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Of all the ways consumers have to send money these days, wire transfers might seem old-school, but they’re one of the fastest ways to move funds — and as long as you follow precautions, one of the most secure. In fact, a wire transfer might be your only option for a large transaction such as a home purchase. Ally Bank customers who need to send or receive money can do so using Ally Bank’s wire transfer services.
Ally Bank lets you receive transfers from any bank, but you can only send wire transfers to other U.S. banks.
In most cases, you can wire as much as you want after you’ve had your Ally Bank account for at least 90 days. Until then, you’re limited to $25,000, but you can ask Ally to waive that limit if you need to send more.
To send a wire, you’ll need to fill out a Domestic Wire Transfer Request form with the information Ally needs to send the payment. The recipient typically supplies you with the necessary information when they request the wire transfer:
Wire transfers can be scheduled up to 30 days in advance. They settle immediately, so you can’t make any changes once one has gone through. However, you can edit or cancel a scheduled transfer before that point.
Ally processes wire transfers in the order it receives them. You can check the status of your request by logging in to your account and navigating to the Status Tracker.
Ally reviews and verifies all wires before transmitting, so it recommends keeping your phone handy in case a bank representative needs to call you. Verified wires go out by 6 p.m. ET. If you need same-day delivery, Ally asks that you submit the request early in the day because it’ll have to verify the information by 3 p.m. ET.
If you’ll be receiving a wire transfer, you’ll need to provide the sender with the information their bank needs to get the funds to your account. Here’s the information for transfers from a U.S. bank:
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If you plan to receive a wire transfer from a bank outside the U.S., JPMorgan Chase Bank will serve as the receiving, or intermediary, bank. In this case, you’ll supply information for both banks.
Ally Bank charges a $20 fee for outgoing wire transfers. However, Ally will refund that fee if you’re wiring money from your Ally Bank account to your Ally Invest account.
While Ally doesn’t charge for incoming wire transfers, Chase might charge a fee if it serves as the intermediary.
A wire transfer is an electronic transaction that moves money across a network of financial institutions. The transaction consists of electronic messages that contain all the information necessary for the sending and receiving financial institutions to debit and credit the payment.
Fedwire, owned by the Federal Reserve Banks, is the primary transfer network used by U.S. banks for domestic wire transfers. Fedwire transfers occur in real time, and unlike cashier’s checks, they settle immediately — in other words, when the messages reach the receiving bank, so do the funds, so the transaction clears right away. In some cases, the messages arrive at the bank through an intermediary, such as another bank.
International wire transfers often occur on the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) network, owned by member financial institutions. SWIFT transfers the instruction messages but not the funds themselves, so there’s some delay before SWIFT transfers settle.
Wire transfers are a good choice — and maybe the only choice — for anyone who needs to send a large payment quickly. However, it’s important to understand that the transfer can’t be reversed, so check the bank and account information carefully. It’s also a good idea to verify the identity of anyone you communicate with regarding your wire because scams are not uncommon.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
