Mrs. Stone and I are thinking about opening an ING direct savings account. They seem to have the best rates, almost as good or even better, than CD interest rates without having to lock the money up for any length of time.
But it goes against my ‘old fashioned’ nature to trust a bank that I can’t see. They’re a virtual bank, accessed online or by phone. I just can’t get over the feeling that they could all too easily dissapear and all our cash would be gone.
So…
Does anyone have any experience with them? (I did a search and found threads relating horror stories with other banks <shudder> including my own bank, but none I could find mentioning ING)
Sounds like you have already done your homework on them. Message board testimonies aren’t very scientific, but I have a savings account with them and they are terrific. Better security than most other bank’s websites (both a password and a security question answer are required when you log in), great plain english explanations of everything on the site, and of course they are FDIC ensured for the full 100,000 per person (200,000 if it will be joint between you and your spouse). Plus the interest rates are way higher than the typical bank, only Citibank has competetive savings rates I believe.
You can also get a 25 dollar bonus for being refered by someone (the referer also gets some cash). I would rather not do this myself since that would taint the advice I’m giving you, so see if one of your friends has an account.
I have had an account with them (their Canadian operation) for several years, and haven’t had any problems at all - not even a little problem. It seems to be a very well-run outfit.
Just chiming in to say ditto. Works great. You can have online statements only. It’s easy to transfer money. You get an email every now and then saying “Your Orange savings rate just went up!”. Go for it. They’re on the up and up.
I’ve had account with them for a while. One nice feature is being able to set up sub-accounts. One thing you have to keep in mind is that when you’re transferring money between your institution and ING it’s not an instantaneous thing. You have to allow a few days.
I just paid off (and closed) a home equity line of credit with ING. In the two or three years I’ve had the account I had no trouble with them. Once I had to change payment accounts and called their phone service to see what I needed to do, since the online procedure didn’t seem to be working for me. They straightened everything out immediately. And when I overpaid the balance on my line of credit last month, they deposited the excess in my other bank account within days.
A coworker referred me to ING, and I’m experimenting with them. I’ve had no problems so far, but it’s only been a month or so.
One technical note: Their savings account is actually a money market deposit account. This means that you are allowed to take out money up to six times a month, no more. This also means that you get a better interest rate than you would on a regular savings account.
FWIW, from what I’ve seen, MMDAs at traditional banks in my area are paying around 2.5%, compared to ING’s 3.0% yield.
Way back when before I stopped working in insurance, I dealt with ING a lot. They are a solid, multi-national, financial institution. Your money will not disappear.
For the record, intellectually I wasn’t afraid they’d take off with my money. I already knew they were an established outfit and not a fly-by-night huckster. But I was raised where you look someone in the eye and shake their hand when you make a business deal with them and that’s still what I do when I open an account at a ‘brick and morter’ bank.
It was just the idea of giving money to someone I’ve never met, nor had a physical location of where to find them that set off my emotional ‘I don’t trust this’ response.
Thanks Emerald Hawk, I’ll be checking with friends and family to see if anyone has an account with them so we both get the bonus. If no one I know does business with them, I’ll contact you to see if you want it.