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Ally Bank Is Now Limiting the Number of ACH Links
Ally Bank is now limiting the number of links that you can use to transfer money to and from your other bank accounts. I just confirmed this with an Ally CSR via online chat. The frustrating thing is that the CSR stated she had not been notified of what the limit is. I first learned of the issue at this FW thread, and the FW members are reporting the same response from Ally. They found out about this limit when they tried to add an external link and received the message "maximum number of external accounts exceeded". If you run into this problem, you'll need to delete old links before you add a new one. Based on this procedure, FW members are reporting a limit of around 10 to 20.
This is disappointing on three levels: 1) there's now a limit on the ACH links, 2) no apparent notification of this change, 3) no info on what the limit is. If Ally believes it needs to limit the number of links from a security point-of-view, it should still notify customers with the exact limit number and ensure this information is known by the CSRs.
This link limit reminds me of that Ally commercial in which the banker prevents the girl from riding her bike outside a small square unless she pays a fee. This new link limit is like having a square that's invisible. You don't know how far you can ride until you hit the invisible wall.
Some may think that there's no reason to have more than one or two dozen links. However, for those who are trying to get a decent return on their money, it can require opening many deposit accounts. In today's record low interest rate environment, savers are having to work much harder. So banks should not be suspicious of those with many ACH links.
Overview of ACH Links
For those not familiar with ACH links, these are links that are used when you want to electronically transfer money to and from your accounts at different banks. Many online banks have this feature. You first establish the link by entering the routing and account number of your other bank account. You will then be required to verify that you own that account. This is often done by trial deposits in which the bank will make two small deposits into your external account. You will then have to log into that account and record the amount of the trial deposits. With this information, you can finish the verification process, and the link is established. You can then initiate deposits and withdrawals via that link.
I had the same bad experience with Etrade and Wamu when I had accounts with them.
Hopefully, changes such as penalties can not be retroactively changed but who knows?
darkdreamer4u: I heard you limit the number of external accounts linked to Ally accts.
What's the limit now?
Rachelle: There is no limit to the number of external accounts you can have linked. However, you may only view and access 10 online. After the first 10 you would need to call or chat to process the transfer.
darkdreamer4u: I currently have 12 and all are showing... will that remain this way?
Rachelle: That is great! We have made some updates recently and this may now allow for more external accounts to be listed. Just one moment and I will see if this is the case.
darkdreamer4u: Ok
Rachelle: You may now see all external accounts you have online.
darkdreamer4u: Well, customers have reported: They found out about this limit when they tried to add an external link and received the message "maximum number of external accounts exceeded".
darkdreamer4u: But they were not told what the maximum is...
darkdreamer4u: Do you know?
Rachelle: I know that we are currently are working to fix an issue with adding the external accounts. This seems to be happening when customers have 40 and 50 linked accounts.
darkdreamer4u: Ah, ok - thank you very much.
I tried deleting one existing ACH account to make room for the new one, but this did not work. Still get "Maximum accounts exceeded".
I emailed twice and called 4 times on 4 different days and each time was told I would receive a phone call with the answer. Never happened.
The 4th support rep said I would never again be able to add any ACH account, even if I deleted every existing ACH account.
I sent a follow-up bank mail yesterday to find out if this bizarre answer is really true, and this time was told to wait 5-8 days for an answer.
The problem is in the new software they installed the weekend prior to the ACH breakdown.
This could be a factor in banks limiting the number of ACH links. Anybody know how this works?
anybody heard otherwise?
Yes, please. Consider requiring registration to post comments, or some form of comment moderation.
I'm not sure what #3 said, but one of them said that he had posted about this situation on June 6. And if you go to the June 5 weekly summary, you may still see a post there asking about this new limit.
Right now, there are only three comments on that post, and that one is #1 (although currently showing a -1 vote). If Ken or someone else with the site read these comments, he would have known to look into the sitution. A week and a half later, he notices posting on the situation on another site... but, not his own.
Let's just say that timeliness is not one of the goals of this site.
Dale: Thank you for chatting with me today. How can I help?
William: I'm thinking about opening an account, but I heard that you are now limiting the number of linked external accounts, is that true?
Dale: William yes we have been informed that as a result of new procedures and to increase our fraud prevention measure we are limiting the number of external account to 20.
William: Thanks!
Welcome to Ally's Live Chat. Thanks for joining us!
You are now chatting with 'James'
James: Thank you for chatting with me today. How can I help?
Me: I am wondering how I can add a new external account. I tried and get a message "maximum number of accounts exceeded"
James: It does appear that there is a limit now to 20 external accounts. You do have 23 currently, however, your external accounts were in placed before a limit was set. In order to add a new external account, you would need to remove enough external accounts to reach 19, then add the new account. There is currently no way around this method of resolution. I do apologize.