Yes, you read that correctly. YOU are going to interview the President and CEO of ING Direct Canada, Peter Aceto. Well, let me explain further… I will actually be the one asking the questions, but the questions I will ask are going to come from the readers of this blog.
I would ask for you to please leave your questions as a comment on the bottom of this post. If you are reading via email or Facebook, then please click here to go the blog’s website where you will find the comment form. Not all questions will be selected for the interview (like: “Peter, what’s your shoe size?”), but I encourage you to think of something and contribute (like: “Peter, are you going to launch a no-fee chequing account to complement the no-fee savings account anytime soon?”).
Peter looks like a pretty cool guy, note how “plugged in” he is:
I’m looking forward to the interview and I’m counting on your questions, so don’t be shy! :)
Before I go, here is a video from Peter discussing unfair banking fees.
Sorry to plagarize, but I like your question.
Peter, are you going to launch a no-fee chequing account to complement the no-fee savings account anytime soon?
Peter why don’t you grab the non-competitive, over-charging Canadian mutual fund industry by the balls and offer a discount investment service with full trailer fee rebates for all existing mutual funds? Throw in a FULL line of competitive no-load ING Funds (preferably indexed) with even lower management fees then your currently limited StreetWise fund (who’s 1% fee is too high).
Here’s my idea, you need volume to keep costs low right? So partner with Vanguard from the US to bring their funds to Canada. As soon as ING Funds get large enough drop the currency hedge to offer 100% Canadian dollar investments with broad foreign exposure to multiple asset classes.
I’ve been a customer of ING for quite some time. Recently (yesterday) I opened an account at a competitor and, if all goes well, planning to move my savings there. What are your plans to keep ING competitive with smaller outfits like Canadian Direct, Peoples Trust, and Ally?
In the day of electronic transfers and interac, why can’t ING money transfers happen without week long holds on the money? Isn’t it possibly to authorize the originating account like a pay-at-the-pump transaction to avoid the hold?
Peter, would ING Direct Canada consider developing a low cost discount brokerage to tie in with the savings and low cost index mutual fund and why or why not?
The two reasons I have not switched to ING are
1) PC Financial’s ABM network is extensive and does not charge fee for chequing or bill payments
2) No brokerage for my portfolio investing which means moving money is more complicated and time consuming.
What is ING doing or will be doing to become a one stop shop for financing?
Keep up the fair fees fight for the little guys!
ING Direct was once the leader in offering no fee high interest savings accounts, but they have not been competitive in years in regards to the interest rates offered. What happened, and do they have any plans to become the market leader once again? The only advantage ING seems to have is name recognition and a good reputation over the new comers.
Peter, does ING have any plans to implement a low-cost trading service? ING has done a great job of giving Canadians a low (no) cost savings account option, is a portal to the capital markets in the cards, or is there too much competition in the sector already?
My biggest question would be similar to Jordan’s: is ING going to introduce a set of low-MER indexed mutual funds to compete with TD’s e-series? The 1% for Streetwise doesn’t cut it, which is especially troubling because the marketing lingo talks about the importance of keeping the fees low! (see http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/save-invest/mutualfunds/advantage/goodbye/index.html )
ING now has almost a dozen or so competitors in the Canadian Market many of whom offer much higher intrest rates. Yes, they do have fees for certain services like chequing but these services are not even offered by ING. Isn’t it better to have a service offered even with a charge than not have it offered at all and be paid a higher interst rate especially since all are covered by the same CDIC?
With Citizen’s Bank retreating from being a deposit taking institution, it appears that Canada continues to structurally be a difficult environment for true alternatives to mainstream banks to thrive (ING being a notable exception).
What is it about Canada (regulatory, environmental, geographic) which makes it such a difficult place for regional/niche financial institutions to do well and what 3 things can be done to address this issue (unless you feel the issue is fundamentally unsolveable)?
I think a no-fee checking account would go a long way towards making more people use ING for their “one stop shop” banking services. Another one being the convince of local branches for interact withdrawals.
Peter, an ING CSR recently confirmed to me that ING will indeed be offering a chequing account “next year”. Can you please give us more details?
As a Citizens Bank customer looking for a new banking home, I would love to go with ING as my main Financial Institution, but right now cannot as you only offer savings. My worst case scenario would be to sign up with one of the big five, only to hear of ING’s chequing account being offered only a few days later. If you would give us more details, many of us would hold off on switching and wait for ING but time is running out, and Citizens will soon force us to move elsewhere.
Peter, I cringe every time I hear ING ads criticizing the big banks for not offering high-interest accounts. I’m sure this is no surprise to you but many of the big banks offer accounts that are competitive with ING Direct’s. Why do you persist in running old ads that are not fully accurate anymore? I have no problem when you point out ING’s advantages such as no fees or higher rates but it reflects poorly on your credibility when you attack competitors with inaccurate statements.
Peter, I’m a fan of ING. My mortage is with the company. Would you consider offering customers an online record of the interest they’ve paid, and the principal. It would be great to see a month by month record, and cumulative total of interest. Right now, there is no statement of interest paid, at least not online. I want to know exactly how much I’ve paid and I’m sure many of your customers feel the same. I’ve made this suggestion on the phone and via email but, regrettably, have received no response from ING.
I’m curious, what is your vision of the future of banking in Canada? Will this be realized in five years? Ten years? What can the average person do to help your vision along?
I am also an ING saver with a large proportion of my portfolio in your savings accounts and GICs. But I would like to be more aggressive with my investments and so I would like to know when you will be offering your Mutual Funds in Quebec. What exactly is stopping ING from offering them here anyway?
I’m a very happy ING Direct customer. I *love* the services they provide and they kind of bank that they are. I keep most of my savings in my ING account and I’ve recently opened a TFSA there as well. I’d be very interested in moving my RRSP accounts there too, but I’ve yet to see a low-cost index fund offered by ING Direct. I think that the Streetwise funds have the right idea, but with an MER of 1%, I just can’t justify moving there when TD offers comparable e-series index funds with MERs ranging from 0.31% to 0.48%. ING Direct’s fees are 2x or 3x higher. Does ING Direct have any plans to lower the costs on their index funds in the future?
Oh, and just in case you miss all the other people who asked… “Peter, are you going to launch a no-fee chequing account to complement the no-fee savings account anytime soon?”
Hi Preet, We’re closing in on a month now since you posted this interview announcement.
When is it actually going to happen? I’m getting a little tired checking in.
Any idea when we’ll be seeing this interview?
Sorry for the delay guys, it’s a video interview and is being produced by ING. I’m expecting that the videos should be ready in December. I don’t know if that will be early December, or late December. It’s out of my hands unfortunately.
I agree. This drives me crazy. The Canadian Payment Association Rules do not provide for the same guidelines on dishonoured PAD vs EFT's. There is not supposed to be recourse by the Issuing Institution after 1 business day on an EFT, so why does the receiving institution put holds on your money? Are we funding the ING's deposit reserves, essentially funding their float without compensation? How long since the Regulations have been updated…..years! I am moving my mortgage away from ING for this very reason….I have to float an extra mortgage payment evey month, and I refuse to any longer.
re ING: I need to make a payment to an ING bank account in Belgium. ING are no help, either Canada or Belgium email. How can I get Euro or Canadian cash to that ING bank account in Brussels?