ING DIRECT Is Now Capital One 360

ING DIRECT has officially been converted to Capital One 360. ING Direct's website at ingdirect.com now redirects users to CapitalOne360.com. I tried logging in to my ING DIRECT account at CapitalOne360.com and the process worked the same as before. Also, the rates and products are the same. The only thing I can see that has changed is the colors. Red has replaced orange, and the 360 ball has replaced the orange ball.

I looked at my ING DIRECT 2012 1099, and the bank is listed as Capital One, National Association. For those who had accounts at both ING DIRECT and Capital One, you will continue to have separate FDIC coverage to at least until May 1, 2013. I have more details in this post.

If you haven't followed the transition history, this Capital One 360 FAQs page has the details. The name change was a requirement from Capital One's acquisition of ING DIRECT. According to the FAQ:

As we told you back in June 2011, our parent company - ING Group - agreed to sell ING DIRECT USA as part of a restructuring agreement with the European Commission. ING Group allowed us to use "ING DIRECT" only until February, 2013. So we had to come up with something new.

Now we'll have to wait and see how competitive Capital One 360 will be. Large banks have rarely kept their internet bank rates competitive. Two examples include HSBC and Citibank. Hopefully, Capital One 360 will be different, but their current CD rates that are very low don't give me a lot of optimism.