Consumer complaint received 2024-04-02
Product: Checking or savings account — CD (Certificate of Deposit)
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC. (CA)

Previously filed complaints : XXXX and XXXX. 

As a likely financially stressed bank, you, Ally Bank, kept using the updated deposit agreement as the excuse. Sure, since your responses were still nothing but perfunctory, let me help you understand the problem, which, though, you should've known without me saying already. 

In the latest deposit agreement, Section II.D.1 says " We compound interest daily, using the Daily Balance Method to calculate the interest on your accounts. This method applies a daily periodic rate to the principal in the account each day. How does this work? First, we calculate a Daily Periodic Rate by dividing your interest rate by 365 ( even in leap years ). Then, at the end of each day, we add together the principal and the interest that has accrued to your account ( including interest that hasnt yet been posted ) and multiply that total by the Daily Periodic Ratethe result of that calculation is the interest you earned for that day. '' There is a " clarification '' paragraph on Page 2 of the latest deposit agreement : This section will now read : We compound interest daily, except for days when your account has a XXXX or negative balance, using the Daily Balance Method to calculate the interest on your accounts. This method applies a daily periodic rate to the principal in the account each day. How does this work? First, we calculate a Daily Periodic Rate by dividing your interest rate by 365 ( even in leap years ). Then, at the end of each day, we add together the principal and the interest that has accrued to your account ( including interest that hasnt yet been posted ) and multiply that total by the Daily Periodic Ratethe result of that calculation is the interest you earned for that day. No interest will accrue for any day that the principal amount in your account is XXXX or negative. 

Your criterion is that " No interest will accrue for any day that the principal amount in your account is XXXX or negative. '' Correct? Take a more obvious example in my savings account, which the monthly CD interest payouts went, from XX/XX/2023. On XX/XX/XXXX the account balance history was {$850.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX the account balance was {$850.00}. It was on XX/XX/XXXX when the account balance became XXXX. That means, exactly per the deposit agreement and even the " clarification '' paragraph that any day the principle amount is XXXX there is no interest accrual, that in XX/XX/2023 my saving account should count 2 days ( XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ) for interest accrual calculation. With an APR at 4-plus percentage point and account balance of XXXX XXXXXXXX for two days, the interest accrual for those two days in XXXX should've been ~ {$0.00}. BUT only {$0.00} was posted on XX/XX/XXXX and none were posted in XXXX. 

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT AT ALL????? Again, even the " clarification '' paragraph in the deposit agreement puts the criterion as merely " No interest will accrue for any day that the principal amount in your account is XXXX or negative. '' ( my correct paraphrasing without losing essential meaning from your own wording ). With that criterion, in XX/XX/2023, my saving account had two days with a positive principle amount for interest accrual calculation but your deficient banking system only posted about half of the accrued interest. 

Please don't even try to claim that in XX/XX/2023 Ally Bank had had a more stringent interest accrual policy than that in the latest deposit agreement and " clarification '' paragraph which I have been reading during all these complaints.