allybank

Ally Bank Finds My Lifelong Nickname Totally Unacceptable For Depositing Checks
Some of us were born with one name, and whether through deliberate choice or the tendencies of friends and families, end up being known by a nickname. Our reader Nicholas found out recently that apparently some nicknames are just unacceptable — according to Ally Bank, "Cole," the name he's gone by his entire life, won't fly. More »

Ally Bank Thinks My Fiancee Is A Scammer, Bans Me For Life
Is it a crime to get engaged to someone from another country? No, but it does raise red flags for wire fraud when you're trying to transfer money. That's what Robert learned when his Egyptian-born fiancée tried to deposit money into their wedding savings account that they share, but is in her name because she doesn't yet have a Social Security number. More »

HSBC Joins List Of Banks Warning It Will Probably Get Fined For Improper Foreclosure Practices
HSBC is the latest in a string of banks who warned investors via their SEC filing that they expect to get fined after getting a letter from regulators chastising their improper foreclosure practices. On Friday, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) and SunTrust banks made similar announcements. More »

The 8 Least Evil Banks In America
Banks that aren't evil? Really? CNN Money rounded up eight American banks that might not be consumer paradises, but offer free checking, no ATM fees, and comparatively high interest rates for savings accounts. More »

Ally Bank Withdraws Maryland Robosigner Foreclosures
If you're one of 250 Maryland homeowners with a foreclosure order signed by Ally Bank's Jeffrey Stephan, you've just been granted a reprieve. The bank is withdrawing all Maryland foreclosures authorized by Stephan, who admitted that he casually signed off on thousands of foreclosures each month. But homeowners aren't completely off the hook. Ally plans to restart the foreclosure process with new filings. More »

Banks Hired "Burger King Kids" To Process Mortgages
JPMorgan & Chase had a cute name, the "Burger King Kids," for the workers with little no experience or qualifications it hired to process the reams of mortgages it plowed through at the height of the housing bubble. These walk-in hires "barely knew what a mortgage was," writes the NYT. The newbies Citigroup and GMAC/Ally Bank outsourced the work to sometimes tossed paperwork into the garbage can. More »

JPMorgan Chase Suspends 56,000 Foreclosures
JPMorgan became the second major lender after GMAC/Ally Bank to halt pending foreclosures, halting proceedings on 56,000 homes. This follows revelations that "robo-signer" "foreclosure mills" were filing paperwork that would be gracious to call "sloppy," at the rate of 10,000 a day. More »

GMAC Bungled Foreclosure Affidavits In 23 States
GMAC Mortgage is taking the eye-opening step of stopping evictions in 23 states because the affidavits used to support the kickouts contained information the employees didn't themselves personally know to be true, and they were sometimes signed without a notary present, according to a company statement. More »

GMAC Halts Evictions In 23 States
GMAC has told brokers and agents to immediately stop evicting homeowners in 23 states. In a memo, the Ally Financial Inc. subsidiary cited "corrective action in connection with some foreclosures" that may need to be taken. Smells like some people got foreclosed on that shouldn't have, though we've been hearing scattered reports about that for a while without the banks doing much, so why drastic action now? Have they uncovered something massive? More »

Holy Crap, GM Made Money
GM announced today that it made $865 million in the first quarter, its first profit since 2007. Revenue was up 40%, and the NYT says that GM is on track to being a public company again as soon as the 4th quarter. More »

Ally Bank Debits Account Before Customer Verifies That It's Hers

—>Sometimes a company verifies that a bank account by making a couple of small deposits in it, then asking you to report back the deposit amounts. Don't rely on that verification process to block any activity in the meantime, though. That's what Suzette did with Ally bank, and she ended up with a $35 stop payment fee from her own bank.  More »

Ally Bank Delivers Lower CD Rates Than Promised; Also No Pony

—>A few weeks ago, we posted about the rebranding of and promising new start for Ally Bank, formerly GMAC. But one new customer isn't very enthusiastic about their services.  More »

2.5% Online Savings Accounts At Ally Bank (The Rebirth Of Gmac)

—>Even though GMAC spun off from GM years ago, they recently changed their name to "Ally" in a re-branding, stain-of-association-removing effort. Their whole game seems to be a USAA for civilians, advertising "No minimum deposits. No fees. No min balance. No sneaky discalimers." Ally Bank is also offering very juicy APYs, like 2.25% for an online savings account, more than double the national average...  More »