Green Panda Treehouse

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ING Direct has a wonderful referral program. If you open a savings account with$250 or more using the link, you’ll get $25 bonus. I’ll admit that I would get $10 added to my emergency fund account. No need to hide that. There’s no other compensation from ING. If I could put an ad up for them for free, I would. Seriously.

Photo Credit: marcoPapale.com

We use ING for our joint expenses and savings and have not had a problem with them. Their checking account is wonderful and you don’t have to worry about cumbersome fees. We used to have our joint checking and savings accounts at Bank of America. While I never had a problem with my individual account, when we opened the joint accounts, everything got messed up.

My husband was shown someone else’s credit card information. It was scary that we had access to this and we promptly call BofA to notify their customer service department. They denied that he had access to someone else’s account. (Did they think he was lying?!)

They also made a mistake with Bill Pay and withdrew the rent from my individual account. I got a fee for bouncing. I then called them to explain their error, but they denied it was their fault. I saw on my screen that it was automatically set up to come from the joint checking, but she said her screen said otherwise. This continued for a few months and then we decided to jump ship and move to ING Direct.

Here what I like about their checking account:

• No fees. There’s no minimum balance on the account.
• If the money is not in the account, they won’t pay the bill. This sounds like common sense. No money=no payments. BofA will just pay your bill and then fee you, which in turn can create more fees. My mom actually had a horrible case when her monthly salary didn’t come in as scheduled (HR error) and BofA feed her hundreds of dollars. She had to go to HR and get reimbursed for this problem.
• Earn real interest. Unlike BofA, where our money was growing very,very slowly (a few cents every three months), ING had us earning a few extra dollars a month! We’re nowhere rich, but it’s a big step up from our last bank.

Ok, wow, I deviated from the original discussion about the savings account. (LOL) I really like ING as you can figure out.

Ok, here’s the gist of the savings account benefits:

The Orange Savings Account

• Great rate - no minimum balance required. Everyone earns the same high yield.
• No fees - your money goes to work for you.
• No changing banks - the Orange Savings Account is linked directly to your checking account.
• 24-hour access to your account - you’re always ready for opportunities.
• FDIC-insured - your money is safe and secure.

If you’re interested,  here is the referral link. If you don’t have $250, please still sign up for a savings account. It’s a great deal and you deserve to see your money gain interest.

There are several other high interest savings accounts, here are a few:

• HSBC Direct
• Emigrant Direct
• Citibank Direct
• Capital One

Just open an account somewhere that you feel comfortable and grow your money.