Chime® vs. Ally: Which One Wins?

Chime and Ally are both online banking options. Chime offers checking and savings, a credit-building secured card, overdraft services and cash advances. Ally is more of a traditional option with typical products like checking and savings, certificates of deposit (CDs), a money market account (MMA), investing and lending services. Both have affordable deposit accounts, but if you don’t want to jump through hoops to get a good savings APY, Ally is probably the way to go.

Chime vs. Ally: A quick comparison

	Ally Read Review	Chime® Read Review
Bonus	N/A	N/A
Savings	Up to 3.3% APY	1.00% Annual Percentage Yield (APY), or up to 3.50% APY for Chime+ members
Checking	Monthly fee: $0 Minimum deposit: $0 0.1% to 0.25% APY, depending on balance	Monthly fee: $0 Minimum deposit: $0
CDs	Terms: 3 to 60 months Up to 3.9% APY on 9-month term $0 opening deposit requirement	N/A
ATMs	75,000+ Allpoint and MoneyPass ATMs Out-of-network ATM fee: $0 ATM reimbursements: Up to $10 per month	60,000 Allpoint and retail ATMs Out-of-network ATM fee: $2.50
Branches	Online only	Online only

• Chime terms and conditions

  Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services and debit card provided by The Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.
  ATMs: Out-of-network ATM withdrawal fees may apply except at MoneyPass ATMs in a 7-Eleven, or any Allpoint or Visa Plus Alliance ATM.
  Deposit: Once the retailer accepts your cash, the funds will be transferred to your Chime Checking Account. Cash deposit fees may apply if using a retailer other than Walgreens and Duane Reade.
  Mobile Deposit: Mobile Check Deposit eligibility is determined by Chime in its sole discretion and may be granted based on various factors including, but not limited to, a member's direct deposit enrollment status.
  Chime Savings Account: Chime Checking Account is required to be eligible for a Savings Account.
  APY: The Annual Percentage Yield (“APY”) is variable and may change at any time. The disclosed APY is accurate as of date of publication. No minimum balance required. Must have $0.01 in savings to earn interest.
  Get Paid Early: Early access to direct deposit funds depends on the timing of the submission of the payment file from the payer. We generally make these funds available on the day the payment file is received, which may be up to 2 days earlier than the scheduled payment date.
  Chime Card:: To apply for a Chime Card, Chime® Checking Account is required to apply.
  SpotMe: SpotMe® on Credit is an optional, no interest / no fee overdraft line of credit tied to the Secured Deposit Account available to qualifying members with an active Chime Card Account. To qualify for the SpotMe on Chime Card service, you must receive $200 or more in qualifying direct deposits to your Chime® Checking Account each month and have activated your physical secured Chime Visa® Credit Card or Chime Visa® Debit Card.
  
  Qualifying members will be allowed to overdraw their Secured Deposit Account up to $20, but may later be eligible for a higher limit of up to $200 or more based on Chime account history, direct deposit frequency and amount, spending activity and other risk-based factors. The SpotMe on Chime Card Limit will be displayed within the Chime mobile app and is subject to change at any time, at Chime’s or its banking partners’ discretion. Although Chime does not charge any overdraft fees for SpotMe on Chime Card, there may be out-of-network or third-party fees associated with ATM transactions and fees associated with OTC cash withdrawals. SpotMe on Chime Card won’t cover non-card transactions. SpotMe on Chime Card Terms and Conditions.
  Federal Tax Return Direct Deposit: Chime members may choose to direct deposit their state and/or federal tax refunds with Chime. They may choose to direct deposit no matter what tax preparer they choose. They do not need to file through Chime in order to direct deposit their refund. If a member does direct deposit their federal refund they may receive the refund up to 6 days early. This only applies to federal refunds, not state. When marketing the speed of the tax refund it must always include the following elements: federal tax refund, up to 6 days early, with direct deposit.
  MyPay®: MyPay® is only offered in select states. To be eligible for MyPay, you must receive Qualifying MyPay Direct Deposits to your Chime Checking Account as set forth in the MyPay Agreement. A Qualifying MyPay Direct Deposit is a deposit from an employer, payroll provider, gig economy payer, government benefits payer, or other permitted source of income by Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) or Original Credit Transaction (“OCT”). Your MyPay Credit Limit and Available Advance Amount may change at any time. MyPay is a line of credit and available limits are based on estimated income and risk-based criteria. Eligible members may be offered a $20 - $500 Credit Limit per pay period. Your Credit Limit and Maximum Available Advance will be displayed to you within the Chime app. MyPay is currently only available to eligible Chime members in certain states. Other restrictions may apply. See Bancorp MyPay Agreement or Stride MyPay Agreement for details. To be eligible for MyPay, you must receive Qualifying MyPay Direct Deposits to your Chime Checking Account as set forth in the MyPay Agreement. A Qualifying MyPay Direct Deposit is a deposit from an employer, payroll provider, gig economy payer, government benefits payer, or other permitted source of income by Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) or Original Credit Transaction (“OCT”). Your MyPay Credit Limit and Available Advance Amount may change at any time. MyPay is a line of credit and available limits are based on estimated income and risk-based criteria. Eligible members may be offered a $20 - $500 Credit Limit per pay period. Your Credit Limit and Maximum Available Advance will be displayed to you within the Chime app. MyPay is currently only available to eligible Chime members in certain states. Other restrictions may apply. See Bancorp MyPay Agreement or https://www.chime.com/policies/stride/mypay/ for details.

Chime vs. Ally: Account options

Ally is an online bank with over 11 million customers, and Chime has double the number of customers with over 22 million. Both offer everyday bank accounts without pricey overdraft fees, annoying monthly maintenance fees or high opening deposit requirements. However, neither option has physical branches, so you must be comfortable managing your accounts entirely online.

Ally and Chime have similar ATM network sizes. Ally offers fee-free use with over 75,000 Allpoint and MoneyPass ATMs nationwide and up to $10 in monthly out-of-network ATM reimbursements with its checking account. Chime also includes the MoneyPass and Visa Plus Alliance ATM networks, giving customers around 60,000 fee-free ATMs.

Also, both Ally and Chime can accept cash deposits. With Ally, you can deposit cash for free at any Walmart retail location in the US. With Chime, deposit cash at various retail locations including Walmart, Speedway, Family Dollar, CVS and Rite Aid.

Banking

Ally offers these accounts:

• Ally Spending. The Ally Spending account is an interest-bearing checking account with no monthly fees, opening deposit requirement or overdraft fees. It earns 0.25% APY on balances over $15,000 and 0.1% APY on balances under $15,000. Accepts all incoming wires with no fees and offers free cashier’s checks. You can also get up to $10 in out-of-network ATM fee reimbursements per month, early direct deposit, savings round-ups and budgeting tools.
• Ally Savings. Ally’s savings account has no monthly fees or balance requirements and a high 3.3% APY on all balances.
• CDs. With no opening deposit requirements or monthly fees, Ally’s CDs have rate boosters if you renew, no-penalty options and high APYs.
• Money market account. Ally’s MMA is among the best MMAs out there. It offers up to 3.3% APY on all balance tiers, just like its savings account. There are no monthly fees, overdraft fees, excessive transaction fees or incoming wire fees. Unlike most MMAs, you’ll get a debit card and checkwriting.

Chime doesn’t offer CDs or MMAs, but the products it does have are pretty solid:

• Chime® Checking. Free to open and maintain with no monthly fees or deposit requirements and overdraft fee-free with SpotMe. With the Chime Checking account and direct deposit of $200 or more each month (Chime+), you can unlock extra perks such as the overdraft service Chime SpotMe® and the cash advance service MyPay. With Chime checking you can also apply for the credit-building card Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa® Credit Card.
• Chime savings. An optional savings account that unlocks when you have a Chime checking account. It has no monthly fees or opening deposit requirements and earns up to 1.25% APY for regular members, or up to 3.5% APY for Chime+ members.

Borrowing

Ally used to offer credit cards and mortgages, but has since dropped those services as of 2025. However, it still has some lending options:

• Loans. Ally offers auto loans, personal loans, multiple refinancing options and business lending.

Chime has cash advances and a secured card:

• Secured card. The Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa Credit Card is a secured card backed by the Chime checking account. It has no annual fee, interest charges, minimum security deposit or credit check.
• Cash advances. Called MyPay, it’s Chime’s new cash advance feature offered to Chime checking account holders with direct deposit of at least $200 per month. It offers advances between $20 and $500 without fees or interest. However, its state availability is limited, and a wider rollout is expected in late 2024.

Investing

Chime doesn’t offer any investing accounts or trading options — but Ally does.

Ally’s investment platform has self-directed trading, robo portfolios, personal investment advice and IRAs. You can trade stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), commission-free ETFs, bonds, mutual funds and margin accounts. However, you can’t trade fractional shares or cryptocurrencies.

Apps, features and more

Ally is works with Zelle for easy peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, and it offers mobile check deposit and savings round-ups. Both its checking and savings accounts are interest-bearing. With checking and savings, you can do envelope budgeting with Ally “buckets.” With the buckets, you can easily sort savings goals or spending categories within the Ally Bank app. Ally also accepts joint accounts, whereas Chime doesn’t.

Chime has many of the same features as Ally, such as savings round-ups and mobile check deposits. Chime isn’t integrated with Zelle, but it has its own P2P payment system called Pay Anyone, which lets you send money to anyone with a debit card. You can also check your credit score in the Chime app — something Ally doesn’t offer. Chime also skips the ChexSystems review, so it’s a solid second-chance bank account option.

How Chime and Ally’s fees compare

With Chime or Ally’s checking and savings accounts, you won’t have to worry about monthly fees, opening deposits or overdraft fees. Ally’s MMA and CDs have no monthly fees or opening deposit requirements.

Chime charges a small $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee. Ally doesn’t list its exact out-of-network ATM fee, but it does offer up to $10 in monthly ATM fee reimbursements.

What customers say about Chime and Ally

As of January 2026, Chime has around 7,000 Better Business Bureau (BBB) customer complaints in the last few years, and has an A+ rating with the BBB. Ally has nearly 3,000 BBB complaints and an A- rating. The majority of Chime’s complaints cite accounts closing suddenly due to its previous overzealous fraudulent alert system, but those complaints have slowed considerably.

Ally has less BBB complaints compared to other online banks, but still quite a few. Most online banks tend to have thousands of negative reviews and complaints because resolving account issues without physical branches can be tricky.

On Trustpilot, Ally has 1.1 stars out of around 900 reviews (on an unclaimed profile), and Chime has 3.8 stars with over 11,000 reviews with a claimed profile. Similar to other online banks, the majority of reviews for both options are from customers stating issues contacting customer support to fix issues and long response times from representatives.

On Reddit, customers are mostly pleased with Ally. Redditors love the lack of fees on bank accounts, its mobile app, the fast and easy transfers and the high APY on savings. On Chime threads, most customers say they’ve been using Chime for years with no issues. Many users also call out the credit-building secured card and say Chime is a decent second-chance banking option because it doesn’t review your banking history when you apply.

Final verdict: Ally wins

Placing options side by side, Ally is the clear winner.

While Chime and Ally both offer fee-free checking and savings, Ally offers more services and may be better for those in need of a full service online bank. Ally features a a good 3.3% APY on its savings with no requirements, while Chime requires direct deposit to earn its best rate on savings. Ally also offers CDs, an MMA with a high APY, investing options, supports joint accounts and it accepts cash deposits at Walmart locations.

However, Chime is still a top option — especially if you need a second-chance account, or want to improve your credit score. The Chime checking account skips the ChexSystems review, and Chime’s Credit-Builder Card is available to Chime checking holders. The secured card has zero interest charges, no monthly fees and no hard credit check.

But with either option, you won’t get access to physical branches.

Ally at a glance

Ally is best for when you want a high-yield savings account, fee-free deposit accounts, CDs, investing opportunities and access to personal or business lending.

Chime at a glance

Chime accepts cash deposits at many different retail locations, offers second-chance accounts and has credit-building options.

Alternatives to Chime and Ally

Chime and Ally are two of the best online banks, but they’re not your only options.

• SoFi®. Another FDIC-insured online bank just like Ally. SoFi has a hybrid checking and savings account with with no monthly fees, high savings APYs, budgeting features, many lending services, credit cards and investing options.
• Upgrade. Similar to Chime, Upgrade is a fintech company with banking services backed by its bank partner. It offers the Upgrade Rewards Checking Plus account with no monthly fees and cashback rewards.
• Chase Bank. If Chime and Ally’s lack of branches is a deal breaker, you could choose a more traditional option like Chase. It’s one of the Big Four banks and has a variety of personal and business banking and financing services and a large branch and ATM network.

See how even more bank accounts stack up:

• Banks like Chime
• Varo vs. Chime: Which banking option is right for you?
• SoFi vs. Chime: Which bank is right for you?
• SoFi vs. Ally: Which bank is right for you?

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Holly Jennings as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Bethany Hickey

Banking editor

Bethany Hickey is the banking editor and personal finance expert at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto. Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance, GOBankingRates, SuperMoney, AOL and Newsweek. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt. Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others. Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine. See full bio

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