I don't know how I missed this yesterday. The Bank Deals blog, which routinely gets this stuff first, was the first to note that ING Direct's much-discussed new paperless checking account is now visible on its website (see below). The full launch follows a 4-month invitation-only period (see our previous coverage here).
However, the account is not currently running on the homepage, which tonight was rotating through three product offers:
- 4.5% Orange Savings
- 6.0% Orange Mortgage
- Orange retirement accounts: Traditional and Roth IRAs
ING Direct, along with Everbank, are currently running ads on Google for "electric orange" and "electric orange ING Direct" (see inset). The landing page, shown below, includes a Jane Kim Wall Street Journal clipping. Interestingly, the ING Direct landing page still says you must first open a savings account to qualify for the checking account. The Website carries no such restriction.
We'll have more info on the account as we run it through its paces.
ING Direct product page
ING Direct landing page from Google AdWords ad