What are Your Experiences with Internet Banking?
Published on - November 20th, 2006 (Modified on - February 18th, 2008) (by J.D. Roth) Based on reader feedback, this post has been substantially revised from its original form.
What makes a bank good? Some people want great deals. Some want great service. Some want convenience. Many finance bloggers recommend online banks like ING Direct and Emigrant Direct because they offer excellent interest rates.
A GRS reader (who asked to remain anonymous) warns that the deals at these places may not be worth the trouble. When he needed to withdraw his money, he felt that ING Direct made him leap through unnecessary hoops — they required a lot of information that he did not have immediately accessible, including the amounts of two small test deposits. He’s concerned that ING Direct’s policies go beyond security, that they may be actual barriers to withdrawing money.
I use a good credit union where I live. I can always go there in person, proving that I’m me, and having lost my home, my phone, my whatever, can still access my money and obtain full services. My experience with ING has taught me what I get in return for the lower rate of savings on my credit union account: customer service, immediate access to all my accounts, and personal assistance when needed.
Do you do business with ING Direct or another online bank? What sort of experiences have you had? What headaches have you encountered? Or is your impression entirely positive? Convince me that I should (or shouldn’t) put my money at ING Direct.
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ING Direct is more known as an internet bank. Maybe if the poster of that comment simply went to the website and logged on she would have had a much easier time accessing her money. I’ve used ING Direct for several years now and could not be happier, although some of their more recent security changes seem fairly irrelevant to me.
The interest rate I get from ING on a Savings Account tops all but the best CD rate my brick and mortar bank has to offer (and ING’s CD rates top even that).
One thing that some people could perceive as a problem: it does take several days to transfer money into or out of an ING account. To me this is an advantage: it provides me with an incentive NOT to take the money out unless I absolutely have to (for example last month to make a down payment on my first new home!)
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I have had an ING account since December 2001. I have never encountered a problem. I have even completely transferred all cash out and effectively closed an account without any interaction or conflict with the company.
My recommend, is if for some reason you loose access to your account, through phone shut-off or cable disconnect, go to your local library and login to your account and transfer all the cash back to your local bank. Although, you would think, if times are getting that tough, someone would have accomplished this prior to the shut-off or relocation.
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If–like me–you do most (actually, everything except depositing checks) of your banking online, ING is much more convenient. They have a not unreasonably complicated three-step log-in process that requires your customer number and PIN every time, so they’re easy to memorize after a while, and all of the other account information is in your user profile. You can change your personal information online (address, telephone), as well–once you go through the log-in process, it’s you. I just clicked through as if to change my address, and it was very easy. And if I ever need those two tiny amounts again, they’re just a few clicks away in my checking account’s website. I’ve never requested a new PIN or anything, but all the other information they’ve sent me has taken only seconds to get to me through my email.
I don’t know if “ever get your money out of their bank” means transferring money to my checking or closing my account–I’ve (obviously) not closed my account and can’t comment on that. I have closed accounts other places, and I don’t think there’s a bank in the world that wants you to enjoy that process. I’ve never had a problem transferring my money… online.
It’s an online bank. It is designed to work through the website. If you can accept that, and work online, it’s efficient and convenient.
So, in response to this concern: it’s easy to change your information online, and to bank online. If a local credit union is your ideal, an online bank is probably its opposite. And honestly, is it really all that unreasonable to ask you for your account number and PIN if you’re going to do something with your bank account? Are we really getting mad at them for asking for security information? It rather delights me to know that my whole savings aren’t going to get stolen.
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I’ve had a significantly different experience in the UK at least. Took a significant amount of cash from my ING account to pay for a car last year — online transfer to my checking account took about a minute and the money turned up in my account in 3 days (pretty standard for the tired old UK banking network). I’ve been generally impressed by ING Direct except that the interest rate has not really kept pace with the increases in base rate we’ve seen over the past few months.
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I just want to echo Melissa’s comment. It’s an online bank account, thus it’s quite easy to navigate and do whatever you need to do online. I’m sure making things not as easy to accomplish over the phone is one way to encourage people to do things with their account online. Even still though I don’t think the information they’re asking for over the phone is excessive or difficult to keep track of.
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I have an Emigrant Direct account, and I am a happy customer (so far). The account security is similar to that described for ING, but I have yet to see it as an issue; quite the opposite, it feels like they are at least TRYING to protect my money.
Unless ING is different somehow, the easiest way to get money should be to go online and transfer it electronically; it’s easy enough with ED. The reason they can give you such a great interest rate is because they are pinching pennies when it comes to support staff and the other overhead that I just don’t need for the place where I stash my savings. It is still liquid, just a bit slow-moving; any money you might need at a moment’s notice should either be in revolving credit form (for those who can avoid abusing it) or sitting in your Credit Union savings account. I personally have an Amex for such occasions, and I know friends who keep ~1 month worth of their emergency fund very liquid (in a local bank’s savings account) just in case.
Losing a few days of liquidity is a small price to pay for 2-5% better return on your emergency money.
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i used to have an ING account, and I closed it with zero problems. I closed it because I was leaving the country and needed those savings.
Like a previous commenter, I had no problems — online. Since I had to manually transfer money from my chequing account to my ING savings account, my two accounts were linked. Reversing the money was just as easy. I just told the website to move the funds back. Or at least I think that’s what I did. It’s wasn’t a terribly memorable experience because it was so hassle-free.
Again, that was banking online, and it was with ING Canada.
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I’ve opened and closed accounts with ING a couple of times and haven’t had a single issue. Obviously, it wasn’t exactly fun, but nothing unreasonable was required.
I certainly don’t think it’s unreasonable for ING to require the information they do for security. Why should everyone else’s security suffer because this guy’s too irresponsible or disorganized to keep track of his account information?
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that’s funny. I use ING, and I lost my account number and moved to a different province, and had a different phone number and they still gave me my account number, and confirmed if my pin (which I thought I still remembered) was correct.
perhaps it was just the person you dealt with, or how you explained the situation.
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My husband & I have been using ING for not quite a year, and are very happy with it. Before getting into it, though, we did do our research and realize we needed to not be ‘a nuisance’ by calling ING unless absolutely necessary (like when we never received my PIN in the mail when I was added tho the account) When we did call, I was very impressed with how professional and friendly and easy-to-work with the customer help was. And he spoke English! We went with ING because other online banks didn’t have as easy-to-use an interface and ING didn’t require sending checks or forms through the mail to open the account.
We couldn’t beat the interest rates anywhere, and decided ING was the best place for our emergency fund- an account where it can earn interest comparable to a CD but be accessible in about 3 days for an emergency without penalty.
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Echoing everybody. The high interest rate is because of low overhead. Thus phone support is not as good as other “high-touch” banks.
Internet banks are “low-touch” where everything is driven through their website.
I remember my first checking account through Bank of America in early 90′s. It was free as long as I didn’t approach a teller. Everything was driven through the ATM. Same principle.
These days, 99.9% of the checking and savings account needs can be accomplished through banks’ websites.
Clearly this reader desires a “high-touch” experience, they should forgo the larger interest rate and stick with traditional banks.
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I have used HSBC online savings account for over a year because of the 5%+ interest rate and love it. The idea behind most online banks is that you will do everything through there website and never deal with a real person, this lowers their operating costs and allows them to offer the customer a higher interest rate.
My biggest complaint is that I have to wait 3 days for money to transfer to or from the account. This isn’t an issue they control because the three day pause between account transfers is mandated by the US government in the Patriot Act. Somehow the three day wait might stop terrorists (or make them plan three days in advanced).
I did have to call HSBC once when I couldn’t log on to my account, there number was easy to find and all information they asked me for verification was easy things I knew off the top of my head.
I would highly recommend online savings accounts, specifically HSBC, but anyone who signs up needs to understand exactly what the company’s policies are or they will get frustrated with the company over their own ignorance.
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My wife and I have had ING accounts for years. We haven’t had any problems at all. They are our savings accounts – Our emergency cash and money set aside for large purchases. As commented earlier, the 3-4 day delay in transferring money is a disincentive for taking money out unless really needed. As well, it’s easy to set up monthly automatic withdrawals from our chequing account at our brick and mortar bank. ING’s interest rate for savings accounts is far greater than we get at the other bank, so it fills a specific niche for us.
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I’ve had ING for over 4 years now and never once experienced a problem. Once I forgot my customer number so I could log in. Called them up, verified some information and they were able to give me all the information I needed. I’ve also moved about 4 times since I’ve had this account and never once had a problem either.
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I have moved several times and never had a problem. I had ING all through college and they never had a problem even though I had seven or eight different addresses, and five or so phone numbers. I think it is unfair to say that ING has strict security restrictions just so they can keep your money. That’s like saying we have screeners at the airport because the government likes the aesthetic feel of long lines.
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My fiancee and I opened an account with HSBC Direct, which offers a nice interest rate and the account is online-only. We are able to transfer funds in and out of the account electronically, as well as through HSBC’s ATM network (for withdrawals and deposits).
Their customer service is available 24×7 and we call from any phone.
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I have an ING Direct for a little over 3 years. Never had any major issue withdrawing my money. You have to keep your records organized.
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My wife and I use USAA and VirtualBank. VB is fairly new, but extremely customer friendly. I haven’t had any problems getting money from VB. They also have the best interest rate that we’ve found. Whenever I need money I can transfer funds to my USAA account to write a check or use my debit card. I only have a one day delay. We don’t use it for everyday transactions, but it is great for major, planned purchases.
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Thanks for all the feedback. This sounds like one of those unfortunate instances where one person has been forced to bear the brunt of some bad experiences. This is similar to the experience I had with our insulation contractor — everybody else says they do great work, but when it came to our house, they displayed a perfect storm of incompetence. I’m sorry that the reader who sent this in had such a bad experience, but I can empathize.
Also, I must say that I’m shocked that so many people use internet banking. I had suspected it was something done by only a few…
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Everyone has already said it, so no need to repeat.
But, I will add this:
ING Direct IS awesome, dood!
Ok, that was lame.
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I myself use GMAC bank for an MMA Savings. I consistently get a higher interest than these other banks and I’ve never had trouble. I only use it by the Internet to transfer money between it and my checking account at a local bank here in town.
I’m sure lots of others use it, but I find Bankrate’s list of high yield accounts to be awesome reference material for figuring out which place I want to plop down my dough in.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/mmmf_highratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=33
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If someone has such poor record-keeping skills that this happens to them, they have much bigger problems to worry about than getting 5% on their savings.
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The comments here about ING are all accurate. Everything you need to do with the account can be done easily online with no hassle. I’ve added money, withdrawn money, and transferred money and only called the bank one time ever (and this was due to my own stupidity, not any policy of theirs). They’re very diligent about security over the phone, however, because virtually all of their customers just do everything online, meaning that callers have an extra level of suspicion. In other words, I’m rather glad they do this – it lets me know my money is safe.
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I have had Netbank for several years. I cannot speak for ING, but I have had great luck with Netbank. I even seamlessly managed a move between states. Too bad they are getting rid of QuickPost for deposits, however. Now I will have to use snail mail to deposit my rent checks.
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Put a Digg-like “Marked by users as potentially inaccurate” disclaimer. I will echo the chorus of those who use ING Direct’s Orange Savings (about 16 months now), and I have transferred money in, transferred money out, changed my address, phone number, PIN, etc, all on line. Yes, you have to have that account number… which they tell you when you sign up. I printed it out, made a copy, put one in my home files, one in a safe deposit box, and put the number in an fSekrit-encrypted text file on my goes-with-me-anywhere USB drive. I suppose if you’re irresponsible with your own financial information, you may have a tough time getting your own money. But isn’t that better than letting just anybody walk in and take it?
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couldn’t you just transfer funds from ING to your checking instead? wouldn’t that make things easier?
i’ve had ING for two years now.. no complaints
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I also made a phone call recently to ING Direct customer service. While the above post is true with respect that the CS Rep on the phone asked a LOT of security questions, I didn’t find them to be as difficult to deal with as described in the post.
In fact, ING Direct had the wrong birthday date on my account, and corrected it after I answered the other questions — so I wouldn’t say that each and every question is a “deal breaker”.
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I’ve only had good experiences with ING. The two times I’ve had to call them (forgotten PIN or account number), a customer service representative has picked up after the *first ring*. None of the touchtone BS, just straight to a real person. Gotta love it. Don’t know if that’s still the case, but it made a believer out of me.
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this guy was just an unorganized idiot. If ING had transferred the money to someone else he would have been complaining that their security wasn’t good. I hate dumb people who blame their mistakes on other people or a company’s policies.
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I agree that there should be a disclaimer on this post, as it wouldn’t be good to attach a stigma to online banking.
I’ve had an ING account for several months now and I love seeing the interest roll in. My wife and I have money set aside in this account as an emergency fund…it’s money that we don’t plan to access unless it’s absolutely necessary. I have been curious about transfers though…are there charges to do transfers between your ING account and your “brick and morter” bank? Bank of America is where we have our short term savings and checking…
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I dislike using the telephone banking option with ING, but once you’ve got your bank accouts linked it’s very easy to move your money back and forth. I’ve cleared out my ING savings account this way with absolutely no problems. I’ve been a customer for about five years now.
It is really awkward in the setup, and you’re right, if you have to telephone them for any reason it’s a big pain, but if you persevere it’s worth it. The money you save makes it worthwhile.
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I have used ING for a few years now and I have never had a problem so I guess this statement makes sense. I have always found the site easy to use and did not have all of the problems with customer service that were mentioned in the article.
I don’t understand why the person would say that the only way to get your money is to basically jump backward through burning hoop. I use ING all the time with no trouble. You log on to the site and click on the transfer tab and transfer money to and from your linked account.
It takes few days for the transfer to go through but it is not an unreasonable amount of time in my opinion. I think it takes an average of two days more than it takes for my Paypal transfers to go through. Is it really going to kill this person to wait 4 days for the funds to become available.
It is also very easy to change your information online…..after all it is an online bank. Again, you log in and presto changeo!
The only thing that may be slightly annoying is the fact that you have to put in your customer number and pin each time you log in from a dedicated computer. Those are not numbers that the average person would have chosen and are not as easy to remember as a password.
If you try to log in from a computer that you have not designated as ‘safe’ then you have to verify your secret questions. However, when you think of the alternative of someone having access to your customer number you get to appreciate the security measures.
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[...] ING Direct: The Dark Side of Online Banking? [...]
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My favorite part was when the poster complained that:
“I had to provide exactly what was agreed to in the terms.”
Really? The bank expects you to follow the terms you agreed to? That’s an outrage.
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I’ve had nothing but great service from ING. Even the one time I messed up my PIN (can’t remember what I did) it took a single call to their Customer Service to get a reset code sent to either the registered email or the registered home address (can’t remember which went where…).
The rep simply said “I can’t do anything for you over the phone, but I can send info to your registered address” which was fine… since I AM me afterall.
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I’m a very happy ING customer; my comment here has to do with remembering your PIN, which the original poster (and several others) have mentioned as an issue.
There are a few easy solutions to this:
1. If you have a Mac, go look in your Utilities folder and you’ll find an item called “Keychain.” This is a fantastic tool: you can keep all your passwords (ATM card, online banking passwords, software serial numbers, combination lock combinations, whatever) in your keychain, and all you have to remember is one password: the one you use to unlock your keychain. You should keep a backup copy of your keychain somewhere…burn it to a CD and keep it offsite or if you have a .Mac account store it there.
2. If you have Quicken for either Mac or Windows, there’s a keychain built into that program, which you can use for the same purposes(MS Money probably has this feature as well but I’ve never used it).
3. There are lots of third-party keychain products available if the first two items here are not an option for you.
We all suffer from password fatigue; most of us try to use the same password for most things but each site or service has different requirements for the number of characters, letters, etc., resulting in password proliferation. Using a keychain will save you lots of headaches down the road.
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The type of bank account really depends on what type of service you need. I personally prefer online banking more than in-person banking and have had no problems with ING. However, for someone like my mother I recommended her to continue using her bank’s high-interest savings account just so she can get help easier if she has any issues. The interest rate difference is only about 1% and the branched banks have more conditions, however many banks are now just as flexible as ING.
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The part about the test deposits only happens when have to link a new account to your ING account. The one time I changed checking accounts after opening my ING account, I made sure to link the account right away so that it would be available the next time I needed to transfer money. This seems like basic security when dealing with an account that you really only access online. Once you link the account, it will remain available with no further effort on your part. I have been perfectly happy with ING Direct.
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Ok guys. I’m the original message poster. I’m not appalled that a company expects me to abide by their terms. Nor am I a disorganized idiot. And, I’m not even a “brick and mortar or else” person. My credit union has a kick-ass web site that I use all the time. They even have a bill pay service so I can handle bills for any companies that aren’t up to speed to provide for electronic payments. I don’t think I’ve written a paper check in over a year.
Ok… so what was the problem? Most of you posters got past the original log in and wrote about how easy it was to transfer money, update your address, etc. Well, I’m sure it’s great after you log in, but I was never able to… never got that far.
I opened the account, created a PDF of the account info, stashed it away and didn’t think much about it. Money saved earning interest. One day the PIN sheet arrived, but ended up with some magazines instead of filed away. Then one fine day – months later – I needed to get some of that money out and tried to log in to the web site. That’s where all my problems began and later ended. I never did get past “Go”, and my experience with customer service (yes, they picked up the phone immediately and spoke excellent English – double bonus) was just so very bad – first it was the missing PIN, then the mini-deposits, then the phone I was calling from, then the new PIN, then the mini-deposits again, which by that time no longer appeared in my online checking register (had to dig up my paper statements and since I do everything online, it wasn’t pretty), etc. By the time I was done I felt not that they had great security, but that the requirements were extreme. Maybe it was just what happened to me….
For all those who love ING, that’s great. For those just opening accounts: please take some advice – store all receipts and related info very carefully, so you can log in without issue and be a happy customer. Or else…
schubash
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I’ve used GMAC for a few months now, and I love it. My MMA has:
- Great interest rates (5.3% at the moment)
- Free checking (up to three checks written per month, which is all I need)
- Free ATM usage
- ATM fee refunds (when charged by other banks)
- OFX data export (which I import directly into GnuCash)
So my MMA is my checking account and savings account in one. Transfers to or from other accounts in other banks is a snap once it’s setup, and they only take a few days.
I took a lot of time researching different accounts before choosing GMAC (which is perfect for my specific needs), and I recommend BankRate as well for that sort of thing.
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so…you’re not appalled that a company expects you to abide by their terms, but you complain about it anyway…and you’re not a disorganized idiot, but you lost the PIN.
Thanks for clearing that up.
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“…stashed it away and didn’t think much about it.”
“but ended up with some magazines instead of filed away.”
“had to dig up my paper statements…it wasn’t pretty)…”
I’m not an unapologetic fanboy of ING by any stretch of anyone’s imagination, but from your post above, it seems pretty clear to me what the problem REALLY was.
MH
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I guess some people just need to have their hands held with everything they do. They need some banker to sit and do basic stuff like fill out a withdrawal slip. Well I guess that’s why most local bank interest rates are at 0.5%, they need to pay the bankers.
Yes, a personal banker is nice sometimes, I guess. But screw that. It’s faster and less hassle online. What he complained about: verifying the two deposits. Isn’t that the first thing you do with any online bank account? I bet if ING had somehow routed his money to someone else he’d be pissed huh???
Personally, I just find the ING login process a bit of overkill. I don’t like having to remember my account number. They should use a standard username or something. I don’t mind the pin so much, but remembering my account number is a pain.
I’ve personally had worse experiences with local banks and issues with my money. I was once out of town and needed to pay tuition before a deadline, so I needed to raise my debit card limit to make that huge purchase. I called in and do you know what they told me? “You need to come in sir”. Yep, bottom line, they refused to raise my limit because I needed to come into the bank in person to verify my identity. They had changed their policy and not informed me. I kept arguing with the official as she was insisting it was for my own security that she was refusing access of my funds. I offered to verify my identity with all sorts of information: telephone number, social security, mother’s maiden name, all the shit they made me fill out when i started. No dice. As soon as that tuition issue was verified, I did a huge transfer to ING and close that account.
In this day and age, we should be able to handle our own money. Things are simple enough people. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been to the actual physical bank. There is no need.
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I just read the post of the original dude. *Sigh* Of course he got hassled by customer service. He had nothing to show that he was the actual account holder. What did he expect them to do?
If his credit union has a “kick-ass” website, then shouldn’t the two mini-deposits be easy to locate?
I’m just saying..
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ING Direct helped me save over $5000 for a trip I took this summer; towards the end of the saving period I was making a little over $20 with each interest payment!! I never got asked about any initial deposit though… I think its a new security system they installed; but i keep the notice of deposit for my initial check in my wallet with my bank card.
I was very happy with ING Direct. Very easy banking, in plain English.
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I just completed setting up my ING Direct account this past weekend (baby step 1, for those who know of it). It’s no different than establishing a PayPal account.
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One thing to note from the original post – it sounds like this person had lost all his paperwork and forms of ID for some reason. Of course an internet bank would be very careful about dealing with you in that case, but there’s a lesson to be learned here…
I’ve had an ING savings account for years, and an Everbank checking account for years, and I love them both, and recommend them totally.
But when I had my house broken into and all my paperwork taken, the first financial tool I got back was my credit union’s credit card on the same day. It was completely invaluable since I had no other money, so even though I hardly use that credit card, I continue to maintain it because having that connection to a B&M credit union can be incredibly useful in a messy situation.
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My husband and I have kept an ING Direct account with an automatic 2x/month withdrawal for a couple of years now and I can’t say enough good things about it. We initially had some problems with getting our “real bank” checking account linked with the ING account, but it was all cleared up with a couple of phone calls to very polite and helpful customer service staff. No problems since, and I can’t complain about the login process, but then I’ve never had a problem memorizing long numbers. The two big draws are the automatic withdrawal and the high interest rates. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to not saving regularly, even if it’s only a little bit here and there.
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I haven’t read all 48 responses above me, but ING is an internet bank. I have never had an issue transferring money to or from my account. I’ve had it since Jan 2006. As others have noted, it does take a few days to transfer money in, but this is a benefit in my eyes because you can’t make impulse purchases.
I’ve also earned $20 with two referrals which has also landed those referrals $25 each. No complaints on my end about ING!
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After reading the link about 20 something’s and their debt, it was great to see the response to Internet Banking and how savvy people are in getting the highest interest rates they can. I have a Citibank E-Savings and a few ING Accounts, and love how easy they are to use, 24/7, from any computer. If you think back to the “banker’s hours” of times past, and the ridiculous rates given to savers, you’ll never get into that time machine your Uncle Kevin built in his garage.
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