Update 4/13/21: Bonuses have been reduced, maximum bonus is now $3,000 instead of $3,500.
The Offer
- Ally Invest is offering commission free trading for 90 days and a bonus of up to $3,000. Bonus you receive depends on how much you deposit or transfer
The Fine Print
- The minimum qualifying deposit to receive a cash bonus is $10,000.
- Cash bonus levels are identified above.
- Accounts will be reviewed 60 days after account opening to determine the total qualifying deposit.
- Corresponding cash bonus will be credited to the account within 10 business days
- . Once the bonus is credited to the account, the bonus and qualifying deposit (minus any trading losses) is not available for withdrawal for 300 days.
- If the qualifying deposit is withdrawn, the bonus may be revoked.
Our Verdict
So you need to keep the funds in there for 60 days to trigger the bonus and then keep them in there for a total of 300 days to avoid the bonus being clawed back. We have seen the $200 bonus before, but the other levels are new as far as I’m aware and there is no targeted language this time. Comission free trading is becoming more common with things like Robinhood and Chase’s You Invest. Personally I like to keep my investments as set and forget type deals, but I know some people like to move them around for these types of bonuses.
Hat tip to Bran_Solo via Yet Another Redditor
The Ally brokerage bonus payouts have been reduced. https://www.ally.com/go/invest/promotion.html
Does anyone know how we can confirm if we got the bonus in any sort of account activity? I see a “Total cash and money fund” with >$200 in it since I put in $25k in early December but TBH I can’t remember if/when the bonus posted and there seems to be no way to see the activity in the “Total Cash and money fund.”. I guess I can look over previous monthly statements and see if there’s a sudden increase in the “Total Cash and money fund” but does anyone know how to actually see the activity in this account online?
Steve, go to INVESTMENT ACCTS tab, go to ACTIVITY, then put in any dates you want to see your history of activity.
long time on hold, poor support. AND , for those who want to invest in a mutual fund? —— it costs $9.95 in and out commission. I don’t know of anyone else that charges a commission for generic mutual funds. Might as well use EFT’s.
Ally could not even get the correct address updated for statement and tax form, customer support is clueless and phone call / live chat takes forever to answer no mater day or night. Run away ASAP.
I just got off the phone with Ally Invest and was informed the reimbursement was for transfer and not termination fees… are they really distinct? Did it work differently for anyone else?
Of course they’re distinct. Check the fee schedule of the bank/brokerage where the money is currently held to see whether and how much they charge for ACATs and closures. As just one example, tastyworks has a $75 fee for “Outgoing ACAT Transfers” and a $60 “IRA Closing Fee” (https://tastyworks.com/commissions-and-fees/).
Wow! Ally’s level of incompetence is unprecendented! One hour hold times, dropped calls, clueless reps, anyone wasting their time with these clowns will truly be sorry after the experience.
What were you trying to do, and what happened?
Okay, I guess I’ll dismiss that as a generic rant.
Looks like Ally updated their link, maybe we can revise the “Direct link to offer” to https://www.ally.com/go/invest/promotion.html
William Charles
Current expiration is 12/31/2020
Offer appears to be good for both cash and IRA accounts
Done, thanks
The link is not working for me as Oct 04, 2020. I got a blank page
Works fine for me
For bonus amounts less than $600, does Ally Invest include the bonus on a 1099?
Worth mentioning they also reimburse transfer fees up to $150 – any other broker having this?
Yea, virtually every brokerage, especially the big ones, will reimburse upon request — Schwab, Merrill, Etrade, TDA
I just got off the phone with Ally Invest and was informed the reimbursement was for transfer and not termination fees… are they really distinct? Did it work differently for you?
Of course they’re distinct. Check the fee schedule of the bank/brokerage where the money is currently held to see whether and how much they charge for ACATs and closures. As just one example, tastyworks has a $75 fee for “Outgoing ACAT Transfers” and a $60 “IRA Closing Fee” (https://tastyworks.com/commissions-and-fees/).
Any previous customers get the bonus again? Chat says the bonus is once per lifetime even though the existing accounts have been closed for more than 90 days.
I’d like to know this too. Terms don’t seem to indicate that it is only once ever, but that you have to fully close (for 90 days) which is still strict, and forces fees. I havn’t done this one, so want to know if it’s one shot.
I had an account (and received a bonus) and closed it back when they were TradeKing. I’ve been meaning to call them over the past 2-3 years to ask if I would qualify.