Originally posted in our forum by user dellite.

For all you Canadians out there looking for a new bank and have been hit with the latest ING direct ads about a no frills, no charges, great interest rates experience here are some thing you should know before you sign up.

1. There are very very very few physical ING direct locations, maybe one per city if you’re lucky. Everything is done between your ‘real’ chequeing account and the ING account (that’s mainly how you move money.)


2. The great interest rates are certainly higher than the banks, 3.35 % for basic investment savings account, however, the interest is paid annually. So you’ll have to wait one year for your 3.35 dollars.

3. Holding period are longish.

* 5 business days for Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT).
* 7 business days for all cheques (including government cheques), drafts, and money orders and US cheques cleared by a Canadian financial institution.
* 30 business days for USD deposits from outside of Canada

4. If you want a US account see above for the THIRTY day holding period. I haven’t checked closely into that one.

5. It’s true, they don’t have fees, for the first 4 transactions, then they hit you with 75cent charge for EACH. (Debit)

6. BTW, if you aren’t the ‘age of the majority (whatever that is), then you can’t get a debit card. So far I haven’t been able to contac them about this one… What si the age of majority? 25? IT’s been 25 for 30 years! ANyways, I’ll report back when I get more info.

But really, if you’re the age of the majority and don’t mind lots of online banking, maybe this is the way to go.

I’m surprised their holding time is so long given the fact they are primarly online (very few physical locations). Interac shopping could get pricey too. 14 transactions will cost you 7.50! That’s not cool, they should get in trouble for their mis-leading ads. “NO FEES” BS.

Hopefully Internet transfers aren’t held for 7 days, that would really suck, really, what’s the point of banking with them?

UPDATE:

I called ING and here are some updates on my original statements:

The age of the majority is 18, so you need to be 18 or older (which I am but my bday was 2006 for some reason)…..

The card they send is a bank card for ATM (ABM) ONLY. ONLY! You can’t use this card as an interac, only to withdraw money from the savings account.

The interest is not paid annually. THey pay monthly based on the interest rate calculated for the year.

Holding periods are as long as I said before, however, transferring money from bank to bank (That you have on file with ING) takes one business day (that’s pretty regular).