Hi Daniel,
I rang up ING (admittedly when I was at the boozer).
“We’re not doing it this year,” the employee assured me.
So next year then.
After all, the big boss in Europe gave an interview to Bloomberg under the headline: “ING introduces subscription model to lift fee income.” It also confirmed our little penal colony was on the list for the gouging.
“He said the quiet bit out loud … that makes your job hard,” I said.
“Uh, yes, it does,” he said.
My view?
Banking is a lot like dating a narcissist.
When you first hook up they’re all lovey dovey, and low-maintenance:
No bank fees! No ATM fees! High savings rates!
Then they get comfy. And slowly the hoops appear:
“Show me your pay packet if you want a good rate.”
“Don’t you dare touch your own savings, or my interest in you will… vanish.”
They treat you worse every year … putting out less and less, betting you’re too busy to leave.
So where to next?
Well, I had a brief affair with UP, yet they ended up jerking me around as well.
My business banking is with a credit union, but that’s kind of like listening to music on a walkman. It’s financial virtue signalling, and mostly impractical.
Personally, I’m not playing banking Tinder, swiping right on every outfit that flirts with an extra 0.7%, knowing full well it disappears the second the honeymoon ends.
My view?
ING are not the sweetheart they were when I first wrote my book, but they’re no Big Four either.
A subscription fee to hold my money though?
That’ll be the day I tell them to pack their bags.