According to Mint and others, its because ING considers these sites to be unsecured “aggregators” which, in their opinion, pose a risk to their customers. Therefore, they’ve blocked the access and customers are forced to use that horrible web interface.

I’m wondering if anyone has had good experiences with other online banks in combination with financial tracking & planning tools like Quicken, Mint, and MS Money. I’m willing to switch banks if the same features can be found elsewhere.

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated!

Unfortunately, your computer might have key loggers, viruses, etc on it that records your SS#, login information and everything else you type. ING Direct takes a pretty good method of entry for your PIN. Instead of being text input, it’s pictures of a keypad. So anyone with malicious intent would have to record your mouse moves and clicks too. That doesn’t protect against shoulder surfing, but it’s generally easier to see someone behind you than a virus stealing your information. If you can’t use a mouse for whatever reason they randomize letters on the number buttons you can type in. They’re different every time to give the same level of protection from keystroke logging.

Anyone know of any other banks that don’t require military service that offer something similar?

Another big issue that I don’t think applies to online banks like ING, but more to banks that aren’t close to you. I remember I had WaMu and live in Ohio – There isn’t(wasn’t) a WaMu anywhere in Ohio… I got my debit card and wanted to change the PIN to something more memorable to me, so I called and told them I wanted to change my PIN. They told me ‘no problem. Just go to your local WaMu branch.’ When I told them I lived in Ohio and there weren’t any WaMu’s within like 300 miles, they plain told me tough… So I just had to use what they gave me.

The magnetic ink only makes checks easier to scan. It isn’t strictly required. There really isn’t much required on a check. As long as I include all the data on a “real” check on a piece of paper, I could hand out checks on napkins and they would be just as valid.

Some bank needs to start offering this for consumer accounts. I would signup with them in a heartbeat to save a trip to the bank and to see the money in my account sooner.

I think the issue with using a regular old scanner is they need to see the MICR ink (it is like a magnetic ink that is used to print checks, so their scanners pick up the routing and account numbers – also I am sure it is a security thing).

If the bank DOES fold outright, FDIC generally pays in a week or two, but I believe technically has no maximum amount of time they have to pay.

I have three online bank accounts in existence right now – ING, HSBC, and Ally. Because of the fact that I have multiple online accounts, I was able to take advantage of the recent ING Added Value 2.25% CD for new money. I withdrew a bit from my Ally account and opened up an ING cd with it a few weeks ago.

And on top of those online accounts, I keep a smaller savings account at our local B&M.

Oh, and I also have $100 in my sock drawer.

Diversify!