ING Direct was one of the first high-yield savings accounts which was founded in 1997. Unlike most banks, they do not have any branches which allows them to offer much better interest rates than traditional banks. They have since branched out and offered investment products and mortgages through their sister companies. Many other companies have also followed the model that ING Direct created. Some believe that other companies’ slightly higher interest rate have overshadowed ING and left it in the dust, while others maintain that ING’s superior customer service and website are more valuable than a small increase an interest. We recently reviewed ING Direct and believe it still has quite a bit to offer.

The signup process is very straight forward. You will need to visit the ING Direct Website, and fill out a simple form. They will request some personal information as all banks do. ING Direct will deposit 2 small deposits into your checking account, and you will have to enter that information on their website. This way they can verify that the checking account you entered is yours. When I registered, they had some problems verifying my identify, but I called their customer service number, and they asked me a few basic questions about my credit report and I was set to go.

ING Direct currently offers a 3.0% APY. This is a bit lower than most online banks which offer about a 3.5% APY rate. ING Direct does offer a $25 bonus which makes it very desirable to just try the account. You just need to get a referral from an existing ING Direct customer. In addition, ING offers an automatic savings plan feature which makes it very easy to save. You can also create ‘sub-accounts’ with ING Direct to earmark your savings account for various purposes. This is excellent way to tell your money where it is going.

The company has a number of security features to keep your money protected. They have an account number and a pin number you use to login. Instead of typing in the numbers, you use an image map so that your pin number cannot be logged. They will also display a specific image called a site id image, which will always show up when you try to login. Thus if the image is not there, you are not on their site. They also make use of advanced SSL technology to encrypt the data being transferred between you and ING Direct. In addition, if you are not on your home computer, they will ask you three security questions to make sure that it is you trying to sign into your account.

ING Direct can’t be beat when it comes to offering a quality and secure online banking experience. They might not have the highest interest rate, but the new account bonus is nice, and their customer service can’t be topped.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 8:22 am and is filed under reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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