I have not opened an AE account.

Banks don't pay to get on these lists.

(If I tell you stuff you already know, please forgive me.)

Now, what I'm about to say in no way implies that this is BankRate.com's entire mode of operation -- I don't know anything about how they run their site.

I do know that Ally Bank has an affiliate program. Websites can sign up for that affiliate program (for free) and post special links to Ally Bank that track the sign-up process. If someone is sent to Ally from BankRate.com and that person signs up for an Ally account (and meets other restrictions, perhaps) then BankRate.com could earn a commission from that sign-up.

This is something that lies underneath most financial websites: Recommendations, or the presence (or absence) of particular merchants in a side-by-side comparison may be partly based on whether said recommendations can be monetized, and to what extent.

Again, I'm not trashing BankRate.com. It wouldn't have an Alexa ranking in the 3,000s and a PR of 7 if it weren't great, fairly-presented information that it provides.

Some banks have affiliate programs, and others don't. It's a trade-off. Without an affiliate program, though, you're not going to have people beating down your door to promote your product.

I don't believe AE has an affiliate program. They therefore depend on their own efforts, and happy customers like you, to promote it.

Oh, by the way, ING has an affiliate program. If you love your ING account, you can make money promoting it. ;)