is Ally bank still the best HYSA? Looking for ease of use over highest rate of return

• Don't chase the bank with the best rate because it's always changing and it's not worth it. The differences are a few tenths of a percentage sometimes. it's really not worth the hassle • Pick the one that generally has a very high interest rate and that has the features you're looking for. • my favorite HYSA is M1 because it has unlimited transfers while most others are capped at 6 • my favorite HYSA with Zelle and a good checking account to pair with it is Ally • my favorite HYSA with a physical branch for when you need to sometimes have a cashier's check or to take out cash is Capital One

"capped at 6" - 6 per month?

Yes

and the 7th and on would have a fee?

6 withdrawals, unlimited deposits.

that's pretty cool

And if m1 gets zelle I'm closing my ally account.

so right now you just transfer to ally when you want to zelle?

Yup!

Is it possible to have a 'getting started page' with the info for best accounts to open and places to invest for newbies? I feel like it's all over this slack with conflicting info.

We have one! feedback very much appreciated! (like seriously we only just rebuilt it a month ago and I really want feedback) https://app.frum.finance/planning-hub

The walkthrough is great! but I don't see info about m1, fidelity, or HYSAs..

yeah i don't have that there, adding that now...

👍

Ally savings accounts have a limit of 10 outgoing transactions. According to ChatGPT, if you hit the limit you can make additional transactions without any fees but if you do it to often they may shut the account. It used to be a government regulation that required a fee for going over the transaction limit, but it was removed during covid and never put back in place.

@gentle-battery-59418 How’s this? https://alpha.app.frum.finance/previews/pr-244/planning-hub

May be the only one but just wanted to keep this out there, I had my ally account shut for no reasonable cause, and they were extremely unhelpful, fintech banks in general, but particularly this one, are far more limited in their customer service since you can’t walk in. Ended up being thousands of dollars inaccessible for months for me

wow!! that is good to know, obviously if we start seeing more of this we should change this. this is why i stopped recommending marcus accounts because they became known for that

My personal strategy with HYSA has been split between my main savings account (I've been using Marcus) and chasing checking/bonuses that require deposits. I’ve found this to be far more profitable and efficient than chasing rates, as I know I have one constant, the other ones usually only last a few months, and my effective APY is usually closer to 10% than 5% including the bonus rate

What makes Ally on top of the list for HYSA?

I put the reason for each on the site. You can see it in the screenshot

btw the federal reserve did away with the 6 transactions but some banks still might keep to that. I just started an apple savings one and my discover has never given any problems either.

For the record, I've also had some pretty bad customer service experiences at ally - not bad enough to move all my money away from there, but bad enough to think about it 😂... I haven't needed as much support at Marcus, but have never had a problem there and have found that transfers out (eg closing a CD to an external bank) are extremely fast, as opposed to basically any other bank.