7 Reasons Why You Should Switch to ING
Before you assume that the nature of this post is purely sponsored, I honestly wish it was. Like with everything, this is simply my way of sharing my personal experiences [with the bank] and how it made managing my finances a lot easier.
As an international student, I’ve had a lot of love-hate relationship with banking and finances. Initially, I thought it was just my lack of financial knowledge despite coming from a year of accounting background. Eventually, I realised that it was because of my wrong choices and my fear of change. So before you go off gallivanting to the next brick-and-mortar bank that your neighbour or friend recommended you to, I suggest you read up because you might just want to hold off on opening that account and choose ING bank instead. Here are a few reasons why you should.
1. No ATM Fees (…and I mean ever)
You can withdraw money from Commbank, NAB, WESTPAC, ANZ and even the ATM right around the corner and you won’t ever have to worry about ATM fees hitting your bank balance by the time you get your much-needed withdrawal. That’s right! You can say goodbye to all that nasty $2.50 surcharge for withdrawing at the opposing bank because that’s the only thing available around the area you’re stuck at right now. Say it with me now. Buh-bye!
2. 3-Day Grace Period
Unlike my experiences with other banks, ING has been the best when it comes to overdrafts. I never have to worry about being charged for overdrawing my balance because of the looming bills I forgot to save up for. You are given three days to deposit the money. Trust me, that’s plenty of time. I remember back when ING didn’t even exist in my repertoire that I would call up my bank just to check if I would have to deposit extra money to pay for the overdraft. It was quite a pain. As a student, paying a $10 overdraft fee is absurd. You obviously don’t have the money to avoid the overdraft, what makes them think that you can afford a $10 fee on top of that? That said, the three-day grace period is like a modern-miracle and that’s saying a lot considering my spiritual beliefs.
3. 2.80% P.A. Variable Rate
Now before you expect me to explain what a P.A. is (which is per annum, by the way), I would like to caution you that this rate is simply the highest variable rate you can receive when you link up your ING everyday account with their savings maximiser account. I’m not exactly qualified to explain all of the magic behind this so I suggest that you do your own research, but I would say that this rate is about 0.29% higher than my previous bank and still about 0.20% more than the rest of the banks I’ve been introduced to. In my point of view, that’s pretty good.
4. No Monthly Account Fees
This is something I never had to worry about as a student, but I did hate the paperwork that came with waiving my monthly account fees every time the school year ends. It was such a waste of time having to send the bank necessary papers just to prove that I am eligible for student privileges. Sometimes, I even have to call the bank in order to sort any confusion. It was an unnecessary use of energy that you can probably spend on sorting your medical and health insurance. If you’re not a student, it’s even worse. Monthly account fees vary from $4 to $5 depending on the bank you’re with. Let’s face it, if you’re broke or going broke, a four to five dollar fee is much better invested in food. That’s already a McMuffin and a Coffee at Maccas! Always remember, if you’re not saving money, you’re losing money.
5. 24/7 Customer Service
I’m a big sucker for customer service. Partly, it’s because I like being able to talk to a human being, but mostly, it’s because I don’t like the idea of talking to a chatbot or a highly-advanced AI. On top of that, I work on varying shifts day and night which renders my office hours non-existent. If a customer service is only available during a specific time, there’s a good chance that I would have to rush all my concerns because of the limited timeframe. Thus, a 24/7 customer service is handy whenever you have random questions you’d like answered right away. I mean, who else is going to explain how my bank is so awesome?
6. Everyday Round-Up Feature
This feature is something I’ve grown to love over the past few months since its introduction. The idea is to round-up the sum of either one dollar or five dollars and to transfer the amount to your savings account. This way, you’re saving some money without having to lift a finger. While you might think it to be petty, I quite find this feature useful because I get some little surprises every time I expect my balance to be less than I thought it would be. It’s such a quaint little feature that really helps maximise your savings.
7. No International Transaction Fees
We’ve all been there! You want
to buy an item overseas and the international transaction fee hits you more
than the item you want to buy yourself. Instead of saving money ordering from
the supplier, the costs end up just about the same due to the unexpected bank
fees and shipping. With ING, you no longer have to worry about international
transaction fees. While they indicate a 2.5% charge from the amount of your
international transaction, this fee can be easily waived with a few simple
steps I’ve noted below. Bear in mind that this doesn’t include the charges of
the seller, but it’s a great saving option nevertheless. After all, what doesn’t
go on fees goes to what matters most — YOUR SAVINGS!
Now, you might be thinking that all of this is too good to be true. Well, yes and no. There are terms to follow in order for you to have the features I’ve mentioned above. One of which is to deposit $1000 every month to your account which is relatively easy if you link it up with your salary pay-outs. So, you don’t even have to think twice about this one. Another additional requirement is to make 5 or more purchases every month using your ING card — in which if you add up your morning coffee, weekly groceries and takeaway orders would make this one a no-brainer as well. And that’s it. That’s all the requirement they have, really. If you don’t believe me, go to their website here and soak in the beauty of it yourself.
When you’re ready to open your account, feel free to use the promo code below (valid until 28 February 2018) to get a $100 cash gift from ING for your first month. Just like the features I’ve mentioned before, you will also have to follow a few terms to receive this cash gift. The image below will provide you with the outline as to how to be eligible for the promo.
EYS056
Once you’ve done all that, the only thing left is to wait for ING to deposit the money. If you don’t receive it in the coming days, feel free to call their customer service (that’s what I did). Personally, I was lucky enough to get this treat from ING using someone else’s promo code. They got $100 in their bank and I got $100 on mine so, it’s a win-win (and yes, the same thing goes in this case). Just make sure that you follow the terms and use the promo code before 28 February 2018.
Alright! You’re good to go and much more prepared for your finances. I hope this little post was able to help you out with your financial decision making. If you have any questions, just pop up in the comments below and I’d be happy to address anything that is to my knowledge. Thank you for reading.
0 comments