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 pioneered the model that ING Direct created. Some believe that other companies’ slightly higher interest rate have overshadowed ING and left it in the dust. 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.
ING Direct currently offers a 4.5% APY. This is a bit lower than most online banks which offer about a 5% APY rate. ING Direct does offer a $25 bonus which makes it very desirable to just try the account. 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 which will surely make you feel that your money is safe. 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 also does an almost scary job making sure that you are the person signing up for your account, and not someone pretending to be you. When I signed up, I recently moved so I had to call the toll free line, and they grilled me about my credit report to make sure I was not someone else impersonating myself. There was at least 15 questions they asked me to make sure that I was me. It was a little bit of a hassle, but it’s good that the security is there.
Overall ING just cannot be beat when it comes to security. They have the most secure login system of all the online banks. They might not have the exact highest rate, but you still get a $25 bonus, and there are a number of great account features that you can make use of.
