And 20 minutes for work? Please…Maybe for you guys, but because of my set up I personally would not be able to make these changes. I would need to contact all the places that I have either direct depositing of withdrawing from my ING account and update routing and account numbers.

Now I don’t know how much money you guys have in these accounts. Maybe it’s well worth it for you, but with what I got in there, all this work is not worth $0.30 a month.

flexo, thanks for keeping me up to date about the rates.

Personally, I have a number of payment options (my employer’s direct deposit, the IRS for estimated tax payments, various merchant accounts, and several other systems) that are all configured with my ING Direct account information (account number and ABA), not to mention periodic investments, withdrawals or transfers scheduled directy within ING Direct which would have to be re-initiated from the new account — if that particular bank even allows for such options.

It’s not a *huge* chore, but it would be quite annoying to track down all required changes and adjust these options more than once a year.

This is obviously more than a 20 minute endeavor. And I will redistribute my savings at some point by the end of the year — which I have to do for tax/personal purposes anyway… but I’m not jumping just because ING Direct lowered their rate. And I’m not taking time out from my busy day to take care of this until I have time to set aside for more similar projects and can spend a day doing administrative work.

ING Direct hasn’t been the rate leader for several years now, always lagging behind the other banks… so if you’re just now deciding to move your money, you have missed interest-earning opportunities already.

I’m a longtime ING user, and I’ve kept my money with them regardless of the other rates until this most recent move. Like others have stated, they are “cautious” about raising rates along with the others. However, not showing that same due process with lowering the rates is just bad customer service.

Yes, ING has a very friendly UI, and transfer of funds is easy. This used to be enough for me, but not anymore. I realize now that I only touch my savings to deposit, so I really don’t care how the UI works. 5 minutes a month to ensure my transfer has gone through and check my interest earned for the balance is all I need.

You should monitor all your money – savings, 401k, personal investments, IRA on a quarterly basis (if not just to make sure you remember your login :)) and then check when something big happens in the market, like this rate change.

Simply being complacent and saying “eh, it’s a pain” is what makes companies get away with these types of shenanigans.

That’s right, I said shenanigans.

Now, I just got a quick question: why do we have to jump ship? I’ve had the bulk of my money in HSBC at 5% for a while now. That doesn’t mean I need to scrap my ING account.

Again, I hear nothing about the Electric Orange account. It’s free Bill Pay. I love it, and you get 3% (now). If there’s a “regular” checking account that beats that with no minimum balance, someone needs to tell me.

Again the difference between 5.0% and 4.5% is not so much of a big deal for relatively small balances in the accounts. If I were to get a lower interest rate for years at a time, then there would be more of an impetus to shift.

Whether or not *I* stay has no bearing on whether ING keeps their rates more competitive; I have no control over the mob that would be necessary for ING to change their attitude towards rates.

If you review your accounts once per year, that is more than sufficient.

I agree, I too am not jumping ship to every 3-6 month promo teaser bonus like FBNO’s 6%, because it takes time, not much time, but time nonetheless; however, there are several others out there that have been consistently at 5%.

What really bothers me is that I have started to receive a lot more junk snail-mail from ING about their mortgages. I also have started seeing a bunch of ING TV spots, as well as some kind of music concert they are sponsoring.

Perhaps they should stop sending so much money on advertising and start spending some money on their existing customers! After all, we were the ones who brought them the success they are enjoying now…

I heard ING takes a few business days for transfers to clear and access to ATMs is nonexistent.

Am I missing out on some percentage points? Perhaps, but I’m not wasting my time worrying about less than $100 a year in interest (before taxes) or transferring money back and forth.

But it is sad that ING is dropping.

I don’t get the love for ING, since ING hasn’t been loving its customers. ING is now a full 1% lower than my igobanking account. Glad I jumped the ING ship earlier this year. took forever for ING to get to 4.5% and then they stayed there everyone else was at 5%. The immediate drop to 4.3% shouldn’t be any surprise from ING. What’s surprising is how many people still convince themselves that ING is easier to use or they don’t have that much money to justify staying with ING. There really is no incentive for ING to have maintained 4.5% nor have increased previously to be competitive, when there are so many people willing to stay put.