ING online banking is taking advantage of the start of the school year to update its price list. Yes customers of its Essential formula will not see any change, premium customers have something to cringe.
Doubling of costs
To subscribe to the ING Intégrale formula, customers now have two options. They can 1) deposit € 1,200 of income per month in their ING account or 2) pay a monthly contribution as compensation.
Until now, this contribution amounted to € 5 per month, or € 60 per year. In a few hours, ING will raise these costs to € 10 per month (or € 120 per year). If a majority of customers free themselves from this contribution by domiciling their income in the establishment, they will have to remain vigilant: any breach will be automatically penalized.
With this price increase, ING is getting (dangerously) closer to traditional network banks. Indeed, the Gold Mastercard bank card, which has contributed to the success of online banking, is almost at the same price among them. If you are not able to have the amount required each month with ING, the benefit of this premium offer is less obvious.
For those who are looking for a Gold card at a lower cost and without conditions, it will be necessary to turn to Monabanq (from 5 € per month) or Orange Bank. The latter provides access to an Orange Premium card, similar to a Gold Mastercard, for € 7.99 per month. Those who can justify 1000 € of income per month and for a contribution of 5 €, can turn to Hello Prime, at Hello bank !.
The reactions were not long in coming on social networks, where several voices have stepped up to the plate. ING support justified this increase by “A fair price in relation to the advantages, simplicity and freedom of use offered to our customers”.
Hello, we are committed to offering a fair price in relation to the advantages, simplicity and freedom of use offered to our customers. 1/2
– INGFrance_SAV (@INGFrance_SAV) August 27, 2020
Rather than free services that will never be of use to me, I would rather you not charge me 0.25% brokerage fees for a service that you outsource to @boursedirect which offers it at 0.09%, and that you charge me 0.13% before.
Afterwards, it’s up to you.— Kuraobi (@kuraobi) August 22, 2020
The Integral formula becomes more flexible
To compensate for the rise in prices, ING wanted to highlight new services with the Integral formula. Among them, the free payments and withdrawals abroad (without limit of amount) and the free cash breakdown service abroad, which would allow customers to have “One of the most complete and competitive offers on the market”.
In fact, these new features bring comfort (and savings) to the most traveling customers. Indeed, ING used to charge 2% costs on transactions carried out outside the euro zone. This update will therefore be beneficial for some – once the health crisis has subsided.
Read also: our comparison of the best free banks
A generous bonus until September 1
If you are able to direct your income of € 1,200 (or if you opt for the Essential version), ING remains a very competitive online bank. It provides access to a premium Gold Mastercard as well as a range of quality banking products.
The bank is also putting forward a convincing special offer until September 1 at midnight: you can get a bonus of 160 € for the very first opening of an account, which is double the amount usually offered. This only concerns the Integral formulas, on condition that two things are respected: you will have to open an account by September 1 at the latest and ensure to make a payment of at least € 1,200 in October and November 2020.
To learn more, it’s here :
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