Australian businesses are continuing to flee ING Bank after tolerating years of uncompetitive rates on savings and term deposit accounts.
ING’s alleged “welcome rate” for new customers on its Business Optimiser account is only 1 per cent for the first six months, after which it reverts to an ongoing paltry return of 0.6 per cent.
This is easily one of the worst offers on business savings accounts in the local market and compares poorly with Macquarie Bank which pays business owners 4.65 per cent and AMP Bank which stumps up 4.8 per cent.
Despite its miserly offer to business clients, ING’s marketing department shamelessly promotes the Business Optimiser as a high interest boon for new accountholders.
“Put surplus cash to work and get a high variable welcome rate for six months on balances up to $1 million for new customers,” the bank tells customers on its website.
Elsewhere on the site, the product is described as offering a “great rate” that “will help your business savings to grow”.
Despite such promotional palaver, small businesses have been deserting the bank in recent years to secure fairer deposit rates at other financial institutions.
Official data published by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority show that ING’s business deposits base has more than halved since December 2020 when it was holding total business deposits worth A$2.67 billion.
Today, it holds only $1.1 billion.
ING’s uncompetitive pricing is being interpreted by some of its customers as a deliberate effort to push them out of the bank.
“The rates they offer are telling us to park our money at another bank,” an irate Melbourne business owner said.
“I can’t fathom why their personal customers are worthy of a market-leading rate of more than five per cent but my cash as a small business owner is less valuable to them.”
An ING spokesperson yesterday told Banking Day that the company would continue to offer products to business customers “well into the future”.
“We value our business customers and are in the process of reviewing our business products and services to ensure we’re best placed to offer simple and effective banking solutions for business customers well into the future,” the ING spokesperson said.
The spokesperson was unable to explain why ING’s pricing in the business deposits market had not adjusted since 2022.
ING’s term deposit offers for business customers are also industry-lagging.
The bank offers business customers annual interest of only 2 per cent for locking their cash away for 12 months compared to 4.7 per cent at NAB and 4.25 per cent at CBA.