My Black Friday Purchases

[livingdeb]

I really wanted nothing to do with Black Friday madness, but in the end, one business did tempt me: my online bank, ING Direct. They sent an e-mail saying they were having some deals but they weren't going to tell anyone what they were until it was actually Friday. I admit to investigating.

They were offering a 1-year CD at 1/4% more than their regular rate if you opened it with "new money" (money transferred in from elsewhere). I already transfer my extra money to them as soon as I get it, so this is not very helpful or exciting to me.

They were also offering a $121 bribe to open a checking account with them. From which you cannot write checks. I haven't been falling for their previous bribes because I already have a checking account I like (and which I must use in order to have an account at ING Direct). But Robin pointed out that $121 comes to a rather large interest rate for only having to have the account for a few weeks. I may also be able to pay my gas bill cheaper using their online bill pay system (or maybe their mailed check system)--I'm still using snail mail for that bill because they charge a fee to pay online.

They were also offering a $6xx rebate if you took out a mortgage or refinanced with them. (That amount was supposedly the average amount that people pay annually for Christmas presents.) There's so little left on my mortgage that the closing costs keep refinancing from being exciting.

I decided to accept the checking account bribe. And I decided to refrain from their CD offering and make my own, higher-interest CD. It's like a little hand-made gift to myself, because I'm all crafty. And a little punny. Anyway, I made an extra payment on the principal of my mortgage, thus simulating a three-year CD at a currently stunning-seeming interest rate of 5.63% (my current mortgage rate of 6.625% minus the loss for not deducting it on my income taxes).

Comments

e-checking

[(Anonymous)]

I 'inherited' a 'checking' account with ING Direct. (Former NetBank account taken over by ING - I also have a money market account which they took over - decent interest on the MMA, as these things go right now.) You can write checks, it is just electronic. If you need a paper check, they can send one snail mail or overnight. The only major missing feature is the inability to write paper checks in 'real time' (like at the store). Apparently this is a common account type in Europe, and I've been told that paper checks are basically non-existent over there at this point. ING is a European insurance company - originally Internationale Nederlanden Groep - with a bank attached.

Re: e-checking

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

That's true. I guess I could have them mailed to me if I want to pay someone in person (like my ballroom dance group). But I can't write the checks myself.

Frankly, I don't see many checks around here, either, and I get the idea that most college students don't even know how to use them. It's all swipe, swipe, swipe these days.