DaveBarousse.com

Reinvented An Old Idea

ING Direct USA, a subsidiary of ING Group, opened their electronic doors in September 2005. The goal, re-create the banking industry so that the customer is the winner. The idea, use the Internet to eliminate brick-and-morter branches in order to reduce overhead, cut cost and pass those savings on to their customers. With the “bad boy of banking”, CEO Arkadi Kulhmann at the helm, ING Direct was on a mission to challenge the practices of the entire banking industry. Some may argue that online savings accounts are becoming a commodity, but ING Direct is still a good story.

I really like it when inefficiencies in an industry are reformed by motivated, foreword thinking, individuals that are truly passionate about what they are trying to do. Most of the time, only good things come out of that situation and more often than not, the customer is the winner. I luckily get to see this happen every day at my job.

Easy Sign Up

When I signed up for my ING Direct Orange Savings account, I was really surprised at how quickly I was able to set up the account and fund it. It was really as simple as picking the product, supplying some personal information and then supplying my bank account information. Within a matter of minutes, I had a savings account open with a transfer scheduled with my bank to move some money into the new account.

The only confusion I had when opening my Orange Savings account was adding my wife as a joint holder. Before opening the account, I did some research and learned that ING Direct’s security is pretty strong when dealing with them on the phone. Because of that, I wanted to put my wife on the account in case something happens to me and she needs to access the money and can’t transfer it online for some reason.

No Fees, No Minimums

As I previously mentioned, ING Direct does not have physical branches. They don’t have commercial bankers with high salaries and currently don’t even have ATM’s. However, one thing that ING Direct does not have, that most banks do, is a fee attached to your savings account. You can move money to and from your Orange savings account with no service charges. You can also set up automatic drafts from your checking account to enforce an automatic savings plan, all free of charge.

Most savings account require a minimum deposit to get started. Some will even base the rate of return on the amount of the initial deposit. ING Direct does not require a minimum deposit and can be opened with any amount of money. What I like about this is that people can start earning a return on their money immediately, without having to save additional funds before getting started. Of course, you can’t expect to make a boat load of money from a $10.00 deposit, but you can essentially start implementing your savings plan with the money you would normally spend on an average dinner at a restaurant. Getting started is always the hardest part for most, so making it easy was a great move.

High Rates Of Return

ING Direct is currently offering a 4.50% Annual Percentage Yield on their Orange Savings Account. They have actually been catching some heat lately due to their rate coming in below some of the other online banks, such as E-Trade. However, ING Direct is committed to giving their customers some of the best rates in the industry, so I would imagine that they will be raising their rate to compete.

Naturally, most will want to get the highest possible rate of return on their money, but if chasing the highest rate can actually cost you money in the long run. If you are considering ING Direct, but are more attracted to the higher rates currently being offered by others, my suggestion would be to compare a few other details, such as support, to see who can actually provide you with the best value.

Focus On Saving Money

One thing I really like about ING Direct is their focus on saving money. With their simple, easy to use, product offerings and blunt catch phrase (”Save Your Money”), it is obvious that ING Direct is trying to lead Americans back to savings. Where most institutions encourage spending, you’ll notice that all of ING Direct’s products are focused on saving money. ING Direct does offer a Mortgage and Home Equity product, which can be interpreted as “spending”, but they completely avoided offering credit card and brokerage accounts. The idea is to not offer customers anything that can potentially make them lose money.

I think it is great that ING Direct encourages customers to save their money. Of course, it is in their best interest and is good for business, but their commitment to doing so feels very sincere and genuine to me.

Interesting Side Notes

Another interesting thing about ING Direct is that they prefer to have thousands of customers depositing small amounts of money rather than a few whales who bring in millions at a time. The reason is because those types of customers expect too much and actually cost more to maintain. They feel that since they have large amounts of money on deposit, they should get special treatment. I can’t say that I don’t agree with them, however, it is interesting that ING Direct prefers to deal with the small guys.

If you want an easy way to put some money to work for you, so that you don’t have to work as hard, ING Direct is definitely an option worth considering. You’ll be able to sleep better at night knowing that the money in your FDIC-insured Orange Savings Account is working hard and is not subject to a drastic market change that can take money out of your pocket over night.

Save your money.