Published Thursday, September 22nd, 2005 at 4:41 pm
I recently signed up for an
ING Orange Savings Account savings account, made an easy $25, and am now receiving
3.30% 3.40% interest on my savings. In case you don’t know about the ING Orange Savings let me explain. ING is a regular FDIC-insured federally chartered savings bank but there are no branches. Your account gets linked to up to your regular checking account(s) allowing you electronically transfer money in and out via online banking just like you would with any other bank account that has online banking. Because ING does not have any branches their interest rate is much higher then traditional banks. The interest rate is currently
3.30% 3.40% at ING vs. 0.5% at BofA and CitiBank and 0.25%-1.01% at Wells Fargo. If you want read more opinions you can check out the
ING Epinions page.
If you want to sign up for an account you can do it directly through the ING direct website but to earn the free $25 you need to be referred. If you would like a referral from me please contact me your first name, last name, and email address.
[Edit: For the sake of full disclosure I should point out that I will also receive $10 if you sign-up through me. However, that in no way influenced my opinion of ING. It may have encouraged me to post it rather then just spreading the word verbally but my opinion is uninfluenced.]
[Edit #2: The ING Orange Savings Account savings account is now at 3.40% as of 9/22/05]
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September 22nd, 2005 at 6:42 pm
That sounds like something out of a scifi story!! :-O
September 11th, 2006 at 10:32 am
Yeah, you can score an easy $25 with ING, BUT how can you sleep at night knowing that ING is operated by some racist? ING obviously has some issues with race. They boast over 70,000 entries in their “Show Your Orange” contest and not one winning face was black or latino. What’s up with that? And some of the entries they picked were WEAK!!! ING SUCKS!!!
September 11th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Windall,
Do you have any evidence other then your inference from the images on the ING site? I’d say your evidence is weak!
August 24th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
First I’d say STAY AWAY COMPLETELY from ING Direct.
Back in September 2001 I opened an account with $10K. Within 2 months I added another $10K to the account. Then I tried to get my money out 18 months later and for over 3 months ING DIRECT kept sending me in the postal mail system a notice saying “Invalid Account Number”. Even though I called them numerous times to correct the problem, ING Direct continued to site the “Invalid Account Number” excuse and sent rejects via mail even though ING DIRECT had both my work and home numbers (both with answering systems attached). The folks at 1-888-ING-0272 were of no help. Mostly excuses and more excuses but they never solved the problem.
I had to write them two checks for one dollar to finally get my needed money. The first check resulted in the account number being updated according to the letter but when I requested the transfer I got the “Invalid Account Number” excuse again. The whole thing took a second check for a dollar (with a letter from my new lawyer) before they got me my money 6 months after I needed it. (We lost the house because I could not get the down payment out of ING DIRECT from my account.)
Then in 2004 I emptied the account down to $40.00. I changed my will to include the ING DIRECT account as a gift to my granddaughter when she turns 65, she is 8 now and was 5 then. I left the account in my name so that I was responsible for the taxes on interest until my death. Then I proceeded to forget about the account and talk anyone I hear talking about ING DIRECT out of doing business with ING DIRECT. I think I was mostly successful in my attempts.
This month I received a letter from ING DIRECT out of the blue. Since September 2005 ING DIRECT stopped sending me quarterly statements.. In the letter ING DIRECT states account was closed. The statement says “Since your Orange Savings Account has had little to no activity it looks like we weren’t able to help you save. As a result we closed your account.” Yet on the same statement the “Year to date interest” is $1.10 at an “Annual Percentage Interest Yield” of 4.47%. So it has had activity through 3 quarters of the year.
So now an 8 year old girl lost her future account. The almost $50.00 was transferred to my checking account and now I have to go back to the lawyer to remove the account from my will. Yet THEY NEVER GAVE ANY WARNING or ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT ME before closing this account. I’d have easily transferred as much as necessary to keep it open. And I have a great credit score so I know they could not have decided to can me due to bad credit rating.
ING DIRECT has no concern for you as a customer, they just want your $25.00 to start and then more. But if you don’t keep adding to it ING DIRECT will just throw you out without any warning at all.
My advice to one and all, STAY AWAY FROM ING DIRECT!!! Go to any other on line bank and you will be much better off.
August 26th, 2007 at 10:00 am
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I think your issues may be unique and not indicative of a problem with ING.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Sorry to hear about that bad experience. Obviously no corporation or bank is 100% perfect. There will be times when customers have problems, but if this problem is an isolated event, then ING Direct still maintains its reputation.
Let’s not forget that ING Direct was one of the first banks to offer high yield savings, which makes them a much safer bet than some of these newer high yield banks.
ING Direct will be around for the long haul. You can even check out my review of ING Direct savings
on my site. They’re still one of my favorites, and I have had zero problems with them.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I agree completely. Stay away from ING. I opened an account, thinking I’d take advantage o0f the added interest. Didn’t even know of the $25.00… I get an email requesting I call the security department as they need more info. Waht info?? She asks. “did I recently move?” Heck no! but I do live out in the country and am quite invisible if you try to google me. Maybe thay can’t find me and so won’t open my account. It didn’t stop them from taking my money though. So I called them ans SHE askes me the one thing that everyone is advised NEVER to tell anyone over the phone, EVER!!! SHE asks me for my account number and Social Security number! Is INC NUTS!?!? Is this how their ’security’ staff is trained? Do they think they are above the warnings? Is it OK because ‘I really am with security’ That did it! I will never bank with them….. Worse yet, Now I can’t get my money back for 10 business days! They took that, even though they couldn’t open my account for me. Wouldn’t you think that if there are questions regarding a new account they would clear them up first, AND THEN TRANSFER THE MONEY?????????? I will discredit ING at any opportunity. GET YOUR PEOPLE TRAINED!!!!!!!!! TOTALLY UNPROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR!
October 18th, 2007 at 9:05 am
In response to “Outofthecity” - I opened my account right around the time you made your post, but I just read it today. I went through the same security measures, but I didn’t find them to be a problem. Security warnings are usually made when someone calls YOU to ask you personal information. In that case you should be worried about giving information because you have no idea who is on the other end of the line. In our case, WE called a reputable company…we knew where our phone call was going when we dialed, and I do not believe you should have been worried about providing your personal information for the sake of setting up your account. History may prove me wrong, and I don’t mean any disrespect for your precaution, but I did feel as if ING was operating reasonably by requesting more information from us.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Thank you for the post Jessica. I agree with you. Aren’t we asked for a SSN every time you call your bank? I didn’t have time to respond to every off the wall comment.
October 24th, 2007 at 8:54 am
I too just had a bad experience, with an ING Orange Savings account. I opened it at the end of July during a promotion where you get a bonus $25 deposit. I did it online, and got an error when I put in the Reference Code. I tried a few times. I went ahead and set up the account and put in my required $25. Then I called customer service and told them about the error. They said no problem, that it would show up on their end ok. I waited and waited. No bonus. I called again and they told me it would take awhile. I think maybe it was 60 days. I can’t remember. Waited some more. Still no bonus. Finally called today. Gave the customer service agent the Reference Code and he applied the bonus. Then I asked about giving me the interest I was supposed to have gotten. The promotional flyer says “$25 Bonus starts earning interest upon account opening…” He put me on hold and came back saying they can’t give back interest. And he said he had no record of me calling either time. I said I was very disappointed in the company and had really hoped they’d be different. I said thank you and hung up. I’ll be looking for a different bank with a high interest savings account.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
I’ve had my ING Orange Savings account for two years now and couldn’t be more pleased. The customer service is second to none, the website is well laid out and easy to use and best of all I haven’t incurred a single fee while I’ve banked with ING. Along side an Orange Savings account I also recommend getting Electric Orange. A feature I particularly like about Electric Orange is free online bill pay. When its time to pay my monthly bills I can transfer funds instantly from Orange to Electric Orange and pay everything from credit cards to utilities.
The interest on Electric Orange varies from 3.25%-4.90% APY depending on balance while Orange does not employ a tiered interest rate and is currently at 4.20% APY.
For those of you looking to get that $25 referral, shoot me an email at rad_lobster@yahoo.com and I’ll be happy to send you one.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Despite the shilling of this blog, stay away from INGDirect. Based on my experiences over the 2 months trying to get access to my money, they have such completely incompetent customer service and numerous online glitches, it is extremely likely that this company will either be hacked or drilled into foreclosure by the sheer stupidity of its management within the next year.
INGDirect is one sorry bank.
December 27th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
My boyfriend just opened an Orange Savings account and referred me. In efforts to get the best rate possible I researched and found the following: http://www.bankrate.com/gookeyword/rate/mmmf_highratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=33&pop=nopop&ec_id=Goog_ag_HV_Savings_Goog_BRM_ky_Phrase_K_savings
I’m curious. Why should a consumer sign up with ING instead of an AMTrust Direct or an Emmigrant Direct?
To add, if I apply to ING, how will I be affected by the variable APY? I’m not familiar with the market, so I’m curious. If the the APY was at 4.2% on 11/11/07 and is now at 4.1% since 12/13/07, then will it continue to decrease? And am I better off going with a higher yielfing online bank?
Please advise.
January 10th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I had a bad experience with ING Direct. After my bank was closed, my funds got transferred to ING Direct. During this transition, a check bounced even though funds were available. The customer service department at ING Direct was not helpful or empathetic to my difficulties. They are not refunding NSF fees that have been assessed even after I faxed extensive documentation. I would not recommend this bank to my worst enemy.
February 7th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
ING Customer service appears to have serious problems understanding what is being asked. Their answers sound good so I can understand why they think they are going a good job. They are polite and quite detailed, but they are usually less than 50% correct about what the origonal problem was and therefore cannot propose an effective solution. The more technical the problem the less likely they will understand. I don’t know what the cause of this problem is, but I do know that they cannot fix what they don’t understand.
I suspect that womewhere there is a monkey with a computer who just accidently created an internet bank.
February 16th, 2008 at 11:20 am
In defense of ING Direct, I have had an account for over 2 years, am a previous employee, and also had to go through the initial security steps of verifying my identity. I have never had a problem with my ING account and can’t ever see myself having a problem. Just for the record, if you see a bank with a higher interest rate and that’s all your interested in…GO!!! ING is not looking for rate chasers as customers b/c they’re always going to go following the highest rates. Another thing, looking from the inside out, most of the customers who claimed to have such a hard time with this and that and security just weren’t reading. 90% of the time the answers are right in your face, but you prefer to call and have someone read it to you while you’re probably online reading it yourself like we’re in 3rd grade!!! And for those who complain about transfer times and how long ING holds your money….pretend for a second that you’re an adult and plan ahead!!! Emergencies I understand. But if you’re planning on investing in something as big as a house, you should know ahead of time that you’re going to need funds for downpayment!!! Honestly, these people are really offering a sweet deal. A free $25 bonus w/ no minimums or fees!!! Why complain, just because you can’t have your way!!! If everyone had their way, this world would be in utter chaos. But anyway, hopefully you people open your mind to a new way of saving and stop HATIN!!!! SAVE YOUR MONEY :)
February 20th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Wow…I really don’t know what to think at this point. I go online thinking I’ll do a little bit of research to find out about this high yield orange savings account I finally decide to consider opening and I hear all of these horror stories. I don’t know what the hell to believe at this point. I don’t consider my savings account to be something I need to dip into that’s why it is called savings. So the concerns over the account access don’t really bother me too much. I think to be safe thought I will start with a minimal deposit and try to access the funds online and see how it works out. My gut feeling on this is most of you folks complaining aren’t taking the time to learn how to use the account appropriately and plan ahead for your needs. I will keep some money in my traditional savings account so that I have quick access to needed savings in case of emergency and use the online Orange account as more of a stable long term savings account.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I’ve had no problems at all with ING in the 2+ years I’ve been using them. I really can’t understand why people take the time to post these negative comments on my blog. I agree with you Street… I think most of them just haven’t taken the time to understand the website. I thought about deleting these comments or shutting down comments on this thread but that feels too dictatorial to me.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I recently opened up an account with ING…got a flyer from amazon with the ref code for $25 bonus…I did that and i get an email back saying that you need to call a no. and verify some security questions blah blah…I call them up and they ask me a lot of questions about me (which I answer them to the best of my knowledge) and in the end very politely they say you need to fax us your ssn card as we were not able to verify your information! what the…! nowhere they mention that they would need my ssn card..and moreover they wont accept any other document which bears my ssn. and above all this they did take my initial deposit from my checking account which they would keep it for 10days before returning it to me…if I decide not to bank with them.
Isnt it ridiculous! I feel this is a shady bank governed by people who simply ignore all the ’security’ warnings posted about giving out ssn all over. Cant I take them to court?
May 3rd, 2008 at 10:19 am
Thanks for the rosy recommendations and the heads ups. It is tempting to try but the customer service seems so inept that I will stay away from this, for now.
June 20th, 2008 at 5:17 am
I was doing the same as someone mentioned above, researching before I opened up an orange savings account… I am glad to have read everyone’s opinions which seem like the bad outweigh the good. I was considering opening an account today but I don’t know if I should risk it. That interest rate is so tempting! But not worth the shit that happened to some ppl.Again thanx for sharing ur experiences helped me…
June 24th, 2008 at 7:13 am
OH MY you hit the nail on the head I was but now I guess my money stays put… don’t need the headach
June 24th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Honestly folks, I’m tempted to delete all these negative comments on ING. I have not had any problems with ING, putting money in or taking it out. I haven’t had to deal with customer service because I’m had no problem whatsoever. The amount of negitive comments on this post is so surprising that I wonder if it is some sort of spam.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:02 am
well, thank God 4 google-cache. Sir, i am sure none of the people are making this stuff up, and there cannot be so many of them that are stupid. I am sure the guy who lost his house really did. We have to remember that money rules the world, and public opinion ultimately dictates policies and behavior in a web-connected world. Yes, the comments scared the geebies out of me too. If they are as great as when i called to inquire, perhaps there will be more positive post here about them. I would have an ING orange account today if it were not 4 the fact that their uber secure retardo java time-out wipes clear the sign -up page , so by the 4th attempt as fast as possible, and i have a 4.0gpa, i gave up on it. Now, i am glad i researched. Rates are not everything. Clearly , the comapny has some SERIOUS shortcomings, i would surmise. Maybe greedy people will snatch at the 25.00 sign-up bonus. I will notify you first if i decide to do so. Thanks, JH.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:58 am
I was also doing some online “research”, looking for info about the ING orange account. I googled “positive experiences” and “negative experiences”. I indeed believe the negative commments here. I have had very negative dealings with a company before (completely unrelated) and researched them after the fact - finding people with good experiences and nightmare experiences all with the same company. So it is indeed very possible.
Hypercubed: Please do not delete the comments. People took the trouble to post them. And I believe them to be honest. (So many nightmare experiences cannot be blamed on customer incompetence as was suggested.)
I cannot afford to take a chance on ING, as much as I need to make more interest on my money. I don’t have enough money to take the risk!
July 7th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Also, I noticed the ING website states 2-3 business days for a transaction should be expected. However, many people are stating that they are experiencing longer wait times. I don’t believe that is the sign of an upstanding banking institution. If the funds are there, they should be available immediatly. (Its not like trying to withdraw funds from a 401K or some similar scenario.) My 2 cents. Thanks.
July 16th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
mtnsunshine…why would it be available immediately, its not western union (thank God) for that i do not want to pay$40 to transfer my money, its 2-3 and its a federal transfer method called ACH, so it means it leaves the one bank and transfer there, then the other bank retrieves it, so in all honesty if people are experiencing longer tranfer times it has nothing to do with ING, its with their local bank….as its that banks responsbility to retrieve it…….ING is a great way to save, people are worried about xfer times why not open their checking account? Its a Savings account they opened why are they not saving, stop using a savings account to do everyday movement of money
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
hypercubed,
On the deletion of the negative postings … I am glad to see there are negative postings. You’d be doing yourself a huge dis-credit by deleting them or any of them. Your blog here was the first page i have visited so far after visiting home.ingdirect.com and I can assure you I will visit more.
I am actively considering using ING at this very moment and like everyone should do when trying a new product or restaurant or other place of business, we should all actively participate in research of the business beforehand. A good research before investment or purchase of a product or service greatly reduces the possibility of any future problems.
Every business has its detractors. The way of the world indicates that there will always be active and loud voices belonging to the disatissfied. We should be thankfull for these people that took the time to voice their opinions. Without them, we would still be buying dog-food that poisons out pets, Tooth-paste that causes our hair to fall out, Tomatoes that send our children and old folk to the hospitals even though the salmonela bacteria was found elsewhere.
I strongly believe that even though there are quite a few people sharing their bad experiences here, ING will still prosper and your blog will continue to draw in readership.
Keep up the good work and keep us all up to date.
and thanks for being the first blog site I went to when I googled “orange savings account”.
.