Which online bank is better ING or ALLY bank?

Where to bank in a post-ING world?

  • ING Direct is slowly but surely being absorbed into Capital One. Recently, they even announced that their name will be changing soon. Call me paranoid, but this scares me and I want to find a new home for my money. ("Online" banks preferred.) I have a checking and savings account with ING, as well as a tiny Roth IRA. The IRA will most likely be heading over to Vanguard soon, so no worries about that. I'd like for my destination bank/CU to have the following features: - Free and instantaneous transfers between checking and savings - Decent Android mobile app w/ photographic check depositing - Free sending of money to others via email or some such - Online bill pay system of some kind - Free ACH transfers to and from a traditional bank Basically it seems like I need another ING... I've heard good things about Ally and USAA, but I'm not sure if they have all the specific features I'm looking for, so I'd like to hear from current customers if possible. Thanks so much!

  • Answer:

    I use Schwab bank, and it has the features you want, except I'm not sure about the sending money by email thing. I do use online bill pay to send people checks, takes a couple days but works great.

aheckler at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

I'm a big fan of Ally. I've been with them for few years now, and they've been pretty great; easy to deal with, always available by chat or phone, ATM refunds, decent rates (as much as anyone these days, anyway)... and I haven't been charged a fee for anything, ever. I'm aware of the GM history but so far, so good. The only thing is that they don't (yet) have an Android app with mobile check depositing, but that's slated for http://community.ally.com/straight-talk/2012/11/coming-soon-an-updated-version-of-ally-mobile-banking/. I had an ING account too but dropped it in favor of Ally, and the Capital One thing makes me think that was a good call.

captainawesome

I bank with USAA and regularly evangelize about them to strangers. They have great services, minimal fees, very robust online banking capabilities and top-notch customer service. Happy customer here. Of the features you're looking for, I know they offer most of them. I don't know about the Android app. You can send money to other people fairly easily through transfers or having USAA write a check for you; don't know if there are any options for transferring via email.

aka burlap

I hope this isn't a hijack, but I'm curious to know what exactly is the problem with Capital One? What's so bad about them? I haven't had any problems... yet. I just want to be prepared so that when/if things start going downhill, I have a decent bail-out plan in place. I've never dealt with Capital One, so I can't comment directly, but I've heard quite a few complaints about their customer service in personal finance forums/blogs.

aheckler

I received this MeFi Mail earlier and am reposting it here with the sender's permission: I can't really respond to your AskMe as I know little about Ally & USAA (other than deciding not to go with them) but I thought I'd poke my nose in this a bit. As an INGD customer first and a CapOne employee second, everything I've heard behind the scenes says they're trying really hard not to screw this up. So much so the INGD folks are still steering the ship and there are no plans to change how things work. If anything there's talk about how to change aspects of the other businesses to be a bit like INGD. So frankly my recommendation, given they're so vocal about keeping INGD the same, is to call them on things that piss you off publicly via Facebook & Twitter. And the name thing was inevitable as ING would not let them keep it. The result is a whole lot better than some of the other options I've heard were in consideration. So if none of the other options work out, I hope you don't stress about it too much. This is of course my personal and completely unofficial opinion.

aheckler

Ally is amazing: good interest rates (even on checking!), they refund ATM fees for any ATM that you use, you can always reach a person on the phone very quickly. I've got no idea what kind of bad experience RedOrGreen has had with them, but in my experience (I've been with them for a long time), they've done everything right.

bsdfish

Side note: I am aware of http://ask.metafilter.com/188978/Looking-for-a-good-alternative-to-ING-Direct, but wanted to ask again due to my list of required features.

aheckler

Ally is the new name for GM Financial - the bank that also happens to make cars. Stay away, I think. I've heard good things about USAA, but ING hasn't yet done anything to actively piss me off, so I'm staying with them ... for now. My other bank is my credit union, but they offer only 0.1% interest and their web interface is really painful. Otherwise, I'd really just stay with them and keep my money in town. Very interested to see if others have good recommendations.

RedOrGreen

RedOrGreen: They haven't pissed me off yet either, but at the same time I don't want to wait around until they do. It's a shame though; I loved ING.

aheckler

I'm also a satisfied USAA customer, and I can verify that they do have a good Android app with photographic check deposit.

Faint of Butt

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.