ING Direct 5% rebate about to end - what to do???

hi all- was a late adapter to the ing thing…and now cant live without it. My rebate of 5% deal ends June 30…have been trying to get a "work around"- tried to sign up the kids (couldnt- have to be over 18)…now I am stuck…i suspect a few of us ozb's are in this boat…what to do???

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Comments

  • +2

    I'm in the same boat but if there is no 5% cash back I'm going to cancel it.

  • +1

    Back to Entertainment books and getting 5% off giftcards… such a hassle after using ING Promo.

  • +1

    i am now opening on my wife's name. will last for another 6 month

  • gift cards..

    • Yeah. I was going to say buy up Coles and Woolworths gift cards.

      • Yea, start buying gift cards with it.

        • +6

          did anybody mention gift cards?? :P

        • +1

          Yep, a couple of people just above you.^

        • Yeah did anyone recommend that the OP get gift cards though.

  • i was going to close my account and reopen.

    will this not work?

  • back to the Amex for me.

    Better than nothing I guess

  • +1

    closing and re-opening- apparently need to NOT be a member for at least 6 months…saw this in another post but cannot verify..gift cards it is for now :(

  • +6

    I've been a long term customer of ing and find it disappointing that only new customers get rewards where long term customers get nothing. The only promotion I have been able to get from ing is this paypass deal and its really only been beneficial the last few months because it has taken some time for many stores to get the technology. I will be disappointed when it ends and am thinking of closing down my accounts. I like their products but when you constantly see new customers rewarded with things like bonus rates and long term customers get nothing really then you don't feel like staying.

    • the 5% rebate was available to both existing and new customers.

      • Thats the point I was trying to make their deals are almost always only for new customers. This was the only deal available for existing customers which was why I was able to take part. I just feel they are not a company that rewards loyalty.

        • Since I started with them about 12 years ago, they have had several bonus interest deals that have been available to existing customers. The 5% has been nice, but I'm certainly not going to change just because it's gone (and I probably won't even stock up on gift cards).

        • Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I feel the best offers ING provides are for new customers. If I do recall any bonus interest offers in the past its been for new funds added not existing funds so its essentially like being a new customer anyway accept you miss out because the interest earned is negligible. I like being an ING customer but it would be nice to be rewarded for loyalty.

        • It is true that most of the best offers ING have are for new customers. I signed up to the 5% cashback when it first came out and got $50 (i think?) bonus when my friend signed up for an account (she also got $50 too). I've been loving the 5% cashback and am very disappointed it will be ending soon. I will definitely use this card a lot less now.

          They did have another special for existing customers a few weeks ago - a movie ticket thing that gives me 2 for 1 movie tickets every day for a year. Not as good as the 5% cashback cos I rarely go to the cinemas but good to have seeing as movies are almost $20 per ticket. But I already use Optus Yes Tickets which give me movie tickets for $11 each.

        • +3

          It's not unusual for businesses to reserve their best offers for new customers. That's how they build up their customer bases. I don't see why it should be an issue with ING in particular.

        • Its essentially easier to retain existing customers than to find new ones.

    • I've got stacks excellent cashback deals from ING as both a new and existing customer…I can't even remember them all. A lot on the savings maximiser and also the orange everyday direct. I would estimate that my wife and I would have 'harvested' at least $800 from these jokers. TBH I'm not sure how we can complain that they don't offer us enough details…they have lost a lot of money on me and I'm still not a regular customer.

  • bunnings and westfield gift cards for me. i already get 5% off coles/woolies gift cards from ent book

  • i missed this promo all this time… but i guess for new customers its still going on… so will join now

  • +1

    just stock up on some gift cards for stores you will frequent. just don't hoard them for years or the lost interest will negate any savings

  • It is a good idea for the gift cards.

  • Bear in mind that buying gift cards will hold up your cash, which would've earned you around 5% pa in high interest online saving account.

    • Well technically, 5% * whatever tax rate (e.g. 30%) so close to 3.5%. So buy enough gift cards for roughly 1 and half years.

    • +2

      best to keep the money in an offset account. tax free.

      • +1

        assuming you have a homeloan.

    • You're forgetting tax.

  • -5

    You know what, I work for retail, Nd there was this customer, he used tap and go for ing, told him th cash back gonna expire soon. Then he replied, meh, mines forever, since I work for them! And smiles, walks away.. Now, all ing customers should receive the same benifit, shouldn't be much difference from us and a employee.

    But they might have high drop outs, so perhaps they shall extend there promo? They wouldn't be that dumb, coz least 99% of us are with them only for the rebate.

    • +4

      Are you seriously saying that you should be entitled to the same benefit as an employee? Should everyone at whatever retail store you work at get an employee discount?

      Also, you probably untick 'rep' when you reply.

    • +2

      where do you work? I might shop there at staff discount? Is that cool?

  • How do I get rebate for purchases above $100?

    True if they kill the rebate
    then no point keeping the account.

    It's crap that the new accounts gets a full six months, while previous customers only got till june 30.

    Their interest rate is not all that great.
    3.75 (includes 0.75 loyalty bonus) is pretty crap rate.

    • You would need to split the transaction. I wonder if you can purchase a $99 gift cards or if Coles/Woolworths only sell fixed price denominations? I have a feeling it's the latter and you will need to do multiple transactions of $75 gift card purchases.

      • Coles gift cards don't come in fixed amounts. They always ask how much you want on the card, but I've only ever used 20, 25 or 30. I don't see why they wouldn't let you use say $99 though.

        • +2

          LOL, can't wait to ask for a $99.99 gift card.

        • I purchased $99 gift card from Coles self-serve counter before. It also accepts decimals if I remembered correctly.

      • how would that work if the item cost more than $100?

        e.g. A hard drive cost $140 etc..

        Do I get two receipts of the same hdd
        costing $75 each ?

        • +1

          its just a matter of splitting the payment. Have you used a gift card before? or pay cash and eftpos at the same time?

        • Say the item you buy costs $ 240.00, and you pay the bill in three lots of $ 99.00, $ 99.00 and $ 42.00. The bill would be a huge print out that details authorisation information of each of the Three transactions, details the items you purchased and rest of the usual receipt stuff.

      • The Woolworths system definitely allows any amount from $10-500. When scanned, a window pops up for the cashier to enter any amount within that range, decimals included. There's no set amounts at all for the cashier to simply press (so for a $50 gift card, the cashier would need to enter 50.00 anyway).

    • At most large stores (like Bunnings), you can pay the large composite bill in lots of $ 99.00 (like I do). Similar thing works in Coles and Woolies.

      Some of the cashiers have a trace of a scowl on their faces when you tell them you have a limit of $ 100.00 per transaction on your card and that you would like to pay in instalments of $ 99.00 each time.

      • +1

        I work in retail, and I much rather prefer those people rather than the ones that want $30 split transactions to get fuel vouchers. Though a lot of those people have been smart enough to learn how to use self-serve.

  • -2

    Also to mention, ing cheap movie tickets, like I ever even use that, telstra comes out better.

  • -1

    Telstra $10 ticket no booking fee.
    vs
    ING tickets comes out $10.50+

  • The woolies gift card expires in 12 months, so I will buy 12 months worth of gift cards for groceries and woolies caltex petrol.
    If you do decide to embark on the gift card band wagon for the 5% cashback for the next 12 months, be prepared to track the funds in your gift cards and use it all up to every cent. Otherwise you are giving the retailer free money. I can imagine woolies and coles turnover a small fortune from expired, fully or partially unspent gift cards.

    • +1

      i'm going to get a heap of $20 cards. i think they are easier to track & dispose of or give to other family members or friends.

      • +1

        if you do that with bunnings cards then you receive the amount in change if card is less than $10

    • +2

      i found out today that bunnings cards don't expire

      • Lucky as I still have $160 worth bought half price ages ago.

    • +1

      re cards expiring, i also remember seeing a comment a while back suggesting that you could purchase new wooloworths gift cards using existing cards.

  • +3

    Bought $240 of Woolies GCs last night using ING & received $40 FREE GC from my local Westfield:-) http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/105825

    I get 5% off Woolies GC with RACQ, but ING covered other PayWave retailers.

  • +1

    i did a heap of gift cards in separate transactions and never hit any limit. the checkout chick looked pissed.

    • If there is money in the account & transactions under $100 - no problems.

      Got abused last night just buying 4 Gift Cards - by a customer. He was stressed trying to buy his drugs of choice & couldn't see why I should be able to make multiple transactions while he waited. No pleasing him, and pointed out I was spending $240 in a few minutes. Sweet staff member apologised for his abuse & said she cops it all the time.

  • Tad off-topic but does anyone know if Harvey Norman have PayWave?

    • Not at the enoggera store

  • I've still got 5 months left on the 5% Visa Paywave rebate lucky me. Love combining the 5% discount with when JB HI-FI has 20% off blu-ray sales or 2 for $20 blu-ray. Or the current 20% off blu-ray from Big W. I got Finding Nemo 3D blu-ray for $17.10 yesterday after the 5% cash back rebate. Big W has Visa Paywave on their EFTPOS terminals even though it's not listed on the Visa Paywave web site. Kmart also has Visa Paywave.

  • Yea no ING will be so sad. Life over.

    If what someone above said is true (need to cancel and sign up only after 6 months) I'm still kind of ok with that? At least it does kind of work.. 6 months of gift cards isn't too bad.

  • But buying gift cards only worth it if you used right away or within a month or so..

    else it would be better leaving the money in the bank to earn interests..

    Since approx $100 gift cards only get you $5 discount.

    If u leave in in the bank, you can earn about 4.5 to 5% pa, also it compounds..

    • +1

      Not really.

      $100 in the bank would take a year to collect $5 of interest. Interest is taxable so that reduces to whatever your tax rate is. 30% tax would leave you with $3.50 in interest after a year.

      So as long as you use your gift cards within say 1.5 years, you should be ahead.

      • Well we wouldn't be putting just $100 alone…

        My point is leave that $100 in the account with your total savings..which could be thousands of dollars..which would net you much more than $5..
        If you earn under a certain amount, then it wouldn't get taxed.

        Also the downside of gift cards is you are tied to that store..
        if there is a better price at another store, you still have to use it at this store..

        So unless you use giftcards in 3 months to xmas/boxing day etc
        it not worth it to stored it for 1 year or more
        and I think they got 1 or 2 yr expiry date

        Also you can buy $500 worth of gift cards to use for the ps4/xbox one.. etc..
        but don't buy it to store away for 1 year to 2 year..
        I think it not worth it in terms of earning compound interest leaving it there with all your total savings account

        • Also the downside of gift cards is you are tied to that store..
          if there is a better price at another store, you still have to use it at this store..

          Yeah, that's why people say buy it on large store.

          So unless you use giftcards in 3 months to xmas/boxing day etc
          it not worth it to stored it for 1 year or more
          and I think they got 1 or 2 yr expiry date

          Well, I don't know about you, but most families usually go Woolworths or Coles for a lot of things, if not, a petrol station.
          Also, you can use wish gift cards at caltex (woolworths group). i.e. prepaid 5% fuel.

        • I don't know if it is worth buying that much giftcards
          vs just earning compound interest with all your savings together..

          Just seems like some ppl are rushing out and buying as much gift cards as they can..
          but whether it is worth much of a discount vs how you can actually earn in interest if u just leave it in your bank account with all your savings..

          e.g. Say you got $20500
          Interest = 5% pa
          So in one year you earn = $1025 interest

          If you buy $500 gift cards = $25 discount.

          At $500, 5% pa interests
          you earn $25 in interests

          So the net result is the same as the gift card..

          ==
          But if u kept the gift card after 1 year..

          If next year you don't put any extra money in (highly unlikely) and kept it at
          20500 + 1025 interest earn = $21525

          If the interest was still 5%
          21525 x 0.05 = 1076.25

          Due to compound interest you made even more than last year in interest difference
          1076.25 - 1025 = $51.25

          So not only u made $25, but get an extra $51.25 in compound interest + $1000 interest

          But of course most ppl would be topping up their savings account within the second year.. so the interests
          earnt would be even greater than this..
          because alot of savings account require a month deposit..around $200 or so..

          Yet the gift card is a sunken cost
          so the discount would still be the same $25 in the second year..

          So the gift card is not all the useful or bargain, since the first year you made exactly the same amount in the bank interest $25..

          If however you use $500 gift card to buy stuff within 1 to 6 months or so then it might be more worth it..
          But if you kept it for one year..the then amount of saving is the same as you would made in interests..

          If you kept gift cards for 2 years then it is not worth it..since you could earn more in compound interest..

          Also as I said another point is you are locked in to the store you bought the cards at..
          So if u bought at woolworths then only grocerys/fuel
          JB hifi = only electronics and entertainment
          Bunnings = only home/garden etc..

          If u get the interests in the bank, you are free to buy anywhere you want..

        • I don't know if it is worth buying that much giftcards
          vs just earning compound interest with all your savings together..

          Do you really have all you cash stashed up in term-deposits?

          but whether it is worth much of a discount vs how you can actually earn in interest if u just leave it in your bank account with all your savings..

          Interest rate at the moment is quite low, there's a difference between the money you use to invest and the money you use for living expenditures, one's locked in for a certain period of time, the other you have to have a small amount flying around for living expenses, petty cash if you want to call it that.

          I don't know if it is worth buying that much giftcards

          You know, the easy solution is to sign up again - either with a partner or a family member you live with.

        • please read my earlier posts, I made more calculations..

          We don't need term deposits..they are paying quite low right anyways vs savings type of accounts.

          But most would have a everyday type of account + a savings account
          You wouldn't be spending all your savings anyways

          Some ppl can put in goal saving accounts or ubank etc..
          which earns good interest but not locked in..

          And you don't put everything in savings accounts..
          you got some money aside for living expenses,
          but at the same time you also got money coming in from income etc

          So at heart I don't think just cos ppl are fearing they lose out in the 5% paywave that they should go buy e.g $500 worth of gift cards etc from a store etc..

          If you do some maths, it doesn't net you that much of a saving anyways..vs what you could make in compound interest
          $500 = only $25 savings..

          You should youtube compound interests..
          there's an interesting vid about it

          ==
          At the end of the day..
          The giftcards are a fix at whatever savings you made
          So..
          $500 = $25 savings
          $1000 = $50 saving..

          vs

          What you could be earning due to compound interests means you would keep making more and more money every year..

        • +1

          You should youtube compound interests..
          there's an interesting vid about it

          No thanks, I've had enough of that stuff in highschool, and in university, we sort of reverse it into Net Present Value, still using the simple compounding interest concept, however we use things called Cash Flows in a project and discount it back to what it (a project a company is evaluating) should be worth in today's value, maybe you would like to read up on that.

          Your example is FLAWED
          1) You don't consider how fast your 5% return comes back with the gift card (TWO working days vs 1 year)
          2) Your interest rate used is not realistic for today's market
          3) Why are you even considering the $20000 that you're going to invest anyway? For calculations that's just junk you're confusing yourself with - the $20k that you're not considering to switch from investing, that's irrelevant from the sake of argument for the $500 amount of money you're considering stuffing into Gift Cards or investing it.

          e.g. Say you got $20500
          Interest = 5% pa
          So in one year you earn = $1025 interest
          If you buy $500 gift cards = $25 discount.
          At $500, 5% pa interests
          you earn $25 in interests
          So the net result is the same as the gift card..

          Some ppl can put in goal saving accounts or ubank etc..
          which earns good interest but not locked in..

          It IS locked in, from the T&C of Ubank Goal Saver, requirement: No withdrawals, $200 minimum deposited each month.
          Bonus Interest
          We will offer you a Bonus Interest rate in months where you don’t make any withdrawals from your UBank USaver SMSF. Withdrawals between your other UBank USaver SMSF and/or UBank SMSF Term Deposit accounts are excluded, so you’ll still qualify to earn the bonus interest. The Bonus Interest is a variable rate and applies on top of the UBank USaver SMSF base variable rate for eligible accounts. We’ll give you notice of changes to the interest rate or the Bonus Interest rate no later than the day the change take

          Please see the below example:
          Initial investment amount: $1000, for ease of calculations.
          Using a 6 month period (182 days).
          Step 1: Day 1 of 182
          -$1000 in cash
          +$1000 in gift cards
          Step 2: Day 3 of 182
          After payment is cleared, you get the $50 rebate back in your ING paywave account.
          You now have $50 in cash, $1000 in gift cards to spend over 6 months.

          Investment option
          Investing at today's rate: 4.66% (Ubank, USaver)
          Source: http://www.ubank.com.au/ubank/web/compare-rates?cookieenable…
          Let's say you SOMEHOW are able to get the 4.66% term deposit rate on a daily compounding interest account, that is able to be fixed/or somehow consistent throughout this theoretical 6 month period.
          4.66%/364 [you can use 365 or even 365.25 if you really want to be accurate but it won't make a difference to illustrate my point]
          = 0.012802% compound interest per day.
          Day 1 of investment:
          -$1000 cash
          +$1000 savings account (let's ignore the $200 every month requirement)
          Day 182 of investment:
          $1000 x [1+(0.012802/100)]^(182)
          = $1000 x 1.023572
          If you want to scale it up to 1 year:
          Day 364 of investment:

          $1000 x [1+(0.012802/100)]^(364)
          = $1000 x 1.0477

          Summing it all up:
          Option 1: Buy giftcards for the amount that you know you're going to spend anyway (who doesn't shop at woolworths or coles?) with the 5% rebate now, get a 5% instant return (After 2 working days for the transaction to clear), and your $1000 worth of gift cards to spend over the 6 month period

          Option 2: Invest in today's market, have no money to spend on your living expenses, and get a 2.36% return in half a year with "Compounding interest"? Or 4.77% in a year, when you can get 5% in 2 days?

          I'm not saying compounding interest isn't powerful, but you have to consider these factors:
          a - Yes you are locking yourself into a store (Or a group, e.g. Woolworths Limited, or Wesfarmers Group), but why would you care if you're a regular shopper?
          b - Why wait for your "return" over half a year when you can get a 5% return, in 2 working days? Please see point a if you're going to bring up "locked into a store"

          Another point I'd like to make: since coles and woolies are so big, regardless of transport method (whether it be Public [Bus/Train/Ferry] or Private transport[cars.. something that uses fuel) you can use your wish-cards to buy:
          -Fuel [caltex, shell]
          -Transport tickets for STA [Woolworths at Townhall for example, I also know the local woolies I live around also sell them]
          Now unless you can't estimate your travel costs, or somehow you don't travel at all on a day-to-day basis, I think the point of buying gift-cards in advance > current market interest rate as a method of extending the 5% paywave rebate has been validated by the above calculations (mine)
          -People are reporting that there needs to be a 6 month gap between closing and reopening your account, hence a 6 month investment period should be used in this case.
          If this information is not correct, the 6monthgap issue can be addressed by someone else in your household opening an ING account.
          I already gave you leniency with your calculations, you used 1 year compounding, I used daily compounding (with 364 days in a year, 1 day or 1/4 of a day will not make much of a difference to illustrate a point)

          I'm not going to waste any more time, I don't know whether if you're trolling or if you're a high school student who just learnt "compound interest" and thought it was the answer to all your financial investment decisions, but I'm going to go study for my exams now.
          If you want to still dispute some things related to simple, go ahead, I'll reply to you on Friday.

        • Forget it man..

          No point arguing with you..
          You got your own opinions

          If you think it is worth it to buy like $200 to $500 of gift cards then do it..

          I don't give a shit man…

          I rather keep it in my account and use the money anywhere I want rather than getting locked into a store..
          And if I need another paywave discount then I just get another family member to sign up..
          Which is a better option than going out a buying like $200 to $500 of gift cards

        • I rather keep it in my account and use the money anywhere I want rather than getting locked into a store..

          You forgot one thing - to get your desired interest rate, you have to make no withdrawals and deposit $200 a month. That's essentially the same as freezing your money for 6 months, it's a term deposit with a back-out option where you can lose your bonus interest for that month, I.e. Instead of locking your money into a store, you lock it in the bank, you need to look over your assumptions for your calculations.
          Of course, what you could do is have 2 Usaver accounts under 2 names (so two people, ones under your name, one maybe a family member), and whenever you are withdrawing from one account, you transfer everything into the other, so what you do is actually sacrifice one accounts interest when you withdraw, but you transfer the rest into the other, though using this method, you will be able to withdraw once every month without a true penalty in your interest. Still, that is the same as making no withdrawals overall, which is what has been assumed in the calculations I've made, yielding in a lower return after waiting one year (investment), over waiting 2 working days (ing pay wave).
          If you can estimate at the very least, your living expenses over half year or even a year roughly, you're better off than investing.

          I don't give a shit man…

          Good, go finish highschool and attend some uni courses first on commerce, before you try to give financial advice with highschool math level of compounding interest to the O.P. she might be a single mum for all we know, and is unable to have a second family member to open an ing account for her, everyone's circumstances are different, maths should be all the same, yours needs clearing up a little.
          Hope you do well in HSC!

        • Btw the usaver you can deposit $200 and withdraw afterwards and still earn the interest rate..as long as you deposit 200 for the month.. So you are wrong about that..

          Even if this is true, where are your maths to defeat the 5% return in 2 working days? You can pick at the Usaver T&Cs, but it doesn't make a difference if we're considering a 6 month period or a 12 month period
          Not to mention if you wanted to be highly efficient, you could use that 5% return (from the cashback) to invest.. for 1 year (minus 2 days).

          Just cos you "claim to go to uni", you think I would give a shit…

          Nah you're right mate, I've only obtained preschool qualifications, my elementary financial interest knowledge comes from sesame street, yet I'm able to differentiate what is relevant for the maths in this case yet you can't seem to comprehend that 5% return in 2 days + your investment money back put towards groceries and daily travel expenses is better than waiting a year for the interest to mature.

          Better go back to your own country..And learn how to read english

          Sorry.. I was born on Sesame Street :)
          Funny thing is, people who can't speak English can rip you up with Maths.

          Just cos you "claim to go to uni", you think I would give a shit…

          Good luck for HSC!

        • He doesn't have an opinion, he has mathematics.

  • Can anyone confirm this 6 month gap thing actually works?

  • The missus and I both lose our rebates soon on seperate accounts. But if we sign up for a new joint account, will we get another 6 months? Or should I just get on the phones and beg ING to give me more time?

    • Oo… You could try calling up to close one account, and see if they extend it for you, and if they don't, I guess just get some gift cards. The point is: only use money you know you will spend towards food/fuel/travel tens:l/mymultis with the gift cards, if you can estimate it well, you should be able to hold out for 6 months.
      By the way, if you could ask ING about the 6 month gap for you to become a 'new customer' again, that would be great :)

  • In case the renewal trick doesn't work, what do you guys think of ING 2% ongoing cashback compared to using credit card with 55 days interst free period?

    • Better then a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.
      But you have to xfer $2k/mth into the account in order to get the 2% cashback.

      • Wonder if there is a minimum amount of time the 2K must stay in the Orange a/c?

        Hypothetically one could just deposit 2K per month and transfer out the very next day or same even ???

        Thoughts? or someone could shed light from the T&C?

        • +1

          you just need to deposit $2k from an external bank and you get the bonus rebate in the following month. you are free to withdraw on the same day if you wish.

        • I just realised I'm getting the 2% rebate, but I don't transfer $2k/mth into my Everyday Account.
          I do however have a Mortgage with ING and my salary gets paid straight into it. It appears you just have to transfer $2k into any account.
          I'm very happy to be still getting a rebate. It's not much, but it's better than any other bank is offering.

          Any opinions on the Tax implications?
          Are these rebates taxable income? (I'm thinking they probably are, all $150 worth that I managed)

        • Yes, the email I got said "personal accounts (excluding Living Super)", so it's not just the Everyday account.

          I never thought about the tax implications. Hmmm.

  • From 5-2% better than nothing, not a single bank offer rebate deals like this, be happy thy are still offering 2% for almost no effort has to be done to get the rebate. doing dodgy things might even take away the 2%. It's stil $20 off $1000, and that's still money.

    • Time to boycott till they bring the 5% back!

  • Can someone confirm that cancelling your ING account and reapplying can have the 5% rebate? Cause in still getting it, just only 2% after it hit this July.

  • is this deal still on for new customers? cos it said ends June 30 grrr..

    • Thats for old customers who signed up to that offer.

      Read the T&Cs
      The Wave & Save 5% new customer rebate ("Wave & Save 6 Month Rebate") is available for a limited time only from 1 April 2013 for six months from account opening

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