Two years ago, I set up a CD ladder at Ally Bank, though they were still technically GMAC Bank at the time. I did this by buying a one, two, three, four, and five year CD and have been renewing each “rung” on the ladder into a new 5 year CD every November.
While CD rates have been awful over the past couple of years, we’ve been receiving a nice little bonus from Ally in the form of a 0.25% bonus for renewing our CDs each time.
It works like this: When your CD matures, simply leave it alone and it will auto-renew into a CD of the same term at the prevailing rate + 0.25%. If you’d like to change the term or add money, you have ten days to do so and you will still get the bonus.
Note that the bonus isn’t cumulative, so you can’t just leave your CDs in place year after year and keep accruing bonus on top of bonus. Rather, as long as this offer is in place, you’ll get a 0.25% bonus on top of the prevailing market rate.
Another nice aspect of Ally Bank CDs is that their early withdrawal penalty is only 60 days of interest, so you’re not risking much if you lock in a longer term CD and rates end up rising.
I actually have 12-month CDs renewing every month. Kinda a small-scale CD ladder.
I have received this loyalty bonus on the last 6 or 7 CDs. It’s a great incentive to stay with Ally.
I have received this offer in the past from Ally as well. The first time they actually called me on the phone to tell me about it. More recently, they have just sent me e-mail and snail mail notifications as I get close to my maturity date.
One thing to point out. Some of my co-workers have never been offered this bonus – at least not by phone call, mail, or e-mail. Maybe it is something that just happens automatically for all – I’ve never honestly explored it. I just find it strange that they seem to go out of their way to let me know about the bonus while not telling others at all.
I’ve received this offer from Ally in the past. The first time (around a year ago) they actually called me on the phone to tell me about offer. More recently, I have just received e-mails and snail mail notifying me of the bonus when I am getting close to the maturity date.
One thing to point out. This offer has never been made to some of my co-workers – at least not by phone call, mail, or e-mail. Maybe the bonus is something that just happens automatically for all – I’ve never honestly researched it. I just find it strange that they go out of their way to inform me of bonus while not telling other people about the deal at all.
ING did that with a CD of mine that just renewed also.