Opening an ING Direct account in January 2009 was one of the crucial steps in our debt journey. As a requirement of a bailout from the Dutch government (ING Direct's parent company is a Dutch bank), ING was required to start the process of selling ING Direct USA.
Yesterday it was announced that Capital One is purchasing U.S. operations of the huge online bank. I'm very nervous about this -- I've had nothing but wonderful experiences with ING Direct, and I have doubts about whether Capital One will provide the same level of service. Changes won't be too likely until closer to 2012, but I am already thinking about other options.
Our account there has gone from a simple emergency fund and stash account for credit card charges to serving most of our banking needs, and I just recently switched my direct deposit from our brick-and-mortar joint account to ING. The interest rate dropped consistently through 2010, but having subaccounts with one log-in really flowed with the way my brain thinks about money. What will I be looking for in an online bank if Capital One drastically changes things?
Sub-accounts -- we have them for all manner of categories -- emergency fund, credit card holding, pest control, insurance, travel, gifts, large home projects (deck, now gutters), house emergency account. We have 15, and could probably reduce it down, but not by much. I have one log-in and only have to deal with one 1099-INT at tax time. This set up boggles my mother and most of my friends, but works beautifully for us.
Interest rate -- current APY on our accounts is 1% -- not much, but far and away better than many brick and mortar banks, especially with no balance requirement.
Easy, free transfers -- in and out. I'm not going to pay to send money to another bank account or my Roth IRA.
Checking AND savings -- I didn't think we'd use the Electric Orange checking very often, but I was wrong. So much so that I recently switched my paycheck deposit at ING since I was transferring most of over anyhow. Most of our day-to-day spending is on credit card paid in full each month, so our brick-and-mortar bank statements have become blissfully short.
Robust online bill pay -- ING Direct has the best bill pay service out of our three banks, although Bank of America has always had good online bill pay. ING is very good at magically connecting with my billers, and it doesn't take 5 days for ING to process the payment if they don't need to mail a check. I've also used the service to put money in my sister-in-law's account, and to mail a paper check. Rock on.
No long transfer delays -- Instant transfers from ING Direct savings accounts to Electric Orange checking, and speedy transfers in and out. Puts my Wells Fargo account to shame.
Easily manage accounts -- I've had a zombie money market account at Bank of America, and Wells Fargo (as did Wachovia before it) cannot seem to keep my married name on our joint account. I have easily closed sub-accounts at ING, and every single interaction with them has been smooth and quick. Why this is difficult for other banks, I'm not sure.