Quick Summary
Founded
1743 in the Netherlands, 1999 in Australia
Owned by:
Stock market listed (Euronext)
Funded by:
Retail deposits and wholesale capital markets
LMI Provider:
Genworth
Lender type:
Banks, International Bank, Online Bank
ING Direct is the Australian branch of Dutch multinational ING Group. They rose to popularity using online savings accounts and low rate home loans offered through mortgage brokers.
Compared to the major banks they've done things quite differently. They don't have branches and they don't have ATMs. Instead they operate mostly online and pass the savings back to their borrowers in some clever ways.
Their home loans are simple to understand, but they've always been one of the most conservative banks and there's a lot of people who don't meet their strict credit criteria.
How do ING Bank's home loans compare?
Pros
- Award-winning customer service
- Simple home loans
- Lower interest rates on offer for large deposits
- Refinance cash out with no restrictions up to 80% LVR
- Good with small apartments as security (minimum size 40 sqm) with no postcode restrictions
- Working with mortgage brokers
- Use any ATM in Australia, get a fee rebate, and get paid for using EFTPOS
- They're great at working with customers online or over the phone
- Usually fast loan approvals
- Allows two years of parental leave to service a client's the full income taking their salary post returning to work as base (most banks only allow up to 1 year or parental leave for the same).
- Company title properties and child support income
- Common Debt Reducer available for joint debts
- Good online banking system
Cons
- Lending policy is quite possibly the most conservative in Australia
- They're not a good choice for complex loans that don't meet standard bank policy
- They don't accept people with a bad credit history
- No branch access
- Once you've got a home loan with them, they're unlikely to offer you a further discount
- They're a bad choice for construction loans
- They're bad with self-employed borrowers in general
- First home buyers with a low deposit
- Their credit scoring is tough and you may get declined for no apparent reason
- One of the highest assessment rate resulting in less competitive borrowing power
- No SMSF or trust loans
Watch out for gotchas
In most cases if you’ve had a home loan for 3 or 4 years, you can renegotiate your interest rate without refinancing. But not with ING!
ING refuses to offer better rates to their existing clients who are on much higher interest rates. We regularly monitor the rate of our customers and unfortunately we have to refinance their loan to another lender after a few years, otherwise our customer is paying too much.
What home loans types do they have?
ING’s Orange Advantage Home Loan is their most popular loan. It’s a professional package with a 100% offset account and great interest rates if you’re borrowing more than $500,000 or $1,000,000 and have a large deposit.
ING’s Mortgage Simplifier is a basic loan that doesn’t have an offset account. Depending on what specials ING is running, it may get the same low rates as the Orange Advantage or it may be a little more expensive.
Their Fixed Rate Loans are not normally competitive, so it pays to compare them to other banks. In some cases, they offer specials which make them the market leader for a short period of time.
Did you get declined by ING?
Don’t feel too bad, you’re not alone.
Their credit policy is ridiculously conservative and our mortgage brokers get scared to submit even the strongest loan applications to ING.
A common problem in Australia is that people just look at the interest rates on offer but ignore the credit policies of a lender. There’s usually another lender with a great interest rate that can help most people who don’t meet ING’s guidelines.
Forbes’ List: World's Best Bank 2021
In its annual survey to find the world’s best banks, Forbes asked 43,000 customers from 28 countries to rate their banks in terms of:
- Whether they would recommend their bank
- If they were satisfied with their bank
- If the bank focused on trust, followed terms and conditions, digital services and customer services and gave financial advice.
The top 10 banks on the list are:
- ING Group
- Newcastle Permanent Building Society
- Greater Bank
- Heritage Bank
- Beyond Bank
- HSBC Holdings
- Bendigo Bank
- BankSA
- Suncorp
- People’s Choice Credit Union
Compare ING to other lenders
Not sure which lender is right for you? Our Home Loan Experts can help!
Talk to one of our mortgage brokers by calling us on 1300 889 743 or complete our free assessment form.
ING Client Story
Anthony, NSW
Goal
Situation
Veterinarian, professional, purchase owner-occupied property, first home buyer.
Background
After working full time for a couple of years after graduating, Canberra veterinarian Rikki managed to save up around $182,000 and decided it was time to buy her first home.
She found a 4-bedroom house worth $610,000 meaning that with her substantial deposit, the Loan to Value Ratio (LVR) for her home loan was going to be 70%.
As a vet with such a large deposit, Rikki really wanted to get the sharpest interest rate on her home loan.
Solution
Rikki had a lot going for in getting approved for a great rate: she was a vet, had a large deposit, had a clean credit file and had no dependents (children).
Although she was single, her income was more than enough to service or meet the repayments of a $425,000 home loan.
As a result, Rikki was able to qualify for:
- The lowest standard variable rate on the market at the time.
- An annual account-keeping fee of $190 compared to the $300-$350 charged with most other lenders. That's around half the cost.
- Waived LMI, which is a risk fee normally charged when borrowing more than 80% of the property value.
She was able to put her remaining savings (which amounted to around $200,000) in an offset account to further reduce her interest payments.
Find out if you are qualified to apply with this lender
GET A FREE ASSESSMENTTip for applying with ING
Use ING's Loan application - Introducer to prepare for your home loan application.
Note: This is the latest home loan checklist as at October 2017. Please refer to ING Bank for their most up-to-date document requirements.