ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

[coffeebreak]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I used the same login I got when I signed up but Emigrant may have changed their policy. There's nothing in my email about having to change login or password.

When you get your account number and go to the site to sign in, there's a screen that makes it look like you entered the wrong password and they are trying to help you get a new one. It threw me at first. It's just their way of setting up a way to recover your password in the future if you lose your current one. DON'T PANIC!! like I did.

They want you to answer 5 of 10 questions, like: Who was your first teacher? and What's your dad's birth month; stuff like that.

[coffeebreak]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Here's something else. When I got my first statement from Emigrant, none of the amounts were correct. The interest rate was too low, my deposit was wrong and the number of days that interest had been earned was wrong.

Read the sheet of paper that's included with the statement. From that sheet: "Federal Truth in Savings Laws require the Bank to follow a strict calculation in determining the average account balance and the APY." There's a problem because what the law requires regarding the number of days in the statement cycle and the actual number of days since your deposit, don't agree. The statement cycle begins when you open the account but interest calculations don't start until two days later when the deposit is actually received by Emigrant. The weirdness only occurs on the first statement.

When I first looked at the statement I said, "ah, so this is how they get around offering a higher rate than anyone else, they cheat me by twisting the numbers!" I was ready to . Then I read the enclosed sheet.

[zeke01]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Emigrant Direct is absolutely the worst bank I have ever dealt with. I went through the process of opening an account on Feb 24, the initial deposit was taking out on Feb 28 and I still have not received any letter from them on the account number, how to access the account, etc and it is March 12!!!. In a not so polite way I have written both the president of Emigrant Savings and the Office of Thrift Management (they are a savings bank so have a different set of regulators than a commercial bank) on their horrible customer service and record keeping. When I called the 800# to inquire to confirm transaction dates they were completely useless. STAY AWAY FROM EMIGRANT!!!

I plan to close the account as soon as I can. 3% means nothing if you have no confidence in the institution. Emigrant wants to be an internet bank, but relative to ING and CapitalOne, they don't even rate a zero.

I must not be the only one with issues with Emigrant. There are a couple of blogs that been set up specifically for people to share their stories!

[coffeebreak]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Emigrant Direct is absolutely the worst bank I have ever dealt with. I went through the process of opening an account on Feb 24, the initial deposit was taking out on Feb 28 and I still have not received any letter from them on the account number, how to access the account, etc and it is March 12!!!. In a not so polite way I have written both the president of Emigrant Savings and the Office of Thrift Management (they are a savings bank so have a different set of regulators than a commercial bank) on their horrible customer service and record keeping. When I called the 800# to inquire to confirm transaction dates they were completely useless. STAY AWAY FROM EMIGRANT!!!

I plan to close the account as soon as I can. 3% means nothing if you have no confidence in the institution. Emigrant wants to be an internet bank, but relative to ING and CapitalOne, they don't even rate a zero.

I must not be the only one with issues with Emigrant. There are a couple of blogs that been set up specifically for people to share their stories!

Let's take this in pieces:

Emigrant Bank is the best online bank I have dealt with.

It does take a few weeks to get your account number in the mail but so what? You can't withdraw the money for a few weeks anyway. ING doesn't send an account number but they make you wait before you can withdraw the money, so there's really no difference between the two. Emigrant wants to confirm that you are at the physical address you gave them.

I rate Emigrant highly because they pay a higher rate than other online banks and I didn't have any problems signing up. I have never called them and I don't see any reason to in the future.

I agree that there are many people complaining, but their reasons don't make much sense. Your account number will arrive and you will be able to see the amount of interest that had accrued while you were waiting.

RELAX !!

[zeke01]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Coffeebreak:

I am glad to see that you got Emigrant to work for you. My frustration is quite simple. I live in an internet age and expect a bank that wishes to do business as an internet bank to act like one, including tried and true ways of authenticating customers electronically. Compared to ING, BankOne and CapitalOne, all banks I have accounts with, Emigrant can not even hold a candle to any of them. Worst part, and the clincher for me to close the accounts once I do get account information via snail mail, is that their customer service organization could not even answer the most simple question about my account or accurately confirm the information about me, the test/verification transactions or even when a letter was sent out.

I have done a google search and there are at least 3 other blogs out there completely dedicated towards Emigrant Direct complaints, so as I said, you appear to be one of a small group that got it to work.

I did get a response late yestersday from my email letter sent to the Northeast Region office of the Office of Thrift Supervision. They are aware of the large number of customer complaints and plan to take action against Emigrant (they would not specify what).

Good luck.

[bluek9]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I too am a current ING satisifed customer (until I saw the 3% from EmigrantDirect). Hey, that's a 15+% raise over what ING is giving. All things being equal (i.e. decent service, accurate & easy to use website, FDIC, etc. ), where are you going to make 15% for the same amount of risk. E.D. is worth a shot I say. Here's my short experience(s) so far with E.D.:

Though I never received the E.D. followup "letter" (I called twice) the Emigrant customer service folks were fine & set me up whilel I waited on phone. Took all of 5 minutes & I was set up. I had to make another quick call back again for them to activate a FULL view of my account (there was no "transfer" feature at first.) Again, no problem within minutes it was fixed. I logged in & there was great rejoicing.

As of this posting I have not moved my ING funds over (yet!). I am awaiting to see how fast E.D. fetches from my checking account. Requested a Monday Mar 14 fetch so we'll see how that goes b4 I move from ING.

The ING emotional loyalty thing...
Look, I like most of you praise ING. Emotions (i.e. loyalty) should be left out of financial decisions (unless the decision keeps you awake all night). ING has produced a great savings model. But, we live in a competitive business market & that's what will make things better for us, the consumer!. If E.D. is what we are hoping they are then ING better get kickin' (again!). The airlines industry was the same way until SouthWest joined in & kicked all the other airline's sorry butts. Now JetBlue is challenging SWA. SouthWest must answer back if they are to stay on top. The competition is what makes this a great country. Hey ING, E.D. (& Capital One) are knocking at the door. How are you going to answer? Again, all other things (see above) being pretty much EQUAL I'm loyal to the one who pays me, period! And no, my name isn't "Alex Rodriguez" (a.k.a. pAy-Rod).

I'll re-post how this E.D. transaction unfolds.

Great bulletin board info from all.

[Armywife]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Coffeebreak:

I am glad to see that you got Emigrant to work for you. My frustration is quite simple. I live in an internet age and expect a bank that wishes to do business as an internet bank to act like one, including tried and true ways of authenticating customers electronically. Compared to ING, BankOne and CapitalOne, all banks I have accounts with, Emigrant can not even hold a candle to any of them.

I agree with Zeke.. this bank has alot of issues and this is causing alot of consumer disappointment. Hubby is STILL waiting for his account number & after conversing with countless CSRs, has come to the conclusion that 3 percent is not worth all this aggravation.


So.. while EB works for some.. it does not work for everyone (and that's a risk I'm not willing to take again). Also I am inclined to agree with Zeke's opinion on this being an internet bank that should NOT have such clerical mishaps especially in this day and age.


Barb

[bluek9]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Well ladies & gents. E.D. has responded to the call that ING should be doing, ED has just raised their rate to 3.25%. That is a 25% return over ING. The saga continues.

[34saving]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

This forum finally convinced me to open an Emigrant account. I answered all their questions and evidently they pulled some sort of credit report because they knew my former addess, maiden name, etc. Then, at the end they reported:

Thank you for your interest in opening a new account.

Unfortunately, we cannot process your application at this time.
*
If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Customer Service at 800 836-1997, Monday-Friday, 8:00am-8:00pm EST.

The EXIT button on the bottom didn't work. Now what?? I feel like I've given WAY to info. to who? There is no "real" reason why I shouldn't be able to open a savings account. Any ideas?

[bluek9]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Give them a buzz in the morning. They've/I've had some technical difficulties (nothing earth shattering) as well in opening my account. They fixed them right away when I spoke to the CSR over the phone. I don't doubt they're gonna start getting flooded with calls now that they are spewing that new 3.25% rate (advertised as of 3/13). Now, mind you, I'm not sold on them as yet...I'm awating to see the accuracy/speed of my first transaction scheduled for Monday. If they blow it then they lose me. I doubt they will have problems as this is an ACH kind of thing. We'll see.

Good luck to you "Minnesota"

[Russell]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

34saving, I just tried it after reading your post and the same thing happend to me.

Let's see what happens tomorrow...

[Armywife]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

This forum finally convinced me to open an Emigrant account. I answered all their questions and evidently they pulled some sort of credit report because they knew my former addess, maiden name, etc. Then, at the end they reported:

Thank you for your interest in opening a new account.

Unfortunately, we cannot process your application at this time.
*
If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Customer Service at 800 836-1997, Monday-Friday, 8:00am-8:00pm EST.

The EXIT button on the bottom didn't work. Now what?? I feel like I've given WAY to info. to who? There is no "real" reason why I shouldn't be able to open a savings account. Any ideas?

Yikes! I read somewhere that they do decline people but didn't think it was true! And my husband is in the same boat.. he gave ALOT of information and he has yet to receive anything in the mail- we've had six ED transactions in our account.. but no account number? Ughhhh !

[34saving]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Well, I called customer service this morning and all they could offer was "something small didn't match up". (BTW, they only pull a "soft" report so they get basic info for sercurity/confirmation but they don't get credit scores, etc.) Based on my recent pull of our credit reports the only thing that could be (I think, but of course they wouldn't/couldn't tell me) is that my husband's new driver's license came with a different number than his old one. Minnesota just changed everything about their driver's licenses, so the new number didn't surprise me, but I suppose it hasn't been reported to Equifax yet? Anyway, she offered to e-mail or mail me a different application that has a different "confirmation process", but I think I'll be waiting awhile before dealing with ED again. Good luck to everyone else out there, but I'm sticking with ING and hoping they raise their rates -- at least for now

[Russell]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Yes, bluek9 posted the news about 6 posts above yours

That's what motivated me to try and sign up for it.

[34saving]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Russell- Any news on your attempt to sign up with Emmigrant?