Archive for the ‘ING Direct’ tag
Establish Fund Transfer Links Both Ways
One of the first things you do when you open a new online bank account is to establish an external transfer link between your new account and an existing account. When I opened my FNBO Direct account, I immediately linked it to my daily checking account so that I could pull some money in and get that hot 3.50% APY. For most, the process stops there. If you ever need money to go into FNBO Direct or to go back to the checking account, you can simply log into FNBO and initiate the transfer.
99.999% of the time, that’s perfectly fine. But for that 0.001%, if the FNBO website is down, you will have no access to those funds via the Internet. If you can’t log in, you can’t transfer your funds. You could always call and initiate the fund transfer that way, but oftentimes the site itself is down and you’ll have to scrounge up the number some other way. You’ll also have to get your account number somehow too.
Here’s a better way, establish the link from the other side as well. So if you have a link between FNBO Direct and ING Direct but it’s only created on the FNBO Direct side, just create it again on the ING Direct side if you can. ING Direct is picky about their links but other banks won’t be, so establish a link out that way you can still get access if you need it.
99.999% of the time, the sites will be fine. But you never know when a little hiccup can put you in a bad spot.
ING Direct Offers 4% APY 12-Month CD
Less than two weeks after their last rate increase, ING Direct has updated and increased their CD rates once again, with their 12-month Certificate of Deposit going from 3.70% APY to 4.00% APY:
| Term | Rate | Effective Date |
| 6 Month | 3.75% | 08/26/08 |
| 9 Month | 3.75% | 08/26/08 |
| 12 Month | 4.00% | 08/26/08 |
| 18 Month | 4.00% | 08/26/08 |
| 24 Month | 4.00% | 08/26/08 |
| 30 Month | 4.00% | 08/26/08 |
| 36 Month | 4.00% | 08/26/08 |
| 48 Month | 4.00% | 08/26/08 |
| 60 Month | 4.25% | 08/26/08 |
Using An Online Bank Account Firewall
I’m pretty comfortable with banking online, linking my accounts together, and doing what would have been considered “crazy” only a few short years ago. The interconnectedness of my online services is so widespread that my bank accounts often see only one or two degrees of separation from one another. This level of comfort helps my financials be more fluid but it does introduce a certain level of risk.
Several years ago, I remember reading reports that Paypal was freezing accounts and withdrawing funds directly from bank accounts in fraud investigations. It was something that spurred me to build what I call an online bank account firewall.
A regular firewall in a home is a flame retardant material that separates two connected homes. In the event of a fire in one home, the firewall would prevent the fire from spreading to the other. They’re standard in rowhomes, townhomes, and duplexes these days. The computer version of the firewall is similar, it keeps the bad stuff out. The financial firewall seeks to achieve the same goal.
If there are some untrusted or somewhat risky accounts out there, simply link them to an empty bank account at ING Direct. I chose them because opening a second account there was trivial and, three years ago, they had the best rates in the high yield savings account world. All you do is create an account and link Paypal to that account.
As funds are transferred into the firewall account, move them to another account immediately. If you need to get funds to PayPal, transfer them into the firewall account first, then initiate the transfer. The account has a $0 balance at all times and so you run no risk of having your funds withdrawn without your knowledge!
ING Direct Increases CD Rates
ING Direct has updated and increased their CD rates:
| Term | Rate | Effective Date |
| 6 Month | 3.50% | 08/12/08 |
| 9 Month | 3.60% | 08/12/08 |
| 12 Month | 3.70% | 08/12/08 |
| 18 Month | 3.75% | 08/12/08 |
| 24 Month | 3.80% | 08/12/08 |
| 30 Month | 3.85% | 08/12/08 |
| 36 Month | 3.90% | 08/12/08 |
| 48 Month | 3.95% | 08/12/08 |
| 60 Month | 4.00% | 06/11/08 |
Get your CDs! Piping hot CDs!
ABA Routing Codes to Link Online Accounts Together
If you have multiple online accounts, one good trick is to electronically link the two accounts together to facilitate the transfer of funds between them. All you need to do this is each bank’s ABA routing number and your account number to set up the link.
Some banks, like ING Direct, will require that you provide a paper check in order to create the link whereas others, like FNBO Direct and HSBC Direct, don’t require a paper check. So, if you want to link ING Direct to FNBO or HSBC, simply create the link on the FNBO/HSBC side and initiate transfers that way.
Here are the ABA routing numbers for the major online banks:
- FNBO Direct: 104000016
- HSBC Direct: 022000020
- ING Direct: 031176110
- Emigrant Direct: 226070319
- Virtual Bank: 067092200
- E*Trade Bank: 256072691
- WaMu: 322271627
By establishing the links, you give yourself the opportunity to transfer funds easily between accounts as you need them.
$25 ING Direct Referral Promotion
One of the best features of ING Direct’s Orange Savings Account is the referral bonus. All it takes is for an existing customer to send you an email through their system, you sign up, deposit at least $250, and you get a $25 referral bonus. Your friend get $10 for their trouble. Everyone wins!
It’s a great way to cut your teeth on high yield online savings accounts as ING Direct is one of the oldest banks around (ING is a Dutch company, they bought the great Barings Bank when it went under. Barings funded the Napoleonic Wars and was the Queen of England’s bank!) and they are here to stay (even if they aren’t, your deposits are FDIC insured).
If you don’t know anyone with an ING account or you don’t want to wait, you can get a list of links for $25 ING Direct Referrals here.