Pros

No monthly maintenance fees

One of the biggest selling points of the Electric Orange Checking account is that there are no monthly maintenance fees – period. There is no minimum balance requirement, direct deposit requirement, or debit card usage requirement.

Interest on checking deposits

Electric Orange pays interest on deposits based on the balance on the account. Deposits up to $50,000 collect 0.20% APY, $50,000 to $100,000 collect 0.85% APY, and over $100,000 gets you an APY of 0.90%. Granted 0.20% APY isn’t much, but is better than almost any other checking account out there, and if you have a good pile of cash this could be the perfect place for it.

Free debit cards and bill pay

Electric Orange offers a free debit card and free bill pay service. When it was introduced Electric Orange was designed to be a nearly paperless checking account, thus the encouragement to make payments electronically. Electronic payments can be made to merchants or to individuals using their Person2Person transfer service. You can also have a paper check sent via postal mail for free for those vendors you can’t pay electronically.

No overdraft fees

Unlike most other banks that love to soak you with overdraft fees, there are no overdraft fees on the Electric Orange checking. I think this fact is grossly oversold by ING on their website (the main page for the Electric Orange account just has a link inviting users to compare their overdraft fees to other banks without specifically stating there is no overdraft fee). The only fee related to overdrafts is an interest charge for accessing an overdraft line of credit based on the amount of the overdraft.

Free ATM access at select locations

For an online bank, ING Direct actually has a pretty good ATM network that you can access for free. You can access any ATM in the Allpoint network (most ATMs in this area are in retail locations of CVS, Walgreens, and Target) and, thanks to the buyout by Capital One, any Capital One ATM.

$50 Bonus for New Customers

As noted above, you can get a $50 bonus for opening an Electric Orange account. Just use one of the links below to sign up and make three card or Person2Person payments to earn your $50 bonus. Please see the fine print below for requirements.  Disclosure: these are referral links for which I will earn $10 for each successful referral.

ING Electric Orange Bonus 1

ING Electric Orange Bonus 2

ING Electric Orange Bonus 3

ING Electric Orange Bonus 4

ING Electric Orange Bonus 5

Bonuses are only paid for accounts that are opened and a total of 3 Card purchases or Person2Person Payments (or any combo of the two) are made within 45 days of account opening. The $50 bonus is available only for new accounts with a new Customer as primary owner. Only one bonus will be provided per household. Your $50 bonus will automatically be deposited into your account on day 50.

Cons

No branch network

Because it is an online bank, there is no branch network for the Electric Orange account, meaning there is no way to directly deposit cash into your account or talk to someone face-to-face it the rare event there is a problem with your account. This also makes depositing of paper checks a pain, as noted below.

Difficulty depositing paper checks

In the era of electronic transfers and direct deposits, everyone still gets paper checks occasionally. Currently the only way to deposit paper checks directly into your Electric Orange account is to mail them in to ING Direct, which means a significant delay in how quickly the funds are credited to your account. ING Direct has announced that customers will be able to upload check images for deposit via computer or smartphone app beginning sometime this spring, but until then this will continue to be a significant drawback of the Electric Orange account.

Limited check writing capability

For most checking accounts you have the option of ordering checks directly through the bank, ordering from a third party (usually at a significant discount to the bank’s charge), or printing your own check on your home computer. For the Electric Orange account, however, you must order checks from ING Direct at a cost of $5.00 per 50 checks. Granted there is an additional layer of security to this arrangement as checks must be activated before use, but many will be annoyed at having to pay more for their printed checks. It is worth pointing out that this does work almost like a service fee for check writing, and that by minimizing the costs of processing paper checks they can offer other benefits without fees.

The ability to write paper checks is an improvement to the Electric Orange account since its introduction, even if the checks must be ordered from ING Direct. Previously customers could not write paper checks at all.

Overall assessment

My overall assessment is that this is a great alternative to the fee happy checking accounts offered by most larger banks these days. Provided you don’t need to make cash deposits to your account, don’t write a lot of paper checks, and do most of your banking electronically you should definitely consider Electric Orange for your checking account needs.

If this doesn’t quite fit your needs you may also consider going to a local credit union or community bank with a truly free checking account. Compared to paying monthly maintenance fees at the big banks, you will still come out ahead.

The Orange Savings Account offers:

• Great rate – no minimum balance required. Everyone earns the same high yield.
• No fees – your money goes to work for you.
• No changing banks – the Orange Savings Account is linked to your checking account.
• 24-hour access to your account – you’re always ready for opportunities.
• FDIC-insured – your money is safe and secure.

Referral links:

• Orange Savings Referral

Electric Orange delivers the access and convenience of checking with the earning power of savings:

• Earn high interest
• Free ATM access at more than 32,000 locations nationwide
• A MasterCard® Debit Card for purchases
• Free Bill Pay and automatic overdraft protection

Referral links:

• Electric Orange Checking Referral
• Electric Orange Checking Referral
• Electric Orange Checking Referral
• Electric Orange Checking Referral
• Electric Orange Checking Referral

Please note that these links expire on 10/12/2009. If you see a message at the top of the ING signup page saying the link is invalid or expired, it means it has probably already been used. Just use one of the other links to complete the signup.

In addition to earning $25 for yourself, using these referral links helps support this blog with a $10 bonus for each successful referral. Thanks!

Rules of the game: Bonuses are only paid for accounts that are opened with an initial deposit of at least $250. Initial deposit does not include bonus. The $25 bonus is available only for new accounts with a new Customer as primary owner. Only one bonus will be provided per household. Bonus starts earning interest upon account opening, but is unavailable for withdrawal for 30 days.

• Orange Savings Referral 
• Orange Savings Referral
• Orange Savings Referral
• Orange Savings Referral
• Orange Savings Referral

• Electric Orange Checking Referral
• Electric Orange Checking Referral
• Electric Orange Checking Referral
• Electric Orange Checking Referral
• Electric Orange Checking Referral

Please note that these links expire on 11/6/2008. If you see a message at the top of the ING signup page saying the link is invalid or expired, it means it has probably already been used. Just use one of the other links to complete the signup. Thanks!

By using the following one-time use referral links you will earn a bonus of $25, and I will earn a bonus of $10. The main requirements are:

• Your initial deposit must be at least $250.
• You must be a new ING customer. If you already have an ING account (including the Orange Savings), you won’t qualify for the bonus.
• These links are one-time use. If you see a message saying that the link is expired or invalid, that means the link has already been used. Please try another link.

Here are the links. Please post in the comments if you use one of these:

1. ING Direct Electric Orange Referral
2. ING Direct Electric Orange Referral
3. ING Direct Electric Orange Referral
4. ING Direct Electric Orange Referral
5. ING Direct Electric Orange Referral
6. ING Direct Electric Orange Referral
7. ING Direct Electric Orange Referral
8. ING Direct Electric Orange Referral

I started this blog to share the knowledge and experiences I have had, and in many ways for my own amusement. I never planned to make any type of profit out of this blog, however if you would like to support this blog and show your appreciation, I will offer two ways to do so that won’t cost you anything!

1. ING Direct Referrals – I posted about this about a week ago, but you can get a $25 bonus for depositing $250 with ING Direct and using a referral code I can provide. You can either open an ING Direct Orange Savings or an ING Direct Electric Orange Checking account, however you can only do one of these and you must be a first time customer. In addition to the instant 10% return on your money, I receive $10 for each valid referral. It is your classic win-win. Click here to request a referral code for the Orange Savings or here for a referral code for the Electric Orange account.
2. My Coke Rewards – Drink Coke (or any other Coca-Cola product? On most packages of Coke products, there is a 12 or 15 digit code for the My Coke Rewards program. The points can be accumulated and redeemed for various prizes. If you don’t participate in the program, I would love to have your codes! Codes can be found on the flap of 12, 24, and 32 pack boxes, as well as under the cap of 20 oz., 1L, and 2L bottles. Click here to send me your My Coke Rewards codes.

Of course there is no obligation to send me anything. Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.