ING Direct's Financial Independence Day Sale

ING Direct is having another promotion associated with Independence Day, and as usual, it's not providing many details in its promotions page. The only detail listed is that the promotion will be on July 1st and July 2nd. We'll have to wait for July 1st before we know the details. Update: I just received advanced notice from ING Direct of 2 of the 6 offers. See below.

Update 7/1/2011: The promotion has started. See my new post for the full details.

For the last couple of years, ING Direct has offered promotions on Black Fridays (after Thanksgiving) and before the Fourth of July. You can see what they offered in past promotions in my old posts:

• 2010 Black Friday offers: $103 EO bonus, 2% 3-year IRA CD
• 2010 Independence Day offers: $76 EO bonus, $76 Sharebuilder bonus
• 2009 Black Friday offers: 2% 12-month CD, $121 EO bonus

The 2009 Black Friday had the best promos with the largest Electric Orange bonus and a decent 1-year CD rate. Don't expect another 2.00% APY this time. Rates have fallen quite a bit since 2009. ING Direct's 1-year CD rate is currently only 0.75%. My guess about what they may offer is 1.25% (if we're lucky).

The Electric Orange promotion will likely only be of value for those who don't have this checking account. If you have been considering this checking account, this will likely be a good time to apply. They have long offered a $50 bonus for opening the account and performing a few extra steps (like using the debit card). My guess is that they will offer at least $76 for this upcoming promo.

You can see how ING Direct's Electric Orange compares to Ally's checking account in my internet checking review.

Capital One's Acquisition of ING Direct

The latest big news at ING Direct is its future acquisition by Capital One. A few readers who have been Capital One customers weren't happy with this news. There are worries about future customer service and the potential of more fees. However, the acquisition isn't expected to close until late 2011 or early 2012. And it will likely take several months after the deal closes before the two banks do any merging of their banking systems. With the success of ING Direct, I doubt Capital One will make many changes.

Preview of 2 of the 6 Offers

Update 2:00pm: I was notified by ING Direct that they are sharing news of 2 of the 6 offers prior to the promotion. The 6 offers will begin on July 1st and last through July 2nd. Full information will appear at www.ingdirect.com/independence starting 12:00am July 1st.

Liberate From Checking Fees – New checking account Customers who open an Electric OrangeSM Checking account will receive a traditional bonus of $50 when they make three purchases (signature or pin-based) with their MasterCard® Debit Card, Person2Person payments, or any combination of the two, within 45 days of account opening. The $50 bonus will be automatically deposited into the Customer's account on day 50 (August 21). To further reap the benefits of this patriotic promotion, Customers who then set up and make at least two direct deposits of $250, will receive an additional $76 bonus for a total savings of $126. The $76 will be automatically deposited into the Customer’s account on September 8.

Invest in Financial Freedom – Investors who open a new ShareBuilder account will receive a $76 account bonus after their first investment. Customers can select from over 10,000 stocks, mutual funds and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) to invest in.