ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

[parafly]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

HSBC is currently offering 4.80%, and there are no hidden fees or minimums. Also, it is known for its great security. The only downfall is its relatively slow transfer times (typically 3 days), but unless you are making transfers on a daily basis, it should not affect you too much.

[sweeps]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Being in the information technology field, I hear horrer stories every day about personal data theft due to spyware on user's computers as well as about company databases getting compromised. ING has always had a focus on security.... It also tells me that ING takes security seriously, and with all of the security threats on the net today - that is most important to me.

ING loses another laptop with private data

[djaco]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Well I'm dissapointed, but not surprised. It's all to common a problem today for employees to have confidential information on their laptops (from huge corporations, too). I'm sad to hear this was employee information, but glad that it's not customer information that was stolen. As far as user account access via the net, however - I have not yet seen a tighter logon approach than INGdirect.

Just goes to show that taking very tight security measures from a technical standpoint does little good if company security policies are not in place and adhered to. I'm still staying with ING for now, but will write them and ask what they are doing to ensure data security in light of these recent issues.

[BTC]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

If I'm reading that correctly, it was ING Customer data that was stolen. Otherwise, I'm not sure why an ING employee would be in possession of data pertaining to Washington DC employees.

[sweeps]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Correct, BTC. They are customers of ING's financial services division.

According to this article on an Equifax data breach, the laptop that the ING employee was carrying was not password protected nor was the data encrypted.

[djaco]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Yes, I misread the article initially. I have emailed INGdirect about this issue and have asked them to let me know what they are doing/have done to ensure the safety and security of INGdirect account holder personal data and assets. I'll post their response on this thread when I hear back.

[robby]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

So we have Emigrant up to 4.8% and it looks like we may see one of these online banks get to 5% before too long, but ING continues to lag behind. I guess they have just given up on trying to compete on the best rates?

[GrimJack]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Paypal is up to 4.78% with an * that says "7 day average yield as of 6/22/2006" and they are real easy to join and pretty useful for the occasional purchase.

Grim

[bigbad614]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Paypal is up to 4.78% with an * that says "7 day average yield as of 6/22/2006" and they are real easy to join and pretty useful for the occasional purchase.

Grim

That isnt' exactly safe.

https://www.paypal.com/en_US/pdf/PayPal_Prospectus.pdf

Your investment is not a bank deposit. Investments in the Fund and
the Master Portfolio are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other government agency.
Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1
per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.

[poundwise]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank


Just because something isn't FDIC insured doesn't make it unsafe.

PayPal's Money Market Fund is managed by Barclays. It is described by PayPal as an automatic sweep investment. The key word being investment. It is not a savings account.

I love it. I've had this arrangement for several years now; since they began to offer it. I earn interest on my balance while the funds are still completely liquid. I use my debit card and earn 1% on all purchases. It's hard to beat getting cash back from a debit card while earning interest on the balance.

Here is the prospectus (PDF file): PayPal Money Market Fund

[sweeps]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I wouldn't choose Paypal not just because it's not FDIC-insured and it pays lower interest than several FDIC-insured savings accounts, but also in my experience the customer service is questionable and they have a propensity to freeze your account with no valid reason. Freeze first, ask questions later. The last thing I need is to have no access to my funds for 5 days while I try to make my case with a Paypal CSR.

[poundwise]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I wouldn't choose Paypal not just because it's not FDIC-insured and it pays lower interest than several FDIC-insured savings accounts, but also in my experience the customer service is questionable and they have a propensity to freeze your account with no valid reason. Freeze first, ask questions later. The last thing I need is to have no access to my funds for 5 days while I try to make my case with a Paypal CSR.

I wouldn't choose PayPal for savings or a specific choice for investment either. However, since many people like myself use PayPal for auctions, etc. anyway, I've found it advantageous to aquire the (cash-back) PayPal debit card, keep a balance there, and opt-in to the Barclays MMA.

[bigbad614]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

ING is up to 4.35% today.

[robby]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I think we should see a number of the online banks break through that 5% level soon. I hope so.

[wyett3]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Presidential now at 5.12%.