[jvm]

I'm American and all these things are true of my bank (Ally). I don't quite understand why so many of my compatriots choose such crummy banks given the excellent alternatives available, but given that they're quite attached to brick-and-mortar big name banks that charge usurious fees, I can't imagine they'll flock to Circle.

[StavrosK]

Would you recommend Ally? How did you get an account? Can you transfer money to foreign accounts from the Web UI?

[jvm]

I would absolutely recommend it, except that international transfers seem to be quite difficult. The one time I tried to receive a wire from Europe, I had a lot of trouble and ended up with Paypal. I should say though, I didn't call support so maybe there was a solution and I just didn't figure it out. Ally phone support is quite awesome and has always been able to solve my problems.

But between check cashing via phone pic and being able to get reimbursed for using any ATM in the world, I couldn't be a happier customer.

[StavrosK]

Thanks for the information. Wells Fargo also offers reimbursement from any ATM (it's how I withdraw money, absent any reasonable way to transfer money out of it).

I've heard that many banks offer check cashing by photo, but it seems that the abysmal handling of transfers is a US phenomenon. Banks in Europe provide a seamless (and cheap/free) way to send money to anyone in Europe, inside or outside the country. US banks don't even seem to provide a way to send money to friends, outside their proprietary payment services which require that the recipient sign up with them, or something.