ING Electric Orange Checking Rocks
July 16, 2007

A few months ago I took the plunge. I'd already been using ING's savings account offerings and was highly pleased. Their interest rates were rocking and their simple interface was a breath of fresh air. "What the hell?", I thought, "Even if I don't like it, I can just cancel it.". Well, I'm incredibly glad that I did it.

ING's Electric Orange checking account is much like its savings account, it blows brick'n'mortar banks out of the water. It's a no-fee no-minimum balance account that earns around 4% interest with a 1% cash-back bonus on signature based purchases for a few months after opening an account. My favorite part of the service, though, is their user interface. It's clean, fast and easy to use. I especially like that there is a running balance after each transaction which makes tracking down that missed entry in your register that much easier.

There's two catches to the account, which may turn some of you off. The first is that getting money into the account can be tricky and the second is that there are no blank checks.

The first problem boils down to the fact that there's only three ways to get money into your account, and not one of them is walking up to a teller at ING (since there aren't any!). Your options are to mail the check in (unsigned), transfer money from a linked account or use direct deposit. For me this means maintaining my Wells Fargo account for depositing my paychecks and then transferring the money into my ING Savings account. Its not a bad setup, but some of you with financial troubles (and nothing in the way of savings) may get hurt by this couple-day process.

The second problem is that there are no blank checks. That is, in order to pay somebody by check (say, you're landlord) you must order the check pre-written from ING. This can be annoying for paying Michelle back for lunch yesterday, but it can also be good for recurring bill charges (say, you're landlord). Why's that? ING allows you to schedule mailing of the check. You can have ING mail you your rent check on the 21st of every month and you'll never forget it again! Heck, for apartment dwellers that means you can probably just move the check from your mailbox to the rent-deposit box without even taking a step!

Anyway, I just wanted to sing the praises of this beautiful little account. It's made a very nice addition to my arsenal of financial weapons. I just love how ING has helped me to start saving more than ever. Maybe Emily and I will finally be able to buy a house soon!