Sam D. Miller

Update: Ally Bank has confirmed it plans to support Apple Pay.

I’m a huge fan of Ally Bank. Heck, their online savings accounts have an APY of 1% while most banks are still in the range of 0.05% or less. I’ve used Ally as my sole banking solution for the past two years now, and really have no complaints. In fact, here are some more things that I love about Ally:

• Free check reordering
• Awesome, speedy customer service
• No charge for any ATM use nationwide, and Ally reimburses any ATM fees incurred
• Excellent rates compared to the competition
• No minimum balance requirements
• No monthly maintenance fees

However, the one thing Ally doesn’t support at the moment is Apple Pay. And, I’m surprised I haven’t seen any official statement from the company. Their marketing messaging seems to always be around how innovative they are and how they are everything you love about brick-and-mortar banks without the brick-and-mortar.

(Note: I assume Ally supports Google Wallet, which seems to support any debit or credit card, though I don’t have any Android smartphone and therefore no need to use it!)

The boilerplate response from Ally, at this moment, seems to be “While Ally Bank does not currently support Apple Pay, we are currently researching the possibility of including that service in the list of features that we offer to our customers.” Below is a transcript of a quick chat with an Ally Bank Customer Service Representative:

Crystal K: Thank you for chatting with me today. How can I help you?
Sam: Hi there. Are you able to tell me if Ally Bank has plans to support Apple Pay?
Crystal K: I understand and I am more than happy to address your question. Please allow me just a moment to prepare some information for you.
Sam: Thank you.
Crystal K: You are most welcome.
Crystal K: Thank you for your patience. While Ally Bank does not currently support Apple Pay, we are currently researching the possibility of including that service in the list of features that we offer to our customers.
Crystal K: We take feedback from our customers very seriously. Most recently, we have been completely redesigning our website by implementing the suggestions that our customers have given so we can provide a more streamlined and user-friendly online banking experience.
Sam: Perfect, thank you for your help.
Crystal K: You are most welcome, Sam. Is there anything else, or any more information I could provide you with today? Would you like a link to the online application?
Sam: No thank you, I already bank with you! Have a good day!

I tried asking the same question about Apple Pay two weeks ago and got a similar response to the representative’s first statement, but they didn’t mention that they’ve been redesigning their website. I’ve seen the redesign, and it’s alright, but it isn’t Apple Pay.

I reached out nearly six months after this original article was published, after scanning dozens and dozens of unhappy comments on Ally Bank’s Facebook page, and decided to ask Ally again:

Heather M.: Thank you for chatting with me today. How can I help you?
Heather M.: Hi Sam.
Sam: Hi, will Ally ever support Apple Pay?
Heather M.: I hope you are doing well today.
Heather M.: I am happy to answer your questions.
Heather M.: While Ally does not currently support Apple Pay, we are in the process of determining the applicable benefits of offering that feature to our customers.
Heather M.: We are currently researching the possibility of including that service in the list of features that we offer to our customers.
Sam: Okay
Sam: Thank you

Applicable benefits? Apple has made the benefits remarkably clear, and every big bank and countless smaller banks have joined up with Apple full speed ahead. Ally should release a statement and make it crystal clear of their intention to implement or not implement Apple Pay. Their researching of the possibility should have taken place months ago.

With more and more banks signing up for Apple Pay every week, I’m [no longer so] sure Ally will take heed of all of the chatter on their social media and implement support. Only time will tell!