So I’m thinking of opening an ING savings account to save up for the down payment on a house. I have almost 20K right now in my bank account, but the interest rate is terrible. I searched and saw a few threads from some time ago about ING and the feedback was very positive. Is the service still good? How long does it actually take to set up the account?
Any opinions would be great.
I started one a month or so ago. Set it up that day, I believe – it wasn’t difficult at all. It does take a little more time to shift your money around than a normal bank account, but that’s the only downside I’ve experienced.
By all accounts I’ve heard, ING is pretty great, however, they’ve recently dropped their rates below 5%. Here is a list of some other high-yield savings providers; I’ve heard good things about Emigrant Direct and E-Trade savings.
Yeah, my Orange Savings is only at 3.4% right now. Still way more than I was making at my bank, of course.
I don’t think ING was ever above 5.0 in the last few years, and most of the APYs in that link are out of date. Almost all savings accounts, online and brick and mortar, lowered their rates in January. Etrade is now 4.10% and Emigrant Direct is 3.60%. I have heard good things about both of those, too.
This link gets updated frequently, and I think I’ve seen it referenced on here before.
I am shopping around for a discount onlin brokerage account, and I see that ING owns ShareBuilder. Any of you folks have experience with that one? The prices are decent, but what about the execution?
I’ve heard good things about ICICI, which is an Indian bank that offers something like 6.25% and has online banking, and does accounts in the UK. They might do them in the US too.
I’m with ING. I’ve been using them for 8 months or so with no problems. In fact, I’m really happy with how easy it is.
I’ve had an ING account in Canada forever, and I always had one when I was in the U.S.
Love 'em. Piece of cake to transfer money from one account to your regular chequing account, and simple as heck to set up term deposits/GICs etc…
Here in Canada ING gives people a bonus if they refer new customers. If it’s the same where you are, start sending other people in this thread private messages.
I’ve been with ING for a couple of years now and really like them. In addition to their savings account, I’ve also had a couple of CDs with them. I’ve never had any problems with them.
I’ve a savings account and two CDs with ING, and I’m very happy with them. Their website is direct and intuitive. A couple of times I needed to call and speak to a real person, and I got a helpful, knowledgeable person right away (and apparently not in a foreign country).
Yeah, the interest rate has come down recently, but it’s still better than in a regular bank. ING also gave me an extra .10% to roll over one of my CDs back to ING, so that helped matters a bit.
I really like my ING account. I heartily suggest them. Their rates aren’t as great as they were, say 2 years ago, but they are still very good. And their customer service (should you ever need it) rocks. For me this is what keeps me with them rather than moving to another bank with a higher rate.
Another satisfied customer here. They had a “summer savings” thing last summer where the interest rate was bumped for new deposit monies until August 31st. That made saving… fun.
Even though rates have dropped a bit, I still go to the site every month to count my interest. I keep putting money into my RRSP account, trying to make it give me $20.00 a month in interest. 
(I’m close. But not close enough to retire, alas…)
I should add that I’m an ING customer too, and their customer service rocks - and it’s the best-designed online banking interface I’ve ever seen.
I have an account.
Very cool.
Transfers take 5 days.
I believe your initial deposit may have restricted availability for the first week or two.
The sub-accounts thing is neat, too.
I’m happy to take all of your money and deposit it into my Australian ING account at 8.1%, please advise ;).
Bwah!
Keep it in America, and when you retire, you can cash out and eat beefsteak.
Invest it in Australia and you’ll be stuck eating 'croc and kangaroosteak!
I also have a Canadian ING Direct account. From what I’ve seen I could probably get a fraction of a percent better interest by shopping around, but it’s close enough that I can’t be bothered going to the effort of moving my savings. I find them extremely convenient. I don’t know how they work in the US, but for me if I withdraw money from my ING account it appears in my normal bank chequing account within two business days. If I deposit into my ING account by transferring from my normal bank chequing account my ING balance goes up the next business day but the funds are frozen for a week. My finances are such that the fact that new deposits are frozen for a week is completely irrelevant to me.
I’m with Emigrant Direct. Their interest rate is consistently better than ING’s. Easy to use, never had any problems.
Depending on your time-frame for buying a house (we’re saving for one too), you may want to consider opening an account with a low-cost investment house. We use Vanguard and Fidelity. Our “house” savings is split about 50-50 between Emigrant and a variety of index funds (get the ones with about 0.10% fees).
You might want to take a gander at E-money Central’s savings rate page (simple table of information). Personally, I have an account with Grand Yield Direct; they’ve always had a higher rate of return than ING (my wife had an account there that we’ve since closed) and it’s very easy to use.
At the same time, I should say that my understanding is that ING’s ease of use is notoriously good – I’ve seen it cited as the reason people stay with ING, even though the rates aren’t as good as some others. Also, I’ve found this blog extremely informative; with a bit of searching, you’ll be able to establish whether a bank will ping your credit score and get first-hand accounts of other aspects (e.g., compounding period, customer support, transfer times, etc.).