ING Direct’s “Bank from any corner contest” and mobile interface

Thanks to Marina over at ING Direct for tipping us off on a sweet contest they are having beginning the 28th of this month as well as giving us a sneak peak at their new mobile banking interface.

Here’s the scoop…

ING DIRECT just launched its mobile app for iPhone and Blackberry. The app makes banking simple by providing Customers with the all the essential features needed to save on the go:

Person2Person Payments: let’s Customers quickly and easily send money to existing contacts in their P2P address book

Account Summary: displays all of the Customer’s accounts and account details like account number, balance, and transaction summary and details

Transfer Money: allows Customers to transfer money between their Electric Orange, Orange Savings, and linked external checking accounts

Bill Pay: Customers can manage their Bill Pay preferences already established through the web site

Refer a Friend: much like referring friends via the website, mobile users are able to send a referral email from the palm of their hand

Flip for Fun (iPhone only): turning the iPhone sideways provides one touch access to all of ING DIRECT’s social media efforts – Facebook, Twitter, We the Savers, and YouTube… think Savers should be able to “bank from any corner.”

They’re holding a “Bank From Any Corner” contest from July 28th – August 27th. To participate all you need to do is submit a photo or video of yourself showing us the coolest/craziest place that you can bank from with the new mobile app. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000. Second place will receive $5,000; Third place will receive $2,500; and 17 runners-up will receive an iPod Touch. Once the contest goes live (July 28th), it can be found at http://www.ingdirectmobilecontest.com.

ING Direct’s Independence Day Promotions!

Thanks to Jeff M. from ING Direct for sending us some pretty nice promotions going on through their bank this fourth of July.

Jeff claims that the average American will spend close to $200 to celebrate the Fourth of July this year. And before the weekend starts and that money is spent, ING DIRECT USA is introducing their first ever Financial Independence Days Sale. The nation’s largest direct bank is starting the holiday weekend a few days early by offering Americans four unique ways to further their savings on July 1 and 2. Both customers and non-customers alike will be able to take advantage of the offers, with benefits that incentivize savings like it’s the year 1776.

The promotions are as follows:

Investing for Financial Freedom – Investors who open a new ShareBuilder account will receive a $76 bonus after making one transaction. Brokerage account holders can select from over 7,000 stocks, mutual funds and Exchange-Traded Funds.

Pursuing the Happiness of Homeownership – Prospective homeowners who apply for an Easy Orange or Orange Mortgage on July 1 or 2, 2010 will receive $776 off closing costs – nearly 40 percent savings from ING DIRECT’s already low average total closing costs. Liberation from Checking Fees – The Electric Orange Checking account (which already offers no overdraft fees, no monthly fees, and no minimums) promotion will be announced here www.ingdirect.com/independence on July 1. Spreading the Wealth of Savings – The Refer-a-Friend promotion will be announced here www.ingdirect.com/independence on July 1. The Financial Independence Days web site is http://www.ingdirect.com/independence. When the promotion goes lives on Thursday, July 1 at 12:01am, the site will reveal more details about the Financial Independence Days Sale.

ING Direct’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday special

Jeff over at ING Direct gave me the heads up on a fairly interesting promotion that they are having this month. It’s called the “Black Friday special” and it is designed to discourage the urge to overspend this holiday season.

Here is the scoop from Jeff’s email:

Americans plan to spend less on gifts this holiday season. To help holiday savers stock up on savings this year, ING DIRECT is announcing that it will offer four Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials. No long lines or 4am wake up calls needed for these Saver deals.

ING DIRECT will offer $683 off Easy Orange and Orange Mortgage (their mortgage products) closing costs for anyone who applies on Black Friday.

Why $683?

That’s what the average American will spend on gifts this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation.

On Cyber Monday, November 30, ING DIRECT’s brokerage, ShareBuilder, will offer a 20 percent rebate on trades to help investors save money while they grow their investments.

There’s no avoiding the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, but it’s still a great time of the year to think about saving money, even when you’re spending a little bit of it. ING Direct claims these blockbuster specials are sure to bring holiday cheer to those Americans who are building emergency funds, eliminating debt and saving for retirement.

Top Online Savings Accounts: November 2009

Despite the consistent downward trend in CD rates over the last several months, online savings accounts have (at least momentarily) stabilized. In fact, a select few have even seen their rates increase, albeit from abysmal levels to begin with. Etrade, for example, was providing a yield of 0.60% APY for a few months this past summer and has since seen it’s interest rate rebound to 0.95% APY.

Online savings accounts, in general, function the same way as money market accounts do and are sometimes even synonymous. The most notable benefits of online savings accounts are their flexibility, lucrative returns, and FDIC protection. Most people, especially those who carry a large balance on their checking accounts, tend to opt for these particular accounts in order to have their idle cash earn some extra interest.

Top 3 FDIC insured online savings accounts (November 2009):

Online Savings Account rate changes – March 2009

We are 3 days into March now and have yet another downward trend of online savings account rates. In most cases one or two online savings institutions will drop their rates and within days (or even hours) the rest seem to follow suit. If you can recall, during most of 2006-2008 (until the bank collapse) these same savings accounts were trending upward, following each other’s pace.

Current Online Savings Rates

E-TRADE Bank 1.95% APY – Down from 3.01% two months ago.

ING Direct 1.65% APY – Down from the mid 2.0′s as of two months ago.

HSBC Direct 2.25% APY – While HSBC Direct has lowered it’s rate some, it’s changes remain less sporadic and seems to be a favorite amongst banking consumers.

WTDirect 2.01% APY – WTDirect typically keeps their online savings rates within the top 5%, however, they require a minimum balance of $10,000 in order to recieve their rates.

Posssible alternative to online savings accounts

After posting an alternative to Bank CD’s last week, much excitement/commotion was generated over the possiblity of earning 6.50% APY + through Peer to Peer lending platforms. Lending Club allows you to lend your money to prime borrowers and earn anywhere from 6.69% to 19.37% APY (depending on the credit score YOU require from a borrower). If you read the article from last week you will see that everyone who commented generally had positive things to say. Keep in mind, if you are after FDIC insured investments, then Peer to Peer lending is probably not for you.

Online Savings Accounts rate drops in 2009

The downward spiral of online savings account rates continues this week with both HSBC bank and ING Direct dropping their interest rates yet again. HSBC dropped it’s rate from 2.45% APY to 2.25% APY while ING Direct now offers the lowest rate with it’s recent drop to 1.85% APY (down from 2.20% APY last week).

As a whole, online savings accounts have seen their interest rates cut by nearly 66% over the last 2 and a half years. In September of 2007 ING Direct was offering a savings rate of 6.00% APY while all the other direct banking institutions had rates above 5 percent. Today, only one bank is offering a savings rate of above 3.00% APY and even their rates have seen a decline of 25% this year.

A recent study was conducted at Raddon Financial Group last spring in which they surveyed banking consumers in order to guage their sentiment towards online banking.

If you buy into these percentages you can see that the majority of the population would not even consider using an online savings account – keep in mind this survey was conducted while online savings rates fluctuated between 3.5-6% APY.

The only promising trend I see is that while the interest rates may be dropping, the overall percentage of people invested in these savings vehicles is on the rise.

What do you think the percentages would be today if the same demographic was polled?