About EmigrantDirect savings account (stick with ING)

teddyFBI · #1 08-12-2005, 06:15 PM

Does anyone here have one? I finally (see below) got online access to mine, but can't see where I'm allowed to withdraw my funds to my linked checking account. There's no "withdraw" link.

Anyway, to anyone looking at getting a high interest online savings account, here are my experiences with both EmigrantDirect and ING to date:

I opened up accounts at BOTH around 3 weeks ago. Actually, I first opened up an Emigrant account because of their high interest rate 3.5%, but then decided to try ING too, since something about Emigrant just rubbed me the wrong way. For starters, they make it rather cumbersome to actually get your account open -- ING does it all online (like Neteller), but Emigrant does the online thing but THEN requires you to wait for a snail mail letter with a confirmation number. So 10 days later, I FINALLY get the letter, only to discover that's not the end of things: all the letter allows me to do is REGISTER for online access to my own damn account, which takes another 3 days. So here I am 3 weeks after initially signing up for my Emigrant account and I finally have online access...during that 3 weeks, the $5,000 initial transfer I had made was in cyberspace limbo, which I didn't appreciate. And now there's not even a clear link on where to withdraw the funds (which I plan on doing). Also, the online interface at Emigrant is...well...so rudimentary, my grandmother could have designed it with a basic intro to HTML class. Very, very unimpressive. I know they're FDIC-insured, so it's not security that I'm necessarily worried about, but I think it's reasonable to hope that a financial institution where you're keeping a fair some of money at least LOOK professional. Also, my emails to their customer service address: all were eventually answered, but most needed 2 to 3 day turnaround time.

The alternative: ING. As I said above, I think I'll be sticking with ING, even though they only offer 3.15% (instead of Emigrant's 3.5%...in the long run that might cost me a few bucks, I guess). The web interface (like EMigrant's) leaves something to be desired, but it's more aethetically pleasing than Emigrant's...and the ING name gives me a little more confidence than regional Emigrant (although i know they're both FDIC insured). As I wrote before the account opening procedure was done all online (with mini-deposits to the checking account you want linked), so start-to-finish it took around 4 days. Also, I found out from other posters here that I could link my ING account to Neteller (although beware: once you DE-link your previous checking account from Neteller, you'll NEVER be able to RE-link it...so make sure you it's what you want)...so now I empty my poker accounts into my Neteller account, which I empty into my ING savings account, which earns me a nice 3.15%. Also note: if you ask a Neteller phone rep if they'll let you link your ING savings account to Neteller, they'll TELL you no, because they think you can only link CHECKING accounts to Neteller, but they're WRONG! I, and many others, had NO problem linking our ING Savings account to Neteller; the ING account has an account number and routing number just like any other bank account, which is all you need to link it to Neteller. ING also has mutual fund products which you can invest in online, which I took advantage of (and the REIT fund I selected promptly lost 10% of my capital in 2 days, damnit) At the risk of sounding spammy, if anyone wants a referral to ING, by the way, it gets you $25 to open a new account, just PM me (i get $10 in the interest of full disclosure).

Whew -- so I guess what started as as a simple question about my Emigrant account turned into something of a review of each, so enjoy.

SoCalRugger · #2 08-12-2005, 06:32 PM

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At the risk of sounding spammy, if anyone wants a referral to ING, by the way, it gets you $25 to open a new account, just PM me (i get $10 in the interest of full disclosure).

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Or you can use the Taxcut Deluxe promo code, which gets you a free $50.

Cubswin · #3 08-12-2005, 06:48 PM

Is that code still working?

It looks like that thread was axed over at fatwallet.....

cyberSTACK · #4 08-12-2005, 06:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone here have one? I finally (see below) got online access to mine, but can't see where I'm allowed to withdraw my funds to my linked checking account. There's no "withdraw" link.

[/ QUOTE ]

Click on External Transfers and then One-Time Transfer.

teddyFBI · #5 08-12-2005, 06:51 PM

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[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone here have one? I finally (see below) got online access to mine, but can't see where I'm allowed to withdraw my funds to my linked checking account. There's no "withdraw" link.

[/ QUOTE ]

Click on External Transfers and then One-Time Transfer.

[/ QUOTE ]

i don't have an "External Transfers" LInk anywhere i can see...where is it?

Alpha13 · #6 08-12-2005, 06:53 PM

I have an Emigrant account and don't understand why you don't trust them. They are an excellent, higher interest alternative to ING (I think 3.15% vs 3.5 is pretty substantial)

shant · #7 08-12-2005, 06:59 PM

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I have an Emigrant account and don't understand why you don't trust them. They are an excellent, higher interest alternative to ING (I think 3.15% vs 3.5 is pretty substantial)

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Could you speak to some of Teddy's points about the interface design and the customer service turnaround? I am going to open an account at one of the two, and the comments in this thread have me leaning towards ING.

cyberSTACK · #8 08-12-2005, 07:03 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone here have one? I finally (see below) got online access to mine, but can't see where I'm allowed to withdraw my funds to my linked checking account. There's no "withdraw" link.

[/ QUOTE ]

Click on External Transfers and then One-Time Transfer.

[/ QUOTE ]

i don't have an "External Transfers" LInk anywhere i can see...where is it?

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This is what it looks like for me when I log in...

cyberSTACK · #9 08-12-2005, 07:05 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have an Emigrant account and don't understand why you don't trust them. They are an excellent, higher interest alternative to ING (I think 3.15% vs 3.5 is pretty substantial)

[/ QUOTE ]
Could you speak to some of Teddy's points about the interface design and the customer service turnaround? I am going to open an account at one of the two, and the comments in this thread have me leaning towards ING.

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I have nothing but good things to say about my emmigrant direct account. Customer serivce was fine (over the phone), transfers are easy, interface is nice, interest rate is higher.

benza13 · #10 08-12-2005, 07:06 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have an Emigrant account and don't understand why you don't trust them. They are an excellent, higher interest alternative to ING (I think 3.15% vs 3.5 is pretty substantial)

[/ QUOTE ]
Could you speak to some of Teddy's points about the interface design and the customer service turnaround? I am going to open an account at one of the two, and the comments in this thread have me leaning towards ING.

[/ QUOTE ]

No experience with Emigrant, but I recently opened an ING account and couldn't be happier. Their customer service was friendly and helpful when I called to ask a few questions about my account and I had no trouble opening the account online.