Chime® vs. Ally: Which one wins?

Chime and Ally are both online banking options. Chime offers checking and savings, a credit-building secured card, overdraft services and cash advances. Ally is more of a traditional option with typical products like checking and savings, certificates of deposit (CDs), a money market account (MMA), credit cards and investing and lending services. Both have affordable deposit accounts, but Ally has more products and services and better APYs on savings.

Chime vs. Ally: A quick comparison

• Chime terms and conditions

  Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services and debit card provided by The Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.
  ATMs: Out-of-network ATM withdrawal fees may apply except at MoneyPass ATMs in a 7-Eleven, or any Allpoint or Visa Plus Alliance ATM.
  Deposit: Once the retailer accepts your cash, the funds will be transferred to your Chime Checking Account. Cash deposit fees may apply if using a retailer other than Walgreens and Duane Reade.
  Mobile Deposit: Mobile Check Deposit eligibility is determined by Chime in its sole discretion and may be granted based on various factors including, but not limited to, a member's direct deposit enrollment status.
  Chime Savings Account: Chime Checking Account is required to be eligible for a Savings Account.
  APY: The Annual Percentage Yield (“APY”) is variable and may change at any time. The disclosed APY is accurate as of May 22, 2023. No minimum balance required. Must have $0.01 in savings to earn interest.
  Get Paid Early: Early access to direct deposit funds depends on the timing of the submission of the payment file from the payer. We generally make these funds available on the day the payment file is received, which may be up to 2 days earlier than the scheduled payment date.
  Credit Builder: To apply for Credit Builder, you must have an active Chime® Checking Account.
  SpotMe: Chime SpotMe is an optional, no fee service that requires a single deposit of $200 or more in qualifying direct deposits to the Chime Checking Account each at least once every 34 days. All qualifying members will be allowed to overdraw their account up to $20 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals initially, but may be later eligible for a higher limit of up to $200 or more based on member’s Chime Account history, direct deposit frequency and amount, spending activity and other risk-based factors. Your limit will be displayed to you within the Chime mobile app. You will receive notice of any changes to your limit. Your limit may change at any time, at Chime’s discretion. Although there are no overdraft fees, there may be out-of-network or third party fees associated with ATM transactions. SpotMe won’t cover non-debit card transactions, including ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers, or Chime Checkbook transactions. See Terms and Conditions.

Chime vs. Ally: Account options

Ally is an online bank with over 11 million customers, and Chime has double the number of customers with over 22 million. Both offer everyday bank accounts without pricey overdraft fees, annoying monthly maintenance fees or high opening deposit requirements. However, neither option has physical branches, so you must be comfortable managing your accounts entirely online.

Ally and Chime both use the Allpoint ATM network. Ally offers fee-free use with over 43,000 Allpoint ATMs nationwide and up to $10 in monthly out-of-network ATM reimbursements with its checking account. Chime also includes the MoneyPass and Visa Plus Alliance ATM networks, giving customers around 60,000 fee-free ATMs.

Ally doesn’t accept cash deposits, but Chime does at many retail locations, including Walmart, Speedway, Family Dollar, CVS and Rite Aid.

Banking

Ally offers these accounts:

• Ally Spending. An interest-bearing checking account with no monthly fees, opening deposit requirement or overdraft fees. It earns 0.25% APY on balances over $15,000 and 0.1% APY on balances under $15,000. Accepts all incoming wires with no fees and offers free cashier’s checks. You can also get up to $10 in out-of-network ATM fee reimbursements per month, savings round-ups and budgeting tools.
• Ally Savings. Ally’s savings account has no monthly fees or balance requirements and a high 4% APY on all balances.
• CDs. With no opening deposit requirements or monthly fees, Ally’s CDs have rate boosters if you renew, no-penalty options and high APYs.
• Money market account. Ally’s MMA is among the best MMAs out there. It offers up to 4% APY on all balance tiers, just like its savings account. There are no monthly fees, overdraft fees, excessive transaction fees or incoming wire fees. Unlike most MMAs, you’ll get a debit card and checkwriting.

Chime doesn’t offer CDs or MMAs and has lower APYs than Ally. But its offerings are solid:

• Chime® Checking. Free to open and maintain with no monthly fees or deposit requirements and overdraft fee-free with SpotMe. With the Chime Checking account and direct deposit of $200 or more each month, you can unlock extra perks such as the overdraft service Chime SpotMe®, the cash advance service MyPay and the credit-building card Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa® Credit Card.
• Chime savings. An optional savings account that unlocks when you have a Chime® checking account. It has no monthly fees or opening deposit requirements and earns a so-so 2% APY.

Borrowing

Ally offers many more lending options than Chime does:

• Loans. Ally offers mortgages, auto loans, personal loans, multiple refinancing options and business lending.
• Credit cards. Offers four personal credit cards: Ally Platinum, Ally Everyday Cash Back, Ally Unlimited Cash Back and Ally Unlimited Cash Back for Nurses & Educators. All options are traditional, unsecured credit cards.

Chime has cash advances and a secured card:

• Secured card. The Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa® Credit Card is a secured card backed by the Chime checking account. It has no annual fee, interest charges, minimum security deposit or credit check. It requires direct deposit of at least $200 per month in the Chime checking account.
• Cash advances. Called MyPay, it’s Chime’s new cash advance feature offered to Chime checking account holders with direct deposit of at least $200 per month. It offers advances between $20 and $500 without fees or interest. However, its state availability is limited, and a wider rollout is expected in late 2024.

Investing

Chime doesn’t offer any investing accounts or trading options — but Ally does.

Ally’s investment platform has self-directed trading, robo portfolios, personal investment advice and IRAs. You can trade stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), commission-free ETFs, bonds, mutual funds and margin accounts. However, you can’t trade fractional shares or cryptocurrencies.

Apps, features and more

Ally is integrated with Zelle for easy peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, and it offers mobile check deposit and savings round-ups. Both its checking and savings accounts are interest-bearing. With checking and savings, you can do envelope budgeting with Ally “buckets.” With the buckets, you can easily sort savings goals or spending categories within the Ally Bank app. Ally also accepts joint accounts, whereas Chime doesn’t.

But Chime beats out Ally in a major way: Chime accepts cash deposits at retail locations. Chime also has many of the same features as Ally, such as savings round-ups and mobile check deposits. Chime isn’t integrated with Zelle, but it has its own P2P payment system called Pay Anyone, which lets you send money to anyone with a debit card. You can also check your credit score in the Chime app — something Ally doesn’t offer. Chime also skips the ChexSystems review, so it’s a solid second-chance bank account option.

How Chime and Ally’s fees compare

With Chime or Ally’s checking and savings accounts, you won’t have to worry about monthly fees, opening deposits or overdraft fees. Ally’s MMA and CDs have no monthly fees or opening deposit requirements.

Chime charges a small $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee. Ally doesn’t list its exact out-of-network ATM fee, but it does offer up to $10 in monthly ATM fee reimbursements.

What customers say about Chime and Ally

As of June 2024, Chime has had over 8,000 Better Business Bureau (BBB) customer complaints in the last few years, holding a C+ rating with the BBB. Ally has around 500 BBB complaints and an A rating. The majority of Chime’s complaints cite accounts closing suddenly due to its previous overzealous fraudulent alert system, but those complaints have slowed considerably.

Ally has very few BBB complaints for being an online-only bank. Most online banks tend to have thousands of negative reviews and complaints because resolving account issues without physical branches can be tricky. However, Ally appears to manage just fine.

On Trustpilot, Ally has 1.3 stars out of around 600 reviews, and Chime has 2.4 stars with over 9,000 reviews. Similar to other online banks, the majority of reviews for both options are from customers stating issues contacting customer support to fix issues and long response times from representatives.

On Reddit, customers are mostly pleased with Ally. Redditors love the lack of fees on bank accounts, its mobile app, the fast and easy transfers and the high APY on savings. On Chime threads, most customers say they’ve been using Chime for years with no issues. Many users also call out the credit-building secured card and say Chime is a decent second-chance banking option because it doesn’t review your banking history when you apply.

Final verdict: Ally wins

Placing options side by side, Ally is the clear winner. While Chime and Ally both offer fee-free checking and savings, Ally offers higher APYs and more services. Ally features a much higher 4% APY on its savings compared to Chime’s 2% APY. Ally also offers CDs, an MMA account with a high APY, investing options and various lending services. It also has fewer customer complaints than Chime.

However, Chime is still a top option — especially if you need a second-chance account, want to improve your credit score or need a way to make cash deposits. The Chime checking account skips the ChexSystems review, and Chime’s Credit-Builder Card is available to Chime checking holders with $200 in monthly direct deposits. The secured card has zero interest charges, no monthly fees and no hard credit check.

But with either option, you won’t get access to physical branches.

Ally at a glance

Ally is best for when you want a high-yield savings account, fee-free deposit accounts, CDs, investing opportunities and access to personal or business lending. But Ally doesn’t accept cash deposits.

Chime at a glance

Chime accepts cash deposits and offers second-chance accounts, but overall, it’s more limited in account offerings and services than Ally.

Alternatives to Chime and Ally

Chime and Ally are two of the best online banks, but they’re not your only options.

• SoFi®. Another FDIC-insured online bank just like Ally. SoFi has a no-fee hybrid checking and savings account with high APYs, budgeting features, many lending services, a cashback credit card and investing options.
• Upgrade. Similar to Chime, Upgrade is a fintech company with banking services backed by its bank partner. It offers the Upgrade Rewards Checking Plus account with no monthly fees and cashback rewards.
• Chase Bank. If Chime and Ally’s lack of branches is a deal breaker, you could choose a more traditional option like Chase. It’s one of the Big Four banks and has a variety of personal and business banking and financing services and a large branch and ATM network.

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