ING Direct vs HSBC Direct
ING Direct and HSBC Direct are branchless banks that operates through internet and phone. Having a bank account has become a necessity in these times as one has to not only look for the safety of his hard earned money but also to be able to get and make payments easily either through check or online. There are many banks for this purpose but here we would like to find difference between ING Direct and HSBC Direct in terms of their features and the facilities that users can avail through these accounts.
ING Direct
ING stands for Internationale Netherlanden Group, which is a financial giant having Dutch origins. It offers insurance and asset management apart from retail and commercial banking to its customers. The group has more than 85 million clients in more than 40 countries across the world. ING Direct is a part of this group which is the largest banking company in the world in terms of revenues generated. The group has its headquarters in Amsterdam, Holland. ING Direct is a branchless bank that operates through internet and phone. It is one bank that provides simplified banking services to its consumers through high interest saving accounts.
HSBC Direct
This is another direct branchless bank which is a part of HSBC Holdings plc. Headquartered in London, HSBC is today world’s 6th largest financial company with more than 8000 offices in several continents such as Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America etc. HSBC was founded in 1991 in London by The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. HSBC provides retail as well as commercial banking services and also offers asset management. It is listed in London Stock Exchange.
HSBC Direct was launched in the US in 2005 and works along the lines of ING Direct through internet, phones and ATM’s. It is engaged in providing mortgages and saving accounts to people in many countries such as South Korea, Britain, Canada, Taiwan, France and Poland.
Difference between ING Direct and HSBC Direct
Interest rates
If one were to compare HSBC Direct and ING Direct, it seems that both provide an easy chance to people to earn money by placing it in their savings accounts. The money placed earns interest, called APY, and APY differs for different types of accounts. While HSBC offers 3.25% APY, the APY offered by ING Direct is slightly less at 3.0%.
Minimum balance
As banks do not need to maintain an infrastructure to operate accounts, both ING Direct and HSBC Direct do not have any minimum balance requirements which is very convenient for the consumers as they can open and maintain accounts with both with virtually no balance in their accounts.
Ease of use
Both ING Direct and HSBC Direct are hassle free accounts as it is very easy to open and maintain the accounts. While consumers can avail HSBC ATM’s for withdrawal and deposits of money, there is no such facility for the users of ING Direct account holders. However, ING Direct scores over HSBC Direct when it comes to allowing users to maintain an automatic savings account that allows them to transfer money from other accounts which is not possible with HSBC Direct.
