ING Direct vs. Virtual Bank

How does Virtual Bank compare with ING Direct?

I decided to open a Virtual Bank savings account. They gave me $20 for opening it, so I figured I don’t have much to lose. To me ING has clearly been the best online savings account in terms of features, interface, and overall user experience, but I am trying to keep an eye out for other up and coming great online banks, so I decided to check out Virtual Bank.

ING Direct and Virtual Bank Features

*$250 to get the $25 referral bonus

Refer a Friend program

• ING Direct’s refer a friend program pays $10 to the referrer and $25 to the person opening the account (if the new account is opened with at least $250).
• Virtual Bank pays $20 to both the referrer and the new account holder (if the account is opened with at least $100).

Security

As far as security goes, both of these sites are top-notch in the level of security they offer. I would almost say that both of them could be considered frustrating if you are used to having your browser log you in to web sites automatically. There are a few steps to log in for both ING and Virtual Bank. That said, if you are concerned with keeping your account safe, you can’t go wrong with either ING or Virtual Bank.

User Interface

For the user interface and overall web site, I have to give it to ING Direct. Virtual Bank’s layout and web site isn’t bad and it is actually easy to navigate from one place to the next. ING’s is just better. This is one of the area’s that makes ING stand out from the others. They have worked very hard to create a great user experience with their web site and they have been successful. ING’s interface is very user friendly, intuitive, simple, and well organized.

Virtual Bank interface

ING Direct Interface

Customer Service

I have had very good experiences with ING’s customer service thus far. I have called them 3 times and each time I got my problem resolved or question answered quickly and from a friendly person the line. I have heard from others that not all calls to ING go as well as mine did.

My first call to Virtual Bank did not go so well. After being on hold for 28 minutes, all of a sudden their hold music stopped and I was hung up on. Possibly in their defense, I looked at their hours of operation and it appears as if I called right after closing time. It just would have been nice if they would have had a message that said to call back later. It is never any fun to wait on hold for a half an hour. 

Conclusion: ING Direct vs. Virtual Bank

After all is said and done, I think I am still in the same place as I was before my Virtual Bank experiment: ING is still the winner. If I had $100,000 to put in savings, I would probably put it in Virtual Bank to get the 4.0% return rather than ING’s 3.4%. But, for smaller amounts I am sticking with ING Direct.

If you are interested in opening either (or both) of these accounts - contact me so you can get the referral bonus cash!!

Also, if you have used either or both of these banks, I would love to hear your opinions about them…

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