Oregon Community CU to ING Direct: "Take that!"
Posted by Trey Reeme on April 18th, 2007
I’m a big ING Direct fan – partly because they followed through with Electric Orange, their paperless checking account. It’s currently at 4.00% APY (and above) with no minimums, free ATM access, and overdraft protection.
I’ve wondered when I’d see a credit union compete with a high-interest, no-minimum, free checking account. I’ve assumed such offerings were out there, but I’d yet to stumble across any.
Enter Oregon Community Credit Union and their Remarkable Checking Account.
Currently at 6.01% APY with no minimum balance, the requirements include:
- Active enrollment in eStatements.
- Login to Internet Banking at least once a month.
- Make one electronic deposit or withdrawal (ACH) monthly (includes direct deposit).
- Make at least ten debit card transactions monthly.
I know, I know – BECU launched a 7.50% APY Advantage Account recently – but that’s currently only good up to the first $500, where it drops to regular savings (1.76% APY) or checking (0.75% APY) rates. (Hey, I’m a big BECU fan, too – just keepin’ it real, as Randy Jackson would say.)
OCCU’s Remarkable Checking is the first real competition I’ve seen coming from credit unions for a high-interest, no-minimum, free checking account. Agree?
Update 1: From Brent – TwinStar CU also has a 6% checking account that looks similar. Check it.
Update 2: The Bank Deals blog is reporting that Connexus Credit Union, Clearstar Credit Union, and Northern FCU are offering similar accounts.
The best part about this is that they actually had to extend the hours to handle the demand.
Woot! I just opened my appropriately named Remarkable Account.
Bye-bye NYC ATM fees (although the POS/Signature debit transaction requirements should help offset that for the CU).
Incredibly spartan website aside, their online products and customer service have allowed me to keep them as my primary financial institution no matter where I’ve lived.
Bravo!
I saw the BECU ad yesterday (came in the mail) and loved that, in my opinion, it is merely promoting thrift.
Oregon’s checking promotes the good ol’ days of credit union checking—paying more than decent dividends because we CAN! and we SHOULD!
Go Ducks!!
Wow, thanks for the tip. Their closest branch is a bit further from me than I’d like, but with free ATMs this just might be worth it for me!
Oregon Community is keeping us on our toes in Oregon! It’s great to see a CU do an account like this.
And Denise, you’re wrong…
Go Beavs.
Hey Trey, I like ING Direct too.
Not because of their Agent Orange checking account (or whatever they call it), but because they came into the US and said to the rest of the industry… well, I can’t repeat that here, cuz I bet you want to keep this a family friendly site.
They showed the industry that the key to success was a FOCUSED strategy, and didn’t try to BS consumers w/ this “we’re an integrated, full service FS firm” charade that so many big banks put on.
So when I read the title of this post, I couldn’t help but think you are so far off base with the “take that!” remark.
Oregon CCU’s foray into this is SO far behind the times (have you heard of Emigrant, Wamu, Citi, and the other OL high-yield providers?) that I can NOT imagine ING Direct feeling even the slightest tremor from this announcement.
Of course, if you were being sarcastic with the “take that!” comment, then sorry for not picking up on that.
I was being a little dramatic – trying to write a rockin headline.
That said, for this credit union’s members and those eligible to join, I think it’s quite competitive.
Does it have ING Direct shaking in their boots? It isn’t even on their radar and shouldn’t be – unless it catches on with many many more local FIs.
The other providers that you mention (Emigrant, etc.) might have competitive high yield savings offerings, but they aren’t doing it in checking like ING Direct is with Electric Orange – I’m talking a no minimum balance high-yield checking account. As this post points out, such accounts are popping up at the local level for banks and CUs – with most being no-national-brand institutions. Very much on the fringe still…
So I do believe it’s ahead of the times. Call it a case of the “over dramatic” headline.
My fiance Sandra – an Oregon native and longtime member of Beaverton’s Rivermark CU – asked me to voice her nickel’s worth to Denise and Robbie: Go Beavers!
Trey, I actually think your headline was right on. If a credit union truly wants to satisfy all of a members’ financial needs, offering their active members a best-in-class high-yield checking product will accomplish more in terms of member loyalty than tens of thousands spent on publicity and advertising campaigns.
First I’d say STAY AWAY COMPLETELY from ING Direct.
Back in September 2001 I opened an account with $10K. Within 2 months I added another $10K to the account. Then I tried to get my money out 18 months later and for over 3 months ING DIRECT kept sending me in the postal mail system a notice saying “Invalid Account Number”. Even though I called them numerous times to correct the problem, ING Direct continued to site the “Invalid Account Number” excuse and sent rejects via mail even though ING DIRECT had both my work and home numbers (both with answering systems attached). The folks at 1-888-ING-0272 were of no help. Mostly excuses and more excuses but they never solved the problem.
I had to write them two checks for one dollar to finally get my needed money. The first check resulted in the account number being updated according to the letter but when I requested the transfer I got the “Invalid Account Number” excuse again. The whole thing took a second check for a dollar (with a letter from my new lawyer) before they got me my money 6 months after I needed it. (We lost the house because I could not get the down payment out of ING DIRECT from my account.)
Then in 2004 I emptied the account down to $40.00. I changed my will to include the ING DIRECT account as a gift to my granddaughter when she turns 65, she is 8 now and was 5 then. I left the account in my name so that I was responsible for the taxes on interest until my death. Then I proceeded to forget about the account and talk anyone I hear talking about ING DIRECT out of doing business with ING DIRECT. I think I was mostly successful in my attempts.
This month I received a letter from ING DIRECT out of the blue. Since September 2005 ING DIRECT stopped sending me quarterly statements.. In the letter ING DIRECT states account was closed. The statement says “Since your Orange Savings Account has had little to no activity it looks like we weren’t able to help you save. As a result we closed your account.” Yet on the same statement the “Year to date interest” is $1.10 at an “Annual Percentage Interest Yield” of 4.47%. So it has had activity through 3 quarters of the year.
So now an 8 year old girl lost her future account. The almost $50.00 was transferred to my checking account and now I have to go back to the lawyer to remove the account from my will. Yet THEY NEVER GAVE ANY WARNING or ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT ME before closing this account. I’d have easily transferred as much as necessary to keep it open. And I have a great credit score so I know they could not have decided to can me due to bad credit rating.
ING DIRECT has no concern for you as a customer, they just want your $25.00 to start and then more. But if you don’t keep adding to it ING DIRECT will just throw you out without any warning at all.
My advice to one and all, STAY AWAY FROM ING DIRECT!!! Go to any other on line bank and you will be much better off.