Conscious Banking: Introducing Ally Bank's High Yield Savings Account
/Maximizing the interest you earn on your savings accounts is an easy way to start the process of getting your money to work for you. In addition to interest rates, we also need to be mindful of how the financial institution is using our money. They need to be reinvesting the dollars in our accounts into projects, businesses, and efforts that support the environment and marginalized communities. After all, a thriving economy and environment benefits all of us.
In my new Conscious Banking articles, I will feature bank accounts that are offering a great return and are doing good in the community. This is to help you align your savings and investing accounts with your values.
In this article, I’d like to introduce you to Ally Bank’s High Yield Savings Account.
About Ally Bank
Ally Bank is 100% virtual with headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. The bank offers a variety of financial products from CDs to high-yield savings to loan instruments. Personally, I have been a customer of Ally since 2012. Their customer service and commitment to providing exceptional products are one of the best in the industry. I initially chose them for my high-yield savings account because of the high-interest rate. Although the rate has fluctuated over the years and is now the lowest it has been since I opened my account, I have remained with them because of their innovative marketing approach, virtual presence, and incredible customer support.
Currently, their high-yield savings account offers 1.25% interest. At its height, the rate hovered around 2.2%. Hopefully, it will go back up. Even at this rate, it one of the highest in the U.S. market.
Ally Bank’s Community Commitment
Beyond the higher interest rate, Ally’s innovative approach to banking and their commitment to the community is leagues ahead of its competitors.
For starters, the bank is 100% virtual. You can sign up for an account online and do everything you need via their app.
Secondly, the bank has committed to putting their community first. When it became clear that Covid-19 was going to have a substantial financial impact on residents of the United States, the bank proactively sent out an email stating that they would be willing to postpone credit card, mortgage, and other loan payments for 120 days with no late fees or accrued interest if you needed the support.
Beyond that, they waived overdraft fees. Period.
This not only shows heart, it also demonstrates empathy. Ally Bank didn’t wait for people to say that they needed help before offering it. They understood that if someone is in a dire situation, the act of asking for help is more salt in a gaping wound. To try to alleviate the pain, they extended support before their bankers asked for it.
And their heart is adding dollars to their bottom line. Andrea Brimmer, Ally’s CMO, shared in an interview with the Financial Brand, that the bank added 71,000 new customers during the first quarter of 2020.
When you put people first, profits will always follow.
About Money & Mimosas: Money & Mimosas was started as a passion project by Danetha. A former NFL cheerleader turned entrepreneur, she started blogging as a way to combine all of her passions into a career. Money & Mimosas is now enjoyed by readers in over fifty countries with the same dream of achieving financial freedom without living frugally.
