| 5 star: | (14) | |
| 4 star: | (3) | |
| 3 star: | (3) | |
| 2 star: | (5) | |
| 1 star: | (18) |
Ivy bank drastically reduced the APY and I regret opening account with them.
I couldn't be happier with my experience at Ivy Bank! From the moment I opened my account, the customer service has been absolutely top-notch. Every representative I've interacted with has been friendly, knowledgeable, and truly eager to help. They make everything so simple, with a user-friendly online platform that’s incredibly intuitive and easy to navigate. On top of that, they offer some of the best rates around, which has made a real difference in growing my savings.
Really easy to open my savings account! Love seeing my savings grow! Awesome customer service if you need to chat or talk to someone!
The account was easy to open in minutes and the rate is great and top of what’s out there. Easy to move money to and from my accounts at Bank of America.
This is the worst financial institution I have ever conducted business with. If you are opening an account because you want the ability to make deposits, and withdrawals, without chronic bank and platform problems, this is not the bank for you. If you enjoy passive aggression & straight up anger, directed at you, made to feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable, and nothing to ever be resolved, then this bank is a perfect match.
I transferred funds from another on-line bank account (bank A) to IVY BANK (bank B). The transfer was INITIATED FROM IVY. The money was withdrawn from bank A and therefore stopped receiving interest there, but did not appear at IVY BANK for more than 2 days. During these 2 days the funds **mysteriously** DID NOT RECEIVE INTEREST ANYWHERE. I spoke to IVY and told them that something like this has never happened with any other on-line bank that I am dealing with. The funds always receive interest somewhere. They kept repeating that "we cannot speak for what other banks do, that is how transfers work at IVY bank". They DO NOT PAY interest for as long as the money is in transit. God help you if there's a weekend in the middle. Completely unacceptable. They also suggested for me to do a wire transfer which would cost me much more of course. Shutting down the account.
Multiple roadblocks trying to set up a savings account with Ivy Bank and my application was ultimately declined, in spite of my multiple CDs among three banks, stock investments, eleven credit cards, and credits scores that have never been outside the 800s. I took my business elsewhere.
Anyone else told they'd need to unfreeze 3 credit reporting agencies for every new account application. I was told as an established Savings account customer. I'd still need to unfreeze credit reports to open every new CD.
I talked to an Ivy Bank representative over the phone. That representative hung up on me once the call was approaching 6 minutes. I tried calling back and got a message stating that the number you reached is not in service. Ivy Bank blocked my phone number since calling from a different phone number worked. Ivy Bank also ghosted the email I sent afterwards.
My 12-mo CD matured and their website was confusing in trying to withdraw my money back to my funding bank account(Ally). So I called customer support, and a fast talking male customer support answered. He said even though I funded my CD using ACH, there's no option for me to using ACH to withdraw my money back to Ally. Why? I've closed out close to 100 CD's in my lifetime, and this was a first for me. Instead, he said my only options are to either wire transfer($25 fee) it back, or set up a savings acct with Ivy. I wish I knew this before opening my CD with them.
Account opening is easy as individual but adding joint is a hassle later still pending joint owner. Adding POD and getting confirmation is very difficult but ultimately done after 3 weeks. Customer service is great in answering email thru the bank email interface email. So far not called them. ACH transfer takes 3 days thru them both wats. Even pull from external bank takes 3 days.
Even though Ivy has a web site, there is plenty of room for improving the digital experience. I tolerated the manual old school processes and bureaucracy since their High Yield Savings rate is one of the best in the country (currently 5.0% APR).
Initial Online Application Process - very streamlined, was impressed at first. My application was being processed.
Then Part 2 of the process which I wasn't expecting - upload these 5 documents - Proof of Funds from external bank (statement must be in color), a copy of your phone bill!!! (that's a first), copy of Social Security Card, copy of Driver's license, and there was something else I can't remember. Why this wasn't asked for up front in the application process baffles me. Make it a one step online application process.
It then goes through another manual review. Then my bank statement kept getting rejected. I submitted again, rejected. Yet there was no reason proactively communicated as to WHY it was rejected.
Called Customer Service and IVR stated to leave your phone number, you can wait virtually in queue and someone will call you back. That never happened.
Called the next day and waited for a real person. At first I was told to just send the bank statement via email. I had to push the issue for the agent to get a reason WHY it was being rejected. Sending the same document over and over again wasn't going to solve the problem. The root cause needed to be identified.
In the end, it was my error - I thought I listed my credit union as the external account but it was really another bank account. There's no way to view your original application on line once submitted so I couldn't reverify that. Once I uploaded the correct statement (made sure it was in color!) my account was approved.
Then problems creating my Online Account. I get an email saying congrats, your account is approved, now set up your online account. I tried, error message that my phone number was not on file (yet I had to submit a phone bill as part of the application). Once created, I looked online in my customer profile but guess what, there's not a phone number field displayed in the customer profile!!
! called support, validated phone number was on file. We tried a number of different ways to resolve. Got past the phone number error and then another error which could not be resolved. A ticket was opened.
Then I tried one more time after the call ended. My online account was successfully created. Not sure what really happened that it worked on the 6th attempt! Then I went into External Transfers to transfer more funds from my external account. Guess what - even though the initial deposit was successfully funded via ACH, I have to reset up the external account to continue to use it.
As a customer, I'm EXHAUSTED by this process. It wasn't a seamless digital experience for me. I tolerated this because of the high interest rate. I almost quit and was ready to open an account at an online bank paying slightly less at 4.8% APR.
I'm not totally confident and don't fully trust this website. Time will tell.
There are banks which offer a seamless digital experience such as Ally Bank, Evergreen Bank, and CIT Bank. They have set a high bar on a true seamless digital banking experience.
Started a transfer on 26. Ivy will not allow to earn the interest on it for four business days. Six total days in this case So 26, 27, 28, 29, 30th and 31st you are not earning any interest even though the money has been deducted from your funding account on the first day. I have accounts in 28 other banks and no one else does this.
It has been very easy to deal with customer services and rate is fantastic.
I have not experience any wait problems and customer services agents are courteous and knowledgeable. We use many banks and this one ranks on the top few!
I opened an account with Ivy five months ago. Their interest rates have been good all along, but their website uses creaky, legacy software that makes routine tasks difficult. For example:
It doesn't support the Chrome browser for downloading statements unless you set Chrome to Allow all cookies and Clear cookies and site date for ALL websites, not just Ivy. What a needless inconvenience. This means sacrificing personal security in Chrome or keeping a different browser handy just for downloading Ivy's monthly statements.
Over the weekend, Ivy's website would not produce statements at all. It showed a message about my account not being enrolled for paperless statements, saying I should change a preference. I asked their support about this, and they informed me that Ivy is an online only bank, so I don't have a choice about paper vs. electronic. (Rude - Ivy's own help text mentioned paper.) Support also said new tax documents had been uploaded, which defaulted a drop-down to show Tax instead of accounts. Bottom line for Ivy's web developers: don't upload changes to the live site without testing them first.
I recognize this banking website framework from a bank I used at least 15 years ago. It's time for Ivy to upgrade, and while they're at it, they need to prioritize testing for security and functionality.
So Ivy indexed has been a great option so far, BUT I am unsure how they calculate the rate.
Last month Feb 28 One-Month U.S. Treasury Yield was APR 4.65%/ APY 4.75%, the same as posted Ivy's APR/APY.
February 28, 2023 4.65%
This month you can see the rate,
March 31, 2023 4.74%
They announced the April APR rate as 4.23 %/APY 4.32%, and I am really wondering how they calculate the rates. It should have been 4.74% APR/ 4.85%APY Hope to hear from them soon!
Don't deposit too much savings. You are limited to withdrawing $25,000 every 3 or 4 days (yes it's not consistent) and a maximum of $100k per month. So if you are saving for a big purchase don't count on getting your cash quickly for closing.
I applied to many online savings accounts to spread things out. This place is a true class act.
Very straightforward application, no copies of your license, no video dog and pony shows, no crazy questions. Best of all I applied to.
Two savings accounts offered, both top rates, one indexed to the monthly treasury which is 4.7 at the moment (great choice in these times). You will not beat that anywhere unless you buy Treasuries or tie up in a CD. There is also another account with a great rate too. I understand rates will fluctuate.
I did have one issue with the password, waited 10 minutes for TOP NOTCH AMERICAN based professional customer service. This puts my local bank (Key) to shame. I may consider the parent bank for my all personal banking needs, if I can do it remote. If the review stays, everything is good. Website is excellent too and can show other accounts you have. I will wait and see to close out other accounts t move here.
Ivy Bank is trusting a FLAWED system to ID customer locations, which means that someone might be able to steal your ID and control your account/money from another state. I say this as a tech with 28 years in and for the financial services industry who has also worked with FBI and Secret Service on cases.
Just noticed from Ivy’s website that, as of today, their High Yield Savings rate is 3.9% APY, up from 3.5%. Not showing in my account yet but no doubt soon.
I like it that their maximum mobile check deposit is $50K per item.
FYI - The 3.84% APY refers to their Indexed Savings Account and not the High Yield Savings Account (3.50%). The indexed account is updated every month on the 15th and it's directly tied to the One Month Treasury Yield. I was told by their rep that you are able to easily transfer funds between these 2 accounts.
I've had dozens of online bank accounts over the years. My savings account with Ivy for nearly two years. Customer service has always been excellent. I recently had a problem with a transfer that was completely of my making. When contacting customer service, Scott was very patient, solved my problem, then gave me a call-back to confirm in 10 minutes. Ivy's rates are always near the very top. Their platform is very user friendly. Reasonable ACH transfer limits. What's not to like ?
Update, 4.28.25:
Ivy Bank drastically lowered their APY to 4.25% on their HYSA in January, while many banks were still paying 4.75% APY. You MUST maintain a 2.5k balance to receive this rate.
On outgoing transfers, Ivy Bank has a "Send Date" and a "Delivery Date" which are 3 days apart. The kicker is they do NOT pay interest during this period. This could be as long as 5 or 6 days during a weekend or long holiday weekend.
application for a savings account accepted and funds apparently transferred but unable to complete setting up online banking. Have talked to two of their reps over the past week who were of no help and they are now not returning my calls. Unsure of when this will be worked out or if my funds will be available.
As another respondent says, I would with the give them less than one star. Ivybank froze my account ( I could not access my account online anyway, that is why I complained in the first place) . They notified me of this in an encrypted e-mail and a Certified letter by snail mail. Despite their demonstrated diligince in putting me in my place, I still do not have my deposit refunded after waiting for more than three weeks. Their phone agents are useless, after a long wait time, and they do not respond to unencrypted e-mails. Of course, you have to have online access to send encrypted e-mail to them. Horrible organization , better go with Bask, BrioDirect or some other bank, which did not jump on the online bank account wagon completely unprepared.
After my issues with IVY bank and freezing my account on June 29th it took only 5 plus weeks to unfreeze my account. I had many conversations with Erma in customer service and she was great. I do not quite understand this banks policies but they are wrong. I just opened a new account with Brio yesterday which is Webster bank. No issues and was approved in 3 minutes and setup my external transfers this morning and I am funding the account already. Shame on you IVY bank it should have been the same when I joined last month. So choose wisely and people should not run into the issues that I had with IVY bank or the others here too that had problems. This is not rocket science its just banking. I did raise my ratings a bit mostly because of Erma. Thanks
In my first posting I gave this bank two stars, now I lowered it to one star. If they had negative stars I would give them a negative rating. Why? My complaint was that I could not get onlIne access to my account. This afternoon I got a super confidential letter from Ivy Bank that my account was frozen and I cannot make any further deposits or withdrawals Duh!!! As if I could before their action!!!! I can tell that aside from being poorly organized they are far from having any grey matter between the ears. The only good outcome of this dialog is that they got my message that I would like to close my account. They said that they are closing my account and hopefully return my money. It remains to be seen in the next few days.
I've dealt with many internet banks and this was possibly the worst experience. They have some serious systems problems and possibly regulatory failures too. I opened a new account without any problem. They debited funds from my linked account and the funds showed up as a deposit and then a withdrawal on the same day - leaving a $0 balance. WTF? Customer service said that my account wasn't "fully vetted" and the funds should never have been pulled from the linked account. BUT WHERE IS THE MONEY? AND WHO'S GETTING THE INTEREST? The Ivy rep said "they are having lots of these sorts of errors... and it could take days to figure this out." DON'T BANK HERE!!!
The application process was a mess. Nothing seemed to work right. When I finally completed my application, I received this message: "Unfortunately, we cannot open your Ivy Bank account at this time. A review of the information submitted determined that your application did not meet our account opening criteria."
I hit a wrong button earlier...so not sure if this is a continuation of a previous review.
But, I've been very pleased with IVY.
They certainly offer VERY competitive rates and I found it very easy to establish an account.
I did not think of their ability to immediately fund my account as "Fraud" (as someone earlier thought). I found it convenient as opposed to setting up "ping" trial deposits immediately..
I do think their web site may be a work in process.
I found some peculiarities ( case sensitive e-mail at login...printing a statement in png verse PDF... obtaining documentation of my beneficiaries for my files) BUT...I'm pretty sure they will work that out.
Their Customer Service was GREAT.
They answer the phone with a real person very quickly, and their agents are professional, efficient, friendly , and genuinely helpful...(what I call "old- timey" banking thru the modern internet).
They are a division of a very old and fine local bank that was a real community service bank.
I wish them continued success for the future. Glad I have access from so far away.
Best Regard...PTF
Great rate with simple setup process. Wish they were all this easy !!!
This bank seems to be the real deal! Super easy process to open an account and I was immediately able to get into online banking. I opened the account a few months ago and they proactively increased my rate and emailed to tell me. Nothing bad to say... exactly what I expect from a digital bank.
I was concerned with savings account transfer limit. Therefore, I emailed them asking. They courteously replied promptly. I further asked that if it is possible to pull money from another US bank from Ivybank beyond their limit. They also replied promptly. So I have confidence in them.
During the account opening application process, all steps were cleared and swift. However, in the end, their website had me wait for confirmation of opening. A couple of days later, they emailed me that they cannot open a savings account for not "meeting their account opening criteria" in the time being . Confused! No reasons for rejection. I suspect that they are afraid of me sudden pulling money out of their account might be the reason for not allowing me to bank with them.
They just lost a potential loyal customer with at least $250K.
I have a solid credit score, but my application needed to be reviewed. I first chatted, and eventually their Call Center called me, and at the end of the day learned it was because of my credit freeze due to unemployment fraud! I worked all that out, and they were able to swiftly approve my application, and I got right in to access my account.
I actually used the pretty neat management tool, and got all my accounts, debits etc., in one image. Depressing, but the feature is awesome! So glad I saw these guys on LendingTree, the rate is the highest in my area at least.
I decided to check out Ivy Bank when I saw the rate was one of the highest out there. The account opening process was really quick and easy, took about 5 minutes. I also like the mobile banking experiences so far...it's easy to use and I was happy that I was able to easily deposit a check and transfer funds from my other bank accounts using the app.
I opened a high yield savings account with Ivy Bank and have had no issues so far. It’s one of the highest rates I’ve seen and their online banking tools work well for what I need.
- The application process was glitchy due to dysfunctional web site.
- The first bank that ever asked me to link to an existing savings account prior to authorization. After they took my user ID and password to the funding account, they informed me that they would review the application and get back to me.
- Despite a perfect credit file and 825+ credit score, and high income, they requested that I email them via insecure email copies of my state ID, Social Security Card, and telephone bill. Basically, anyone who hacks to this info would be able to take over the telephone, fake my identity and steal my money.
Never trust this bank.
I opened my account in minutes, was approved immediately and was able to setup online banking. I had a question about my account and was able to do a live chat with one of their representatives. Their current high yield savings rate is paying much higher than the national average and their mobile app is highly rated - nothing shady going on at this digital bank! Highly recommend!
Had a question about money being moved from my account. Called Ivy Bank and rep (Erma) said she would call me back. She never did. Called back when more money was removed without explanation from my account. Called the 800# and got Erma - again. Said she'd call me back, and never did. Now they've closed out my account - with neither my request nor consent - and sent me my balance. They honestly did me a favor. Stay away.
You've been warned.
Perfect credit, substantial income and this is the only bank in the past 40 years that has turned me down for establishing an account. No specific reason given. Changed my password to the account I was going to fund the Ivy Bank account with immediately after being denied since Ivy Bank asked for it to link accounts. Something seems fishy here. I would avoid this bank like the plague.