program? ??
Yup, green light to move money elsewhere if desired. I’m assuming they will pay out closer to 2/15.