I signed up with ING Direct about 4 years ago and have had a great experience with them. They have been a model business that has worked very hard to satisfy and meet the changing needs of their customers. These are just a few of the ways they have helped me.
1. They are nuts about safety.
A study from the University of California, Berkeley was just published that measured occurrences of identity theft at the top banks. Guess who came out the winner. Yep, ING was rated the safest bank from that study. It is really no surprise to me, just going through their login process you become well aware that it would be a tough feat to hack into someone’s account.
2. Consistently good interest rates.
You may occasionally be able to find a better interest rate online, but ING consistently has good rates. And the rates still clobber any brick-and-mortar bank.
3. Free Bill Pay.
Yes, you can get free bill pay from just about anywhere. But, I have used a few different bill-payment services and theirs has been the easiest and quickest to use.
4. No overdraft charges
This is an a brilliant service that they offer. Most banks charge you about $30-$40 overdraft fee if you bounce a check. With ING, you don’t have to worry about that. Rather than charging that overdraft fee, they basically lend you the money at a competitive interest rate until you bring the balance back to $0. So if you are short for a couple days, it might cost you pennies rather than $30-$40.
5. They send paper checks for you
If you need to send a paper check to someone, you just go to their site and fill the check out like you normally would. They will then mail it to whomever you would like. How easy is that?
6. CDs with no minimum.
7. They make budgeting easy.
8. They now own Sharebuilder.
9. Great customer service.
– that is a good thing. I have never been on hold more than a couple minutes and most times I have gotten someone right away.10. Bonuses for friends.
What did I miss? Are there other features or other banks that you love?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree. Other people will argue that you can get higher rates elsewhere, but I think given ING’s reputation, safety, and easy to use features it’s worth not getting an extra 0.2-0.7% interest a year – especially when you’re not guaranteed to keep receiving that premium rate.
@Paul
I am with you, when I consider the amount of time and energy it requires chasing the best rates – opening, closing accounts, etc – I am extremely content sticking with ING until they give me a reason to look elsewhere.
I’m new to ING (less than a month) and am excited about all that it has to offer. But let me offer some warning that I wish someone had given me before I waded in.
My goal was to open savings accounts for my minor children to get their money out of local bank savings where they were earning like 0.20% or some whopping amount. But what a process it has turned into.
First, open a checking account for each child at our local bank (with me as a joint owner). Easy enough. Second, open ING joint savings account (one owner has to be 18 or older) with child #1 with link to child #1′s checking account. Also easy. Now the fun starts.
Try to open ING joint savings account for child #2 and link it to his checking account. Can’t do it. Have to first add his checking account as a second linked account to my ING customer number. Oops, can’t do it online until the first ING account has been open 30 days. No problem, says the ING CSR, just do it by mail. The instructions online are clear, however, that to do it by mail the name on the check you have to send them must match exactly your customer name. Uh-oh, because it’s my son’s checking account, his name is on his checks but he’s not the ING customer yet, I am. So, now I’m stuck waiting out the 30 days to hopefully be able to add his checking account as a linked account to get this deal done.
What a hassle! Maybe it will be worth it in the long run. But right now, it is just a major pain…with his money sitting in a non-interest-bearing checking account while we wait.
@Scott
thanks for sharing. That does bring up a good point – you basically can NOT open an ING account unless you have a checking account at a “regular” bank.
What I think ING is doing is using the “regular” banks as a filter to weed out the “bad” customers who can’t handle having a checking account. By only allowing customers to open an account IF they already have a checking account, ING is greatly reducing their risk of “bad” customers.
It’s not a big deal for most people, but it is something to be aware of.
It just seems that they “get it” more than other companies lately. They make things more simple and are working on removing the hidden costs that many companies prey on people with.
I have had sharebuilder since before they bought it and loved it before and love that they haven’t tried to change it for the worst.
Good analysis. I did a similar one comparing HSBC and ING direct. End of the day, HSBC’s higher APY was the differene to me. At almost 0.5%, that adds up to a lot of money.
@Andys
It can if you have a lot in there, but even if you have a couple thousand in ING, the difference would only be a buck or two a month. For the simplicity and all the other features, It hasn’t been worth the switch for me… But, if the time ever comes I will dig into HSBC deeper
I love ING because I have checking accounts at more than one bank and ING allows me to link all of them and transfer money between them for FREE! Also, my ING e-checking now allows me to send e-mail deposits directly to friends and family members who may have accounts at a different banks than mine. So, for instance, if I need to loan someone in another city a quick $25 or if at 2 a.m. I remember I need to pay someone back money that I borrowed, it’s as easy as an e-mail and then the money is deposited directly into their account!
ING seems to be the one bank out there that is interested in making things easier for the customer AND they don’t add a bunch of extra fees for the convenience!!! So many banks seem to be looking for loopholes and ways to screw their customers. ING is the one bank that seems to have integrity.
i absolutely adore ING. when all the other banks seem to fail on good customer service and easy use online banking facilities, it is just worth it in the long run. there was a short period of time when i couldn’t bank money into ING due to losing a job from the financial crisis. ING provides me compound interest. i logged into my account and saw about $70 extra sitting there. now, i hadn’t put any money into that account for a month. but to just receive some extra money for just keeping the bank open gave me enough money to have that little bit extra (was a bit like “pocket money”) i also found st george to be a really good bank. sometimes interest rates dipped, sometimes they rose for the better. but overall, i felt the general handling of banking with st george/dragon direct was still a pleasure to use. ING still beats everyone by far at the end of the day. that is all. over and out.
Bob, I just opened an account with ING Direct because I hate all the OD fees my bank charges me (although I keep promising myself I’m going to be better with my finances so I won’t have any OD fees)… however, ING only gave me a $25 limit for OD.
I’m seriously looking at opening an account with them, but I’m not sure if a savings or checking account for my budding business would be best. Any sugesstions?