ING Direct

[Kriegsspiel]

I've gotten a bit concerned with my bank's (USAA) low interest rates on savings, and I was looking at some of the other online banks.  ING Direct looks amazing, are there any downsides if I'm already using an online bank?  Is ING a quality company, have they gotten in trouble for anything shady/illegal in the past, or anything else you all know about?

[Mercutio]

My experience with ING has been good. I haven't run into any problems in my 4 years with them. I like how you can easily create sub-savings accounts so that you can automatically allocate money to a specific account each month in order to save for specific items or expenses. The ATM locations are quite limited, but they have a network you can access. Transfers take about 3-4 days from outside institutions, and immediate from ING account to ING account. Depositing checks takes some time, since it's an online bank.

One thing, it did give me pause when they were recently acquired by Capital One. But i have not been hit with any fees or anything else thus far.

[AJ]

I love ING, but I don't use them for checking. Too hard to deal with deposits and withdrawals. But, I do keep all my liquid savings there, and it isn't hard to transfer between them and my checking account. I've never heard of any shady dealings.

[zinnie]

I don't  have money in there anymore, but I did for years (when the savings account rates were still respectable) and never had any problems with them. The transfers are slow, but for savings I didn't care.

Another similar online bank I used for years was Emigrant Direct/ Dollar Savings Direct. I used to move the money back and forth depending on who had the higher interest rate.

[James]

I've used ING Direct for years and it's worked fine for me.  The rate is not always the absolute best available, but it's always been "close enough" that I've never been tempted to switch.

Just fyi, lots of people talk about "sub accounts" with ING, but I think a better way of saying it is "multiple accounts".  The accounts all show on one page and it's easy to transfer between them, but each account you have is it's own savings account, not technically a sub account.

Anyway, I've not go problem recommending them.

[smedleyb]

I connected my 3 week old ING account to my local bank; it's become my go to online bill pay account replacing the fee hungry Bank of America account I just closed (although I avoided 98% of the fees they try to levy on their customers -- but that last one for $12 wire fee broke the camels back and got me over to ING).

So far so good, and I'm $50 richer to boot!  Coffee's on me, folks.

[rjack]

I actually work for ING Direct and I can't reveal much. However, you may want to read this about the future of depositing paper checks:

http://helpcenter.ingdirect.com/Topic.aspx?faq=TRANS4

[Mrs MM]

We use ING pretty much exclusively - we have a checking account.  They recently introduced checks (only $5), so we got some in case we needed them - we've used them a few times which is handy. 

We use their person to person transfer a lot (transferring money from one ING account to another) and we pay all our bills through the account and transfer funds from other places into ING.  We've never had any issues with them and are really happy!

[Sunflower]

I've had ING for about 5 years now and I've never had any problems but if I were to open an account today I would also consider Ally as an alternative. My roommate has an account with them and seems to be very happy. They have many of the same perks but a couple key differences wrt deposits and overdraft so check them out and see which is best for you. I also have a couple friends with their primary checking/savings through an investment firm....can't remember which one at the moment but they all love it.

[Kriegsspiel]

Ok, you all convinced me.  You all and Mint.com. :)

I actually work for ING Direct and I can't reveal much. However, you may want to read this about the future of depositing paper checks:

http://helpcenter.ingdirect.com/Topic.aspx?faq=TRANS4

Yea, I just used the cell phone camera deposit method for the first time yesterday, it was pretty awesome.

[jambongris]

Not sure if it's different in the States, but in Canada it looks like to open an ING account you have t link it an account at another institution. (See section A of their Account Terms)

I was hoping to replace my current chequing account with one at ING but it looks like I'd have to keep my old account active, which means continuing to pay the monthly fee.

Does anyone know why this is necessary with ING? Is there a way around it?

[crumbcatcher]

Not sure if it's different in the States, but in Canada it looks like to open an ING account you have t link it an account at another institution. (See section A of their Account Terms)

I was hoping to replace my current chequing account with one at ING but it looks like I'd have to keep my old account active, which means continuing to pay the monthly fee.

Does anyone know why this is necessary with ING? Is there a way around it?

ING Direct in the U.S. is now owned by Capital One and is called Capital One 360.  It still works like it did when it was ING Direct though in that you have to have an external bank account linked to the online account (like it still is in Canada, as you said above). 

I love my 360 account for a lot of reasons, the interest rate not being one of them, so I use it but don't keep much cash there anymore.  I would recommend getting a free credit union bank account to use as the external account - it's not worth paying monthly fees for sure.

[wannabfrugal]

I started my online bank experience with ING and had no complaints.  However, I found Ally to fit my needs better.  I truly love using Ally as a bank. 

A couple features I like (and ING may have them now, but they didn't when I left)
Chat support
Nickname accounts (so I know what account is my car fund etc)
Ease of opening CD's
and formerly 2 month penalty on cancellation (it was a great combo with 5 year CD's)

[Eric]

Not sure if it's different in the States, but in Canada it looks like to open an ING account you have t link it an account at another institution. (See section A of their Account Terms)

I was hoping to replace my current chequing account with one at ING but it looks like I'd have to keep my old account active, which means continuing to pay the monthly fee.

Does anyone know why this is necessary with ING? Is there a way around it?

ING Direct in the U.S. is now owned by Capital One and is called Capital One 360.  It still works like it did when it was ING Direct though in that you have to have an external bank account linked to the online account (like it still is in Canada, as you said above). 

I love my 360 account for a lot of reasons, the interest rate not being one of them, so I use it but don't keep much cash there anymore.  I would recommend getting a free credit union bank account to use as the external account - it's not worth paying monthly fees for sure.

I have a Capital One 360 account (checking & savings) and have no other accounts.  Are you sure the linked thing is still valid?  Or maybe it's only needed to open the account and then you can close your linked account after that?

[jexy103]

Not sure if it's different in the States, but in Canada it looks like to open an ING account you have t link it an account at another institution. (See section A of their Account Terms)

I was hoping to replace my current chequing account with one at ING but it looks like I'd have to keep my old account active, which means continuing to pay the monthly fee.

Does anyone know why this is necessary with ING? Is there a way around it?

I don't believe there is a way around it. Capital One 360 (formerly ING) is an online-only bank, so if you ever needed to complete some transaction in person, they don't have the facilities available to assist with that. But I opened in 2005, maybe they've changed it since then. So you need to have an account at a brick-and-mortar bank. However, if you don't like your current bank, I would strongly recommend finding another bank or a credit union to switch to as your brick-and-mortar, then you can open a 360 account and link it. You can use your 360 account as a primary accounts, since they have phone camera check deposits, debit cards, checks, etc.


Also, the 2-3 day transfer time mentioned above is an Automated Clearing House (ACH) requirement/side effect, and would be in effect any time you transfer funds from one institution to another; it is not ING/360 specific. I get around that by having my emergency fund in my 360 savings, and a 360 checking account with a debit card. If I ever need to access my e-fund, I can instantly transfer money from 360 savings to 360 checking, and then use the debit card to pay for whatever I need.

[wannabfrugal]

I started my online bank experience with ING and had no complaints.  However, I found Ally to fit my needs better.  I truly love using Ally as a bank. 

A couple features I like (and ING may have them now, but they didn't when I left)
Chat support
Nickname accounts (so I know what account is my car fund etc)
Ease of opening CD's
and formerly 2 month penalty on cancellation (it was a great combo with 5 year CD's)

Forgot to add they reimburse ATM fees, so the world is my oyster if I need to get cash out

I also use Ally in concert with a local bank.  I do my regular checking at the local bank (paycheck deposit, cashier checks etc)  and set up automatic xfers to Ally from my local bank (they are configured through Ally), each xfer in a separate Ally account, for automatic saving for various goals.  Puts more of my financial life on autopilot.

[dragoncar]

I started my online bank experience with ING and had no complaints.  However, I found Ally to fit my needs better.  I truly love using Ally as a bank. 

A couple features I like (and ING may have them now, but they didn't when I left)
Chat support
Nickname accounts (so I know what account is my car fund etc)
Ease of opening CD's
and formerly 2 month penalty on cancellation (it was a great combo with 5 year CD's)

Forgot to add they reimburse ATM fees, so the world is my oyster if I need to get cash out

I also use Ally in concert with a local bank.  I do my regular checking at the local bank (paycheck deposit, cashier checks etc)  and set up automatic xfers to Ally from my local bank (they are configured through Ally), each xfer in a separate Ally account, for automatic saving for various goals.  Puts more of my financial life on autopilot.

I like Ally a lot but they recently screwed me on an international trip.  As in it took 5 calls over a course of days to get my ATM card working there, AFTER I had called ahead with my travel plans and they confirmed I was good to go.

I concluded that their customer support is super polite and helpful, but they are not necessarily competent with more complex requests and fail to escalate properly to someone who can actually solve my problem.

After I got back and filed a written complaint, their "executive customer service" left one voicemail and sent an email asking me to return their call.  I tried a few times and the "special" number just put me on hold for a few minutes then told me to fuck off (essentially).

Something to consider.

[crumbcatcher]

Not sure if it's different in the States, but in Canada it looks like to open an ING account you have t link it an account at another institution. (See section A of their Account Terms)

I was hoping to replace my current chequing account with one at ING but it looks like I'd have to keep my old account active, which means continuing to pay the monthly fee.

Does anyone know why this is necessary with ING? Is there a way around it?

ING Direct in the U.S. is now owned by Capital One and is called Capital One 360.  It still works like it did when it was ING Direct though in that you have to have an external bank account linked to the online account (like it still is in Canada, as you said above). 

I love my 360 account for a lot of reasons, the interest rate not being one of them, so I use it but don't keep much cash there anymore.  I would recommend getting a free credit union bank account to use as the external account - it's not worth paying monthly fees for sure.

I have a Capital One 360 account (checking & savings) and have no other accounts.  Are you sure the linked thing is still valid?  Or maybe it's only needed to open the account and then you can close your linked account after that?

I thought you had to keep it linked, but if you've closed yours then maybe not.  :-)

It appears to still be a requirement for opening an account though, this is from their site:

"You'll need your checkbook in order to make your first deposit electronically from your existing checking account. This will create an electronic link between both accounts so you can easily transfer money."

[LibraTraci]

A couple things:

I think their intention is that you always keep a linked account.  I say this because when I inquired into how to deposit a fairly sizeable amount of cash last summer, the people at CapitalOne360 said the only way to do this was to deposit it into my linked account, and then transfer the money to my CapitalOne360 account.  I was flabbergasted.  (Luckily, I have a few other bank accounts, one of which let me buy a money order and send it in for deposit.)

CapitalOne360 is very user-friendly, but have you considered other banks?

 - My account at Charles Schwab has free international ATM withdrawals.  I *love* this.  Actually, they have free ATM withdrawals everywhere.  (CapitalOne360 does not.)
 - I use GE Capital Bank for their savings account -- better rate than CapitalOne360. 
 - Someone posted here about Kassava (I think) and how most of the bank accounts you can get through them pay 3% on your savings accounts *if* you make, I think, 15 transactions per month with your debit card and have direct deposit.  I simply would never make all those transactions, but I drool at the thought of 3% interest. 

There's nothing wrong with CapitalOne360, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop -- I felt a lot better when it was INGDirect.  Capital One strikes me as one of those companies that preys on all kinds of people (setting up booths at freshman orientation and all that) and charges absurd fees on their credit cards so they can do lots of advertising to be able to prey on even MORE people.  Yick.

[MrsStubble]

I have a Capital One 360 account (checking & savings) and have no other accounts.  Are you sure the linked thing is still valid?  Or maybe it's only needed to open the account and then you can close your linked account after that?
[/quote]

You don't need to have an account at another bank to start an account with ING Direct US (now capital one 360) - plus you can now withdraw for free from capital one ATMs in the US.  Also some ATMs, (Wilmington DE cafe is one) are now accepting check deposits which I hope is a sign of additional deposit options to come.   It is a great bank.

[geekette]

You can snap a picture, front and back, and deposit online. There's a dollar limit, but it's quite convenient. Sure feels strange tearing up the check a few days later, though.

[NinetyFour]

I have Capitol One, also.  And I really like the snap-a-picture method of depositing checks, although sometimes it can take several days for the $$ to be available.  I believe if the check is over $200, the first $200 is available pretty quickly, but the rest takes an extra 2 - 3 days.

I'm really happy with Capitol One.

[geekette]

We started a (rather short-lived) referral thread a while ago.  You each get some cash if you open an account.