Ally Bank is a popular online-only bank that offers competitive annual percentage yields, or APYs, on high-yield savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, or CDs.
It offers several high-yield CD terms, ranging from three months to five years, at rates well above the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s national average. Ally’s CD rates are as high as 5.15% and don’t require a minimum deposit or monthly fee.
Ally’s CD rates
Ally offers three types of CDs with various terms: traditional high-yield CDs, no-penalty CDs and Raise Your Rate CDs, also known as bump-up CDs. Right now, its highest high-yield CDs are its six-, nine-, 12- and 18-month options, with APYs as high as 5.15%. The rates on Ally’s no-penalty and bump-up CDs are slightly lower -- though still well above the national average.
Here are Ally’s current CD terms and rates.
High-yield CDs
Ally’s high-yield CDs offer the highest return, but you’ll need to keep the money in the CD for the entire term to avoid an early withdrawal penalty. There are seven terms to choose from.
| Term | APY |
| 3 months | 3.00% |
| 6 months | 5.00% |
| 9 months | 5.05% |
| 12 months | 5.10% |
| 18 months | 5.15% |
| 3 years | 4.25% |
| 5 years | 4.10% |
No-penalty CDs
Ally offers an 11-month no-penalty CD, which lets you withdraw money from your CD penalty-free anytime after the first six days of funding the account.
| Term | APY |
| 11 months | 4.55% |
Raise Your Rate CDs
Ally’s Raise Your Rate CD (a type of bump-up CD) lets you raise your rate a certain number of times if Ally boosts CD rates at any point during your term. You can lock in a higher rate one time during your term with its two-year option and twice with the four-year option. Like traditional CDs, if you need to withdraw funds before the term is up, you’ll pay a penalty.
| Term | APY |
| 2 years | 4.00% |
| 4 years | 4.00% |
How to open an Ally CD account
You can open an Ally CD online, over the phone or via mail. There’s no minimum deposit requirement to open a CD at Ally.
- To open an Ally CD online: Submit an application at allybank.com.
- To open an Ally CD account over the phone: 1-877-247-2559.
- To open an Ally CD via mail: Download the application at allybank.com and mail it to the address on the application.
Once you open and fund your CD, you can’t add more funds until your CD matures. You’ll have a 10-day grace period to transfer funds or roll them into a new CD once it matures. You can fund your account in one of three ways:
- Transfer money from an external account or from another Ally bank account.
- Deposit a check using Ally’s mobile deposit or by mail.
- Make a wire transfer (no charge).
You can’t deposit cash into an Ally CD account. Instead, you can deposit cash into a separate account and transfer it to Ally.
Early withdrawal penalties
If you withdraw money from either your Ally high-yield CD or Ally Raise Your Rate CD before the CD term ends, you’ll pay a fee worth a certain amount of interest. The fee varies based on the length of your original CD term. Below is a breakdown of how much you can expect to pay for early withdrawal:
| Term | Interest |
| 24 months or less | 60 days’ worth of interest |
| 25-36 months | 90 days’ worth of interest |
| 37-48 months | 120 days’ worth of interest |
| 49 months or longer | 150 days’ worth of interest |
There are a few reasons why you might want to withdraw money from your CD before it matures, but planning beforehand can help you avoid paying an early withdrawal penalty.
Let’s say you open a three-year CD with Ally and deposit $1,000. But after one year, you need the money for an emergency expense. At that point, you would have earned $42.50 in interest on your CD. But you’d have to pay 90 days worth of interest, which would be approximately $10.41. So, you’d end up earning only $32.09 on your CD, while forfeiting the additional $90.50 you would have earned if you left your money invested for the full term.
If you think interest rates will go up in the near future and you want to “break” your CD to open a new one with a better return, consider choosing a shorter term, building a CD ladder or signing up for a rate-bump CD that lets you increase your APY if rates rise during the length of your term.
However, if you think you’ll need access to your funds, a no-penalty CD, a high-yield savings account or a money market account might be better. These accounts typically offer slightly lower rates than CDs, but you have easy access to your money. This also makes them an ideal place to store your emergency fund or sinking fund.
How much can you earn with Ally’s CDs?
Depending on the length of your CD term and how much you initially deposit, you may be able to earn a good return to meet your financial goals. Here’s how much you can expect to earn with Ally’s high-yield CDs based on two different deposit amounts: $100 and $1,000.
| Term | APY | $100 deposit | $1,000 deposit |
| 3 months | 3.00% | $0.74 | $7.42 |
| 6 months | 5.00% | $2.47 | $24.70 |
| 9 months | 5.05% | $3.76 | $37.64 |
| 12 months | 5.10% | $5.10 | $51.00 |
| 18 months | 5.15% | $7.82 | $78.24 |
| 3 years | 4.25% | $13.30 | $133.00 |
| 5 years | 4.10% | $22.25 | $222.51 |
How do Ally’s CD rates compare?
CD rates at Ally are higher than average CD rates listed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation but are on par with those offered by other banks on our best CD rates list. Here’s how they stack up:
| CD term | Ally | FDIC average | CNET average |
| 6 months | 5.00% | 1.39% | 4.87% |
| 1 year | 5.10% | 1.79% | 5.28% |
| 3 years | 4.25% | 1.38% | 4.34% |
| 5 years | 4.10% | 1.38% | 4.09% |
However, you can find better rates at other banks. Here’s how Ally’s CD rates stack up against its competitors.
Bank | 6-month | 1-year | 3-year | 5-year |
| Ally Bank | 5.00% | 5.10% | 4.25% | 4.10% |
| Synchrony | 5.25% | 5.30% | 4.30% | 4.00% |
| Marcus by Goldman Sachs | 5.10% | 5.30% | 4.40% | 4.10% |
Additional savings options at Ally
If you don’t want to tie up your money in a CD, Ally offers two additional savings options with high yields and better access to your money:
- Online savings account: Ally’s high-yield online savings account earns 4.25% APY, doesn’t charge monthly maintenance fees and has no minimum deposit requirement. Plus, the account comes with spending buckets to organize your savings goals in one account.
- Money market account: Ally’s money market account is similar to most high-yielding MMAs. It offers a competitive 4.40% APY and you get a few checking account features, like mobile check deposit and access to Allpoint ATMs. We like that Ally’s money market account reimburses you up to $10 for out-of-network ATM surcharges per month.
Is Ally a good choice for a CD or savings account?
Ally is a solid choice for CDs and high-yield savings accounts if you’re OK with managing your account online.
Though some banks offer better CD rates, we like that it’s easy to open an account online in a few minutes, and there’s no minimum deposit or balance required. Plus, you can choose from several CD types and terms, which can be helpful if you’re looking to build a CD ladder. We especially like that Ally offers less common specialty CDs -- its no-penalty and bump-up CDs -- in addition to high-yield CDs.
We also like that Ally’s loyalty reward program raises your rate by 0.05% when you renew a CD. And its Ten-Day Rate Guarantee gives you more time to get the best rate available: If APYs go up within 10 days of opening your account, your rate will, too.
Ally’s high-yield savings works well in tandem with an Ally checking account and lets you save more with its roundups savings feature. And instead of opening multiple accounts to track different funds, you can set up savings goals across your HYSA and organize them with spending buckets. You can quickly transfer money between internal and external accounts, but the downside is that Ally doesn’t allow cash deposits.
But Ally might not be the right fit for you if you’re not comfortable banking entirely online. If you’d prefer a bank with branch access, consider a credit union or banks with similar banking products and services -- such as Capital One.
FAQs
Once your Ally CD matures, you’ll have a 10-day grace period to make adjustments to your CD, including changing the term, withdrawing or depositing funds or closing the CD account.
If you want to renew your Ally CD, your CD will automatically renew in the same term when the 10-day grace period is up.
Ally doesn’t charge any monthly maintenance fees. And there are no minimum balance requirements you have to meet to avoid incurring a fee.
You won’t know your new rate until the last day of your 10-day grace period. If you chose to renew your CD, your new interest rate will reflect whatever Ally has opted to set rates at for your specific term on day 10 of your grace period.
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