ING Direct Orange Savings Account Referral Program
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
By using the ING account referral program to open a new, no-fee, FDIC-insured Orange Savings account with APY, you'll get an extra $25 bonus.
The ING Direct Orange Savings account has no minimum balance requirements (after a $250 minimum opening balance) and no annual or monthly fees. Interest on your savings account is accrued daily, compounded monthly and credited to your available balance at the end of each month.
How to get your $25 ING referral bonus:
To receive your bonus, you will need an existing accountholder to send you an invitation directly from the ING Direct site. If you send me your first and last name and email address using the form below, I will send you one of my referral invitations. The form simply sends the contents of the input boxes to my email address, nothing more.
Only U.S. residents with a valid social security number and who are currently residing in the U.S are eligible for this account.
Your name and email address will be used solely to send you the ING account referral. I don't like spam either.
How to apply for and open the money market account:
You should receive the referral program invitation email within a few hours of submitting the form above. The email will read, in part, "If you open this account with an initial deposit of at least $250, you will receive a $25 bonus and I will get a $10 thank you bonus. To qualify for this bonus, you must use the link in this email."
Use the link contained in the invitation email to apply for your Orange Savings account. You can open and fund your Orange Savings account in less than 5 minutes. You will need your Social Security number, your bank's name, its ABA/Routing number, your personal checking account number(s), and the $250 opening deposit. During the application process, ING Direct will send two small deposits to your personal checking account which you will need to verify in order to validate account ownership. Let them know that you received the deposits by going to their website and entering the amounts of the two deposits. Once your application has been completed, the $25 will be deposited in your account. You just earned a 10% return on your investment, and now that extra $25 is earning interest. (You could withdraw the $250 after 10 days, but wouldn't it be better off earning interest?)
How the bonus program works:
"If your friend opens an account with at least $250, we will deposit a $25 bonus in their new account and a $10 thank you bonus in your Orange Savings Account. If 25 of your friends or family each open a new account with at least a $250 initial deposit, you will earn $10 each up to $250." Your friend must be a U.S. citizen and must not be an existing ING accountholder. The $10.00 new account bonus will be deposited into your account upon the opening of your friend's account but will not be available for withdrawal for 30 days. These funds will be reported as interest on your 1099INT.
How to access your money market account and transfer funds:
The account is linked to up to three existing checking accounts at your local financial institution. Once you've opened an account, linking other checking accounts is as easy as mailing in a check for as little as $1.00 with your Customer Number and the word "Link" on the Memo line of the check. Transfers between your accounts are done electronically through the ING Direct web site. There are no fees for these transactions. Money transferred between your Orange Savings Account and a linked account usually arrives in two to three business days. Deposits can also be made via direct deposit from your employer, but direct deposit is not required to open or maintain the online savings account.
Direct Deposit Information:
- Bank: ING DIRECT (ING Bank, fsb)
- ABA Routing Number: 031176110
- Fed Line Tran Code: #32
- Account Type: Savings
You will automatically get a statement once a quarter, either by mail or, if you choose, electronically. If there is activity on your account (a deposit or withdrawal) you will receive a statement each month. You can always check your current balance and your monthly and year-to-date interest accruals at anytime online.
The ING Direct web site
ING vs. Virtualbank
For a measured comparison of the two offers, read my post Comparing Online Banks' Referral Programs
VirtualBank, a direct competitor, offers a similar online banking experience, money market product and referral program, but which exceeds ING Direct's offerings in a number of areas. The APY for the VirtualBank eMoney Market savings account is . New accounts opened with a referral and a $100 minimum deposit earn a $20 bonus, and the referrer gets $20 per new account up to a total of $1000. Get your VirtualBank referral here.
Is this legitimate?
Orange Savings vs. the competition:
There are a lot of ads for CDs and money markets in the papers, so how does the Orange Savings online account compare? The current APY for the Orange Savings account is . You may see CDs with higher yields, but they almost always require a minimum investment of $10,000 or more and tie your money up for 6 months or longer. Many of the interest-bearing accounts advertised have some pretty substantial annual fees attached, which may completely negate any interest earned, and I very much doubt you'll find a interest-bearing account at your local bank that comes anywhere close. Internet banking institutions, such as VirtualBank and others, are able to offer higher yielding products like the ING Direct $25 start-up savings account because they don't have the financial burdens of property taxes, payrolls, health and benefit plans, and similar expenses that traditional banks must recoup. Therefore, the "spread" between the loan rates and deposit rates can be smaller, leading to higher rates paid on deposits and lower rates for loans.
What do I really gain?
Experts suggest that you open a savings or money market account and try to cover three to six months' worth of expenses. By instructing your employer to directly deposit a percentage of each paycheck into a high-yield money market account before you have the opportunity to spend it, you are earning interest on that money at an extremely competitive rate and creating a valuable emergency reserve, vacation fund, or future down payment on a car or home.
The real benefit to directly depositing a fixed amount from every paycheck is that you are less likely to spend it. Live on less than you earn and save the difference.
You'll also find that the referral programs of internet banks offer better sign-up bonuses than those of most local and national financial institutions. Also, the minimum balances for high-yield investment products from online banks are usually lower than what you'll commonly find on similarly-yielding CDs and other investment products at traditional banks. To start benefitting from a profitable referral program and better interest rates, send an email using the form above and receive your ING Direct referral today.
Today's Financial Glossary Term:
Average Daily Balance
The average amount that exists in an account over a period of time. The number is calculated by adding the daily balances over a period of time and dividing by the total number of days in that period. Used in the average daily balance method for determining interest.