ING Direct Savings Account Review

Overall Rating

The interest rate is fairly rewarding on a monthly basis

It's very easy to open an account with them compared to other online banking entities, in my opinion

They can and will close your account if they feel unable to do business with you

"We fire our customers is a colorful way of putting it", said ING Direct's CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann. "While the banking business says the customer is always right, we're online guys, and you can only do business with us in a certain way".

I quote it to point out the cold reality of staying in business with them. They get rid of low-maintenance customers to compensate for those high-maintenance ones. I don't know if that's justified considering there are low income people who may have a lot less money amounts to put into their ING saving accounts; their activities may not be as frequent as expected. Also, though, they close their customers' accounts when they enquire about too many so-called 'certain' questions.

From my former experience, I had never been able to make any money transfers or withdrawals after following required procedures to open a savings account with the amount of $100 US dollars with ING Direct for about three months or so. Within months of earning a tiny amount of interest from them, they finally sent me an e-mail stating as follows:

Dear ....
Customer Number: XXXXXXX745

At ING DIRECT, we strive to deliver services that are simple and efficient so we can provide the best possible deal for our customers. After reviewing your account, we've determined that we are unable to support your needs with the services we offer, and have decided to end our banking relationship with you.

Your account has been closed:

* The balance, plus any interest earned, has been sent back to the external, linked checking account used to establish the ING DIRECT Account.
* No further activity can take place and no additional deposits will be accepted.
* No additional accounts can be opened.

I once phoned them and one of their associates told me to submit a photocopy of my social security card in order to have my account be fully functional. Did any of you get asked for it?

In conclusion, don't hold your breath to be a long-term customer of ING Direct. You never know what tomorrow brings when they drop you three words: You Are Fired, to put it sarcastically. They will remove you without advance notice and end the business relationship with you once and for all. Simple as that!

Members' Comments onAverageJoe's Review

• Plinkyp on 27th Jun 2006

  I had almost the exact same thing! I switched banks in November 2004 and tried to link my ING account to my new bank. Well it's almost July 2006 and it is still not linked! I called to inquire about it and was told they couldn't do anything because they needed my social insurance number. I sent it to them. I called back because my account still wasn't linked. I was told that they weren't able to verify my SIN and I would have to resend it. There is only $11 in my account but I want it closed and can't do that because they won't set up the link to my account. The major hassle happened when I tried to change my address and phone number when I recently moved - they wanted copies of my phone bill to verify my phone number change (a quick call to my old number would give you a 'this number has been changed to...' message), and tons of documentation to verify my address change - funny thing is, when I moved a year earlier, they required no 'proof' to change my address.
  
  I mailed a letter to them in May requesting my account be closed, and that I don't care what they do with the money! When I call them, they tell me they have my bank account in their system but won't let me have access it to withdraw my money... I haven't heard back from them since I mailed a letter to them, but I also can't get through to customer service - no response to my emails, and when I call them, I am on hold forever before I give up and hang up. I never had a problem getting hold of them before - I have a feeling they're just blocking my calls now! ha!