Banks Beware: ING Direct Expands to [Check-less] Checking

Asaf Buchner | March 23, 2006, 11:49 AM

American Banker [Subscription] brings today a Dow Jones interview with Hans Verkoren, the chief executive officer of ING’s global online operation. Verkoren says that they are testing a check-less checking account for the US market. It’s fascinating to watch how ING Direct quickly expanded from Savings accounts to Mortgages, to Investment accounts. Their motivation to add checking capabilities to their leading rates, is probably to attract more deposits. I am about to publish a report about the marketing of deposits. I found that while interest rates top consumers’ wish list when choosing a place to park their liquid funds, a third of online consumers prefer to deposit their money in an institution where they already have an account. This new addition might therefore help ING Direct attract more deposits. The “check-less element” is a huge drawback limiting the appeal of this account to consumers, but it might be a step towards becoming a full-service bank.