Bank Scam #5: ING Direct (Soon to be Capital One 360)

Bank Scam #5: ING Direct (Soon to be “Capital One 360”)

I remember seeing the orange lion of ING Direct for the first time while surfing the internet. I was frustrated about the pathetic interest rates offered at my bank and had read that “Rich people don’t work for money, money works for them.”  I was searching for ways to put my money hard at work for me.

I discovered that my bank was paying less than 0.5%, when an Orange savings account at ING Direct was paying 4.5%. Wow! My money could be working 10 times as hard for me. Plus, there were no offers to apply for a credit card on their website. It was refreshing to do business with a bank that did not look or act like a bank.

What I did not know was that ING Direct was created to give customers a safe-haven away from the predatory nature of big banking. ING Direct touted “no fees,” “no minimums,” and they would not sell your information to other companies. Not selling your information meant that another bank could not buy your information–looking to fill your mailbox with dozens of credit card offers.

Yes, ING Direct was meant to be different. They were a bank that was not looking to bury Americans into high-interest debt. But ING Direct is not the same company it was just a few years ago.

How is ING Direct different today?

  1. ING Direct is now paying 0.75% on savings, not 4.5%.
  2. ING Direct was purchased by Capital One, a credit card company. They are now part of the “Capital One family.”
  3. ING Direct will soon be gone. Capital One 360 will emerge in it’s place.

Why would a credit card company that blankets America in debt suddenly want to help Americans to save money? I don’t believe that Capital One will ever look to help anyone but Capital One.

Here is what I believe:

  • I believe that Capital One only purchased ING Direct to market Capital One products to their new customer base. What is the the number one product of Capital One? That is right, credit cards.
  • I believe that the 7.5 million customers of Capital One 360 will be targeted to distribute high-interest credit card debt–using their own savings to fund the debt.

If you are a customer of ING Direct, I would suggest you close your account today. And, if you decide to stay, simply realize that your savings may be used to fund the credit card debt–which is destroying the middle class. If you are asking, “What is in it for me?” I hope you understand that without the middle class, there will be nothing left for you, me, or anyone else. The bankers will be fine. They were not lending any of their money anyway.

What do you think?

Please forward this to anyone you know that has an ING Direct savings account. They may decide that they don’t want to lend their money to a credit card company?

Related Posts: Bank Scam #1: Save Money

, , , ,

47 Responses to Bank Scam #5: ING Direct (Soon to be Capital One 360)