ING, the Internet bank with the orange logo and “Save Your Money” tagline is offering an account called Electric Orange Checking. Promising a checking that earns like a savings account, ING is currently offering its highest annual percentage yield on checking balances of $100,000 or more, which will earn 1.45% APY. The rate is current as of 1/8/2009, according to ING’s website.
Electric Orange Checking also comes with free online bill pay services and a free MasterCard debit card. ATM access is through AllPoint, so you would probably want to use ING’s online search engine to find an ATM near you. Electric Orange Checking also comes with something called P2P Payments, where you can email money to people; ING states that this service is secure and comes free with a checking account. Electric Orange also pays interest on amounts below $100,000. Account balances from $0 – $49,999.99 currently earn .25% APY, while amounts between $50,000 and $100,000 will get you an APY of 1.40%.
Like other ING banking and brokerage services, Electric Orange Checking looks attractive online and seems easy to use. The person-to-person payments definitely put ING is the same league with other banks who are pushing mobile access accounts, as financial institutions try to ursurp companies like PayPal, and regain footing in basic banking services.
The main drawback that I see with Electric Orange is the lack of a debit card rewards program. Still, if you are looking for an easy online checking account that pays at least some amount of interest, then ING may be the place to go.
Kevin Fleming founded the CreditShout Network in 2008 to help people manage their credit and finances. Kevin wants to make it easy for anyone, regardless of their level of financial knowledge to understand banking and what may seem like the complex world of personal finance.
