ING Direct Review – Orange Savings and Checking Accounts

Growing up my family always did their banking at traditional brick and mortar banks.  Once I was done with college I began looking to start an emergency fund and save for my house down payment. I started to weigh my options. I could either stick with a brick and mortar bank and earn 0.05 percent if I was lucky or I could make the jump to an online bank.

Going with an online bank was the obvious choice for me. Because ING Direct was the most established bank they got the nod.  I opened an Orange savings account and I have never looked back. Below you will find the many reasons why I love ING Direct.

What I Like about ING Direct

1.  High Interest Rates – While they do not have the highest interest rate of all the available online banks, the ING Direct Orange Savings Account does rank near the top at 0.80 percent. This is much higher than the 0.15 percent that I would be able to earn at my local bank.

With most offline checking accounts the best interest rate you can expect would be around 0.15 percent. With the ING Direct Electric Orange Checking Account you will receive an interest rate of 0.20 percent on balance up to $49,999, 0.85 percent on balances between $50,000 and $99,999 and 0.90 percent on any balances over $100,000.

2.  No Fees and Balance Requirements – While I like being able to talk to a banker face to face, I am tired of all the bank fees that the big banks are starting to impose. ING Direct Orange Savings Account charges no fees and the ING Direct Electric Orange Checking Account has no monthly maintenance fee and they do not require a minimum balance.

3.  ING Direct Electric Orange Debit Card and Free ATM Access – With your ING Direct checking account you will be given a Mastercard debit card that comes with no monthly fees and have no overdraft fees. You will also have access to over 35,000 ATM’s and ING Direct will refund all ATM fees.

4.  Direct Deposit – Recently ING Direct announced their new direct deposit feature Checkmate. This allows you to either scan a check to your computer and upload it or you can take a picture of it from your smartphone.

5.  P2P Payments – You can easily send money to your friends and family even if they don’t have an ING Direct account.  Any transfer that goes to an outside bank will take two business days to clear after the recipient accepts.

ING Direct makes their accounts very customer friendly. The lack of fees, their high interest rates and the ability to deposit checks with your smartphone are great examples of this. The only thing I don’t like about my ING Direct Orange Savings account is the lack of accessibility to funds right after they are deposited. ING Direct requires a five business day hold on deposits that are not direct deposits.

Overall I love being a customer of ING Direct because of the features their accounts include. So many banks are looking out for their bottom line but ING Direct is still focused on their customers and they is the most important thing to me.

Sign up for ING Direct Electric Orange Checking Account

Sign up for ING Direct Orange Savings Account

Sign up for ING Direct Kids Savings Account

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