Innovative, High Interest Savings
Written: Jun 11 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Extremely user-friendly
Cons: Transaction detail is not very descriptive.
The Bottom Line: ING Direct is innovative banking, in a user-friendly format. This is how all financial institutions should operate.
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| nghiemr's Full Review: ING Direct |
ING Direct is what savings accounts should be all about. I currently have a savings account and two CDs with ING Direct and will continue doing business with them as long as they remain innovative and competitive. I've been a customer since 2001 and ING Direct has continually made improvements in their operations, making it easy for me to do a lot of my banking electronically, the way I like to do banking.
COMPANY INFO
ING Direct USA is part of an international financial services company, ING, that operates in over 65 countries. ING Direct is based in Wilmington, Delaware and is not your traditional “brick and mortar" bank, which allows them to keep their rates competitive due to lower operating expenses. ING Direct offers Savings, CDs, Home Mortgages, or Equity Lines of Credit through ING Bank or a Mutual Fund Investment Account through ING Direct Securities, ING’s registered broker-dealer.
ING’S COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
When I first opened my account, ING Direct’s rates were outrageously high compared to most major banks. The interest rate in late 2001 was 3.5%. A current ING Savings account earns 2.00%. Most major banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Washington Mutual still pale in comparison, typically offering less than 0.30% in a standard savings account. 1 Year CD at ING was once around 4.00% but is now 2.20%.
A quick check at Bankrate.com will also show that ING’s interest rates are still at the top of most best rates lists. Unlike most other banks, though, ING does not require a minimum balance requirement and does not charge monthly service fees. This is a major advantage and convenience.
ING also offers something extremely unique – the ability to link bank accounts at other financial institutions for electronic deposits and withdrawals. I can’t think of another major bank that offers this capability. You can wire funds at other banks, but most banks will charge a wire transfer fee for that service. The externally linked accounts must be identically titled to your ING account, though, for security purposes.
The electronic transfers are fast. For example, if I request a withdrawal from my ING account on Monday, it will post to my external checking account for Tuesday's business day. The processing time may vary from bank to bank, but I've already noticed a pattern with mine. ING will also post a deposit the day I request it, even though the funds won't actually be withdrawn from my external checking account until the next business day. Just be aware that, even though the deposits are electronic, ING does not make those funds available until the fifth business day. Direct deposits are available immediately.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
I’ve only had to speak to a customer service representative once when I initially transferred funds from my ING Savings to open an ING CD. I changed my mind and wanted to cancel the account until I could think it over. I was a little concerned that ING CDs compound annually, whereas other banks had CDs that compounded daily.
The representative was able to cancel the account quickly, which showed he knew what he was doing. He did ask me why I changed my mind and tried to give me benefits of possibly opening the account in the future. His tone of voice showed genuine interest in me as a customer, not that he was trying to push the product on me. I left that conversation with a positive customer service experience.
WEB SITE
When I think of ING, though, I don’t think of their customer service, but rather, their excellent customer self-service. It’s easy to schedule future deposits/transfers manually or set up Automatic Savings Plans for weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly automatic deposits. You can have paper statements mailed to your address or emailed to you in .PDF format. Besides being able to update your personal information and both your permanent/mailing address online, you can even set up your privacy/marketing preferences without having to speak to a representative.
When viewing the information for a savings account, the page is comprehensive and easy to understand. You can see your current interest rate, interest paid year to date, interest paid in the previous year, and interest earned in the current month. If you need to print transactions, you can select a specific time frame that you would like to have printed.
Even though the web site navigation is user-friendly, there are two things I don’t like about ING. The first is that transaction details are generic. For example, if you have an electronic deposit from an account that is not an external link, the description only shows as “Savings Deposit – Direct Deposit.” That doesn’t make for very good record keeping, making it hard to determine if the direct deposit was from a specific employer or if it was from another financial institution.
Also, if you have multiple accounts at ING, there is no drop-down menu to switch between accounts. You will have to click “My Accounts” each time to get to the main list of accounts, then click on the individual account that you want to view details for. A minor annoyance.
As for web site security, ING seems to take proper precautions. Most financial services websites require only two pieces of information to log on, usually your user name and password or your ss# and password. ING Direct requires three pieces of information. To log on, you need your Customer ID# (different than your account#), your PIN, and a login challenge question (like the last four digits of your social, zip code, or birth year, etc). The challenge question is randomly selected each time you log in. ING also uses 128-bit encryption.
Overall Recommendation
ING Direct makes it convenient to have a savings account outside of the bank where you keep your checking account. The rates are more competitive than most traditional banks can offer and the ability to link external accounts allows for easy access to your money right from your computer.
Of course, the current savings rates these days barely cover the inflation rate, so I mainly recommend ING Direct as a place for your emergency fund, short-term savings goals, or as a staging area for some investment you may want to make in the future. I'm not in the market yet for a Mortgage Loan or Equity Line of Credit, but ING's rates in that category seem competitive as well. As for the Investment Account, I'd probably go elsewhere, even though a large portion of ING's core business is in investments.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
nghiemr
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 66
Trusted by: 69 members
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