ING Direct uk,to acquire KE Deposits

blizeH

I know this'll sound very hypocritical considering how I was yesterday, but if I'm honest, if I didn't have my money in a fixed term account I'd of removed it I think.

But as it is, I can't, and I'm not that worried really - ING have a great reputation and there shouldn't be any problems.

Just overly cautious after I completely underestimated the Icesave situation, I think Kaupthing is quite different tbh.

nzseries1

blizeH wrote: »

I know this'll sound very hypocritical considering how I was yesterday, but if I'm honest, if I didn't have my money in a fixed term account I'd of removed it I think.

But as it is, I can't, and I'm not that worried really - ING have a great reputation and there shouldn't be any problems.

Just overly cautious after I completely underestimated the Icesave situation, I think Kaupthing is quite different tbh.

blizeH, you sound in exactly the same situation as me. Yesterday I was fine. Today, I'm thinking about cancelling my fixed rate with KE.
For me, it'll come down to who guarantees our money. If it's the UK government, I'll keep my money in KE. If it's the Dutch government, I'll have a long hard think about it.

Andrew64

Here's the latest:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/savings/article4907115.ece

ING Direct is under the 'Passport Scheme."

Personally, I will have nothing more to do with foreign banks.

Martinslovechild

Andrew64 wrote: »

Personally, I will have nothing more to do with foreign banks.

Andrew,

Given the sheer speed of change in the UK Banking Industry over the past year (and in particular, the past month), it's fair to say that I don't feel 100% comfortable depositing my cash anywhere (including the UK).

After Northern Rock, Abbey, Bradford & Bingley, Alliance & Leicester, there are now persistent rumours of Royal Bank of Scotland's demise (amongst others).

It's certainly fair to say that Icelandic banks' exposure to Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) dwarfed those of UK & European banking counterparts which helped in speeding up their demise. However, many questions remain about the UK banks - I wouldn't be too hasty in holding your money in UK-only banks, especially given the dire outlook for the UK Economy in 2009; given the deteriorating UK housing market and predictions of job losses ranging from 300,000 to 1,000,000+ in 2009 it's anybody's guess as to how the UK will look (and who will own which businesses) when we eventually come out of the mess that we're currently in.

MadBill

nachovx wrote: »

If you want to see the share price of ING over the last year look here (select 'laatste jaar' from drop down) http://www.telegraaf.nl/dft/bedrijven/ing_groep/?tabid=bedrijven&tab=7

Interesting! I opened accounts with ING when they were offering 'top rates' but now they seem to offer the best rates to new customers, with a 1.6% bonus rate for a year. Like a lot of folks, I moved cash out of ING as their rates went down, and indeed as they spent more and more on Formula 1 sponsorship. Not complaining though - just thought the share price graph was interesting, and no doubt my comments here explain some of the fall. Having said that, I personally wouldn't worry about ING, they *seem* to be pretty sound, even if not the best payer of interest for exisiting customers.

gomann

Curiously, we considered an ING account a while back, and Mrs G didn't like the feel of "going to Europe" ... how wrong could we have been!

Limes

I think there are a lot of people who are unnecessarily worried about this.

Cutting out any decision to deal with "foreign" banks is going to get a lot harder for people who are also at the same time trying to get their balances under compensation scheme amounts - I have to admit this is not likely to cause me any sleepless nights personally as my multiples of £50k are sadly only in my mind!!

I think the fact that the level of protection from the Dutch regulators is greater than the UK and the EU schemes is brilliant news for KE customers.

The Dutch economy is far bigger and much more stable than Iceland's ever was and comparable in terms of strength to the UK - their country ratings are just as sound as the UK (S&P AAA, Moody's Aaa and Fitch's AAA). Yes, they'll be having their national problems but let's face it, who isn't at the moment?

ING is a massive, much more risk averse organisation than a lot of banks of similar size and this should have a stabilising, calming effect on the mind and wallet - has anybody heard in recent weeks of any difficulties they are in? I can't remember hearing anything.

Oh, and let's also not forgot that they tend to be able to get a bargain or two (Barings for £1 anyone?). If you go to Iceland don't you always come back with a buy one get one free offer? Kerry Catona always seemed to!!! :rotfl:

The point I'm trying to make is that this fear of foreigners - other than the Icelandic - is unsubstantiated. I would rather have a higher guarantee on my funds and be able to deal with a country that let's face it speaks better English (albeit with a strange American twang) than the British in order to resolve any compensation claims (in the extremely unlikely event that they should ever be invoked), and who to my mind have always seemed to display a no-nonsense, practical approach to dealing with pretty much anything they put their minds to.

Comparing the finger-burning from Iceland against a significantly more stable economy is like comparing apples with. . . well, really enormous pears! Given the choice I think I'll be happy to go Dutch.

P.S. I'm not Dutch!

leosayer

Add me to the list (well, my wife), although we're slightly different in that we tried to CHAPS £23k last Thursday (2nd October) out of our KE account. The KE account was showing the withdrawal on the 2nd but it never arrived at IF.

Then on Saturday the amount was recredited back (for value 2nd) to my KE account and we spoke to them on Monday, they said that IF had returned the payment but they agreed to try again, both yesterday and today, but still nothing has been received. They even called us at home today.

In fact, checking the account on their website shows no transactions since last Thursday so I've lost all confidence in them now.