Apparently, there is one positive to be found amid the constant news coverage of the Doom & Gloom outlook for the U.S. economy and our retirement funds losing 40% of their value… we have finally been scared into submission!

I say this because ING Direct, the web’s largest internet bank, is witnessing massive growth in it’s Orange Savings Account program to the tune of 100,000 new accounts over a one month period.

Come again?  People are saving money during a recession?

You’re kidding!!!

I say this facetiously of course, but if you had watched the financial news within the last 2 months, you would think we’re all circling round and round just waiting to be flushed into the proverbial abyss.

American’s beginning to save!

In an interview with ING Direct’s CEO & Chairman, Arkadi Kuhlmann, he highlighted the current state of business affairs at ING Direct, and some of his insights on the U.S. economy.  The most shocking piece of data was this headliner:

People on Main Street are signing up [for new ING savings accounts] at the rate of 100,000 per month.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I use CEO interviews quite a bit.  I do this because I like to get my information “straight from the horses mouth” so to speak, because the conveyed information has not been hyped up by an over-anxious reporter, or diluted down by a faulty misquote.  The information is raw, untainted, and better suited for interpretation.

Interview Highlights

• ING Direct is the largest internet bank and largest virtual community bank in the United States.
• ING Direct is the third largest savings bank in America.
• ING Direct never participated in writing or selling sub-prime mortgages as did the majority of financial institutions.
• ING Direct has seen only 100 foreclosures from it’s own mortgage portfolio.  Rather shocking considering we just spent $700 Billion to bailout Wall Street from the infamous trickle down effects.
• CEO Kuhlmann also discusses his new book, The Orange Code, detailing ING Direct’s success story.

I think this is very telling of an old school Savings & Loan mentality combined with modern thoughts on efficiency, which would explain ING Direct’s tremendous popularity and success.

If you are not familiar with ING Direct, they have a rather generous interest rate with their Orange Savings Account, which always outperforms the national savings account average (to my best knowledge).  Having acquired Sharebuilder.com, they also provide the ability to buy and sell stocks for only $4 per trade.

I have not used Sharebuilder.com, but I have been a ING Direct Savings Account holder since 2004.  Their service is impeccable and often rated among the top performers for ease of use and online customer experience.

Interested in getting a referral bonus?

Yes, this is my shameless plug, but if you open an ING Direct Orange Savings Account via this link, you can qualify for a $25 referral bonus.

For those with questions, a demo of ING’s services and a quick “how to open an account” video is available.

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Full disclosure: I receive $10 from ING Direct for a referral bonus.

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