PenFed v Ally v Local: High interest and overall

CBartowski · ‎04-25-2020

Fellow FICOers

I am getting ready to move my nest egg from a local bank in search of higher interest after they gutted all of their rates, as I expected. The bank itself offers no other value to me. I went there thinking it was a one stop with high interest, no atm fees, local branches, decent bill pay options, all great but I have that with other banks now (except high interest). There seems to be a fair amount of other high interest options that dont seem to phased by the temporary situation we find ourselves in.

Research shows Ally in on pretty solid financial footing which raving reviews online and seems to be a solid product with great customer services.

I already have a relationship with PenFed and havent really been impressed but it would save me opening a new account with a different institution.

Maybe Amex personal savings? I've done a fair amount of research and am leaning in a direction but figured I'd leverage everyone's knowledge and experience.

Other side says I keep money in local bank so if/when the system crashes I'd have a better shot at getting cash out. Who knows.

Thoughts? Thanks folks!

shmacckk · ‎04-25-2020

I have them all and I like Ally the best.

There website is great and you can transfer alot in and out compared to others.

I have had no problem with customer service and they have offered a few good bonus the last few years as well.

CBartowski · ‎04-25-2020

@shmacckk wrote:
I have them all and I like Ally the best.

There website is great and you can transfer alot in and out compared to others.

I have had no problem with customer service and they have offered a few good bonus the last few years as well.

Thanks! I didn't see not think to look for any new customer bonuses. Do they have any crazy holding periods like PenFed does when transferring to an external account? I think PF is like 4 days or something.

Gmood1 · ‎04-25-2020

A rewards checking account may benefit you more. If you don't mind using a debit card for a certain number of transactions.

I like Ally bank as well.

I have all the ones you've listed.

FieryDance · ‎04-25-2020

Several alternatives to Ally, all solid reputable banks with limited physical presence:

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

Performance Savings by Capital One

Direct Savings by HSBC

High rate CD:

brixdirect has a good CD rate of 2.28% if the nest egg is over $50k

DaveInAZ · ‎04-26-2020

@CBartowski wrote:
@shmacckk wrote:
I have them all and I like Ally the best.

There website is great and you can transfer alot in and out compared to others.

I have had no problem with customer service and they have offered a few good bonus the last few years as well.
Thanks! I didn't see not think to look for any new customer bonuses. Do they have any crazy holding periods like PenFed does when transferring to an external account? I think PF is like 4 days or something.

For transferring from Penfed to an external account it the pretty standard 2-3 biz days, for transferring to Penfed they give you instant credit, after first 6 months membership it's up to $5k, I've been a member since 2017 and I think I'm up to $50k. It's just their Premium Online savings, currently 1.40%, that has a crazy 6 biz day hold on deposits and it doesn't matter where the funds come from, you can transfer in from another Penfed account and they'll put a 6 day hold on it.

I like and have savings at Amex 1.5%, Marcus 1.55%, and Penfed Premium, but I only do Penfed as I have a Home Equity LOC and use the Premium Savings to make payments.

And yes, bank account bonuses pay much better than pretty much any savings account. I have $2k parked at US Bank savings at a whopping .01% - but they had a promo for a $2K balance in savings from March 31 thru June 30 for a $50 bonus, that's a 2.5% return for just 3 months.

CBartowski · ‎04-26-2020

@DaveInAZ wrote:
@CBartowski wrote:
@shmacckk wrote:
I have them all and I like Ally the best.

There website is great and you can transfer alot in and out compared to others.

I have had no problem with customer service and they have offered a few good bonus the last few years as well.
Thanks! I didn't see not think to look for any new customer bonuses. Do they have any crazy holding periods like PenFed does when transferring to an external account? I think PF is like 4 days or something.
For transferring from Penfed to an external account it the pretty standard 2-3 biz days, for transferring to Penfed they give you instant credit, after first 6 months membership it's up to $5k, I've been a member since 2017 and I think I'm up to $50k. It's just their Premium Online savings, currently 1.40%, that has a crazy 6 biz day hold on deposits and it doesn't matter where the funds come from, you can transfer in from another Penfed account and they'll put a 6 day hold on it.
I like and have savings at Amex 1.5%, Marcus 1.55%, and Penfed Premium, but I only do Penfed as I have a Home Equity LOC and use the Premium Savings to make payments.

And yes, bank account bonuses pay much better than pretty much any savings account. I have $2k parked at US Bank savings at a whopping .01% - but they had a promo for a $2K balance in savings from March 31 thru June 30 for a $50 bonus, that's a 2.5% return for just 3 months.

Thanks Dave. I remember looking heavily into Marcus during last year's search before I got caught at MidFirst (I too am in AZ). Ally has a "no penalty" CD that I was looking at as well beceause if they cut interest rates, the CDs should still be the same for your term but if I had to pull out, they don't penalize. I havent looked fullt into it but interesting notion.

Yea I really need to start looking at these bonuses.

CBartowski · ‎04-26-2020

@Gmood1 wrote:
A rewards checking account may benefit you more. If you don't mind using a debit card for a certain number of transactions.

I like Ally bank as well.
I have all the ones you've listed.

I don't mind the debit card games to a certain extent if its worth it, it's what I had for the past year or so which I am replacing. What did you have in mind?

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2020

I personally use Redneck Bank - a subsidiary of All America Bank in Oklahoma, I believe. I'm not sure how much you can withdraw from Ally at once, but I know that you can withdraw $5k/day from Redneck's money market account. They offer 1.5% up to $50k. Before all of the interest rate cuts, they had a higher APR then Ally, but Ally has a better website (had accounts with Ally in the past). Their marketing is pretty funny, too. If you have more than $50k or will soon, I'd put it elsewhere, though.