ING Electric Orange Check Experiment

 

[Update 8-11-2011] – ING Now offers paper check books for Electric Orange accounts.

The checkbooks can be ordered from the ‘Account Maintenance’ page of your Electric Orange account.    View the details of the ING checkbook at the Checkbook Help Page.

orange flower water

I have been using the ING Electric Orange checking account for almost a year now and I have been very pleased. One downfall to being able to earn 2.25% on your checking account balance is that they don’t offer a regular paper check book, but you can fill out an electronic check form and they will mail out a check for you. That function works great, and you don’t have to waste a stamp. Sometimes though, you still want to have a check that you can take with you or send in with a yourself. This is the exact reason I kept my Wachovia checking account to send real paper checks.

Because of that limitation I experimented with sending myself a check filled out to the person or company that I wanted to deliver the check to. What you do is add a new person to your contact list that has the name of the company or person you want the check made out to and use your address for the company’s address. Fill out the check and hit send, and a check will arrive at your house in a few days.

I tested this method by sending a check to my wife so I could see how it the check was filled out. The check is made out to the desired person/company, but your address will be listed under their name. I don’t really think that this will make a difference, but maybe someone in the banking industry can confirm that. Now you have a check in your hand that you can give or send to whomever you need.

The one caveat is that ING Electric Orange checks are treated like bank checks. The money is withdrawn from your account the moment the check is sent. So if there is a problem with the check or it can’t be cashed for some reason, you must issue a stop check to release the money back to your account that will cost $25. Because of this I have yet to fully trust the system and try it with a big check. If it does work, it is a sneaky way to get around the no paper checks drawback of the Electric Orange account.

Addendum

I got an official response from ING customer service that should help clarify the situation.

Here is my question : Is it possible to send a paper check with the name being the person I need to give the check to and use my address. The check will be in their name, and then be mailed to my house. I would then be able to mail or give the check to the person needed. The only problem would be that my address would be under their name on the check, is this a problem?

Here is the ING response :

They may have trouble cashing the check. I would suggest making sure to put OR in there so there will be less of an issue when the person cashes the check. For example:

Line 1: Put business or Payee name

Line 2: Put OR and then your name

Line 3: Put your address

Many customers have tried this and it seems to work fine. We are trying to come up with possible solutions and until then I will forward your concerns to the Electric Orange improvement team.

Thank you,
Danielle

ING DIRECT USA
Member FDIC
Equal Housing Lender

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Note : If you don’t have a ING savings and want get a free $25 dollars for opening an Electric Orange Checking account with $250 send me an email. I(The Happy Rock) will send you the offer and if you sign up you will get a free $25 dollars and I will get a free $10 for referring you.

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