$50 free at ING Direct
 

If you open a savings account at ING Direct (an online bank), they'll fund your account with $50. You only need $1 to open the account, and it's linked to an existing account. If you have a spouse on your regular checking account, you can BOTH sign up for savings accounts at ING ($50 each), and link the SAME account to both new accounts). You can also refer people -- they'll get $25 and you'll get $10 when they sign up (so if you have a bunch of kids....)

I'm wondering with all the "free checking" banks out there, why not go open an account (normally takes like $10) with all of them, then create an ING Direct account for yourself (+$50) and your spouse (+$50) linked to each one?

I know it's not miles, but this seemed like a deal other FT'ers would like, and I can just see some of you signing up with your extended family and raking in thousands of bucks. The $50 is good for me; plus they have a better interest rate than most brick-and-mortar savings accounts.

I'd be interested to hear of any "ING runs" people make....

[Edited to add link]

Go to http://www.ingdirect.com/taxcut and enter code 58978755 where it reads "Retail/Direct Customers, please enter offer ID..."

Link?

I'm quite sure additional checking accounts can only be tied or "connected" to your existing ING account, and not used to create a totally separate one.

If they were adding 50 miles to your account, this might belong here.

Indeed, off to SPAM this goes.

Regards,
Gary
aka gleff
MilesBuzz and Delta moderator

They won't let you open multiple accounts (certainly not enough to get thousands of dollars) under the same ssn.

Wow, easy money. Cool! I was skeptical at first but didn't see any fine print requiring a certain opening balance to receive the $50.

Furthermore, the Personal Account Legal Disclosures are written in clear, concise language to make it readable. Even though reading and understanding legalese is my job, it sure makes it a lot easier and more pleasant when things are written in plain English! ^

The only downside is I really hate giving out my social security number online. Still, ING is legit and has been around for a while, and banks always do insist on having it to open an account. So overall I'd say this is well worth the slight hassle of opening the account, going through the verification process, and giving them the requested info in exchange for $50. Plus it really is a good interest rate for a savings account with no required minimum opening balance.

Thanks for posting this, holland! ^^

This seems to be too good to be true :eek: .
Can anyone think of potential catches? How can they offer you $50 and such a high interest rate (for a savings account)??

Because they have little to no overhead.

Thanks so much holland!

It's a perfectly legit offer, and everybody who is eligable should take advantage of it.

We've used them for fundraising for a non profit, where all the members refer each other for the $25 sign up bonus and the $10 referral bonus, and then give it back to the group.

They do it for one reason - It brings in customers. The average bank spends $63 to bring in one customer. Advertising, support, etc. ING gets around all that by just paying people $25 to join, saving a ton of money (or $50 at tax time). I don't know anybody who has signed up with them that still isn't banking with them. They get you in the door, and they keep you.

If it matters though, and it does for some, all the free money is reported as interest at tax time. I don't care, I'll gladly pay a few pennies on it, but for some it does matter.

More than a few pennies for most of us, but it's still better than a hole in the head.

Offer is for buyers of TaxCut software. Not sure if code will work more than once.

No Catches
 

No catches, except that it takes a couple days to actually transfer money as I remember.

They are legit and highly recommended by people like Clark Howard the consumer guru. A writeup is embeded on http://clarkhoward.com/library/tips/banks.html

Their rates may be compared at http://www.bankrate.com

I have an account with them. Easy and great rates.

No catches, I did this deal a few month ago. The interesting thing is that I was originally planning to get the $50 and close the account, but their customer service is so good, I transfered much of my money there. There are banks which offer a higher APR then ING (Emigrant Direct offers 3.25% ), but ING's website and customer service are hard to beat.