ING Back to 3.80% after Save Up Sale?

According to jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, ING Direct has notified their affiliates that they'll be returning to the pre-promotion rate of 3.80% once the Winter Save Up Sale ends on April 16. With 4.50%+ no-minimum savings accounts being offered by HSBC, VirtualBank, EmigrantDirect and now Citibank, there's likely going to be lots of money flowing out of ING if they keep with their pre-promotion rate.

If your savings are at ING Direct now, you might want to plan on moving them out. HSBC's 4.80% savings account would be a good choice. Even though this promotion is scheduled to end on April 30, HSBC has a record of keeping their rates high. Before the 4.80% promotion, the rates had been close to the fed funds rate (see chart). So I wouldn't be surprised if HSBC keeps it at 4.80% after the promo.

The fastest way to transfer from ING to HSBC would be to have both a HSBC checking account and the 4.80% Online Savings account. This will allow you to have a direct link between HSBC and ING. Note, ING prevents you from linking your HSBC Online Savings account to your ING account. There are still two sign-up bonuses for HSBC's checking accounts. Refer to this post for more info.