Tangerine

No longer ING Direct — as of April 2014 TANGERINE is still a great place to bank. Purchased by Scotiabank, they promised they would not change a thing — however this week the new Overdraft has come into effect. Not exactly as punitive as the other big banks, but still not the same warm fuzzy it used to be. I expect other changes, but still better than the big banks by leaps and bounds.
Right now, if you refer a friend, and a friend opens an account with $$, BOTH of you get $ 50?! Every customer has an Orange Key (1 465 0267S1 if you want to use mine), and we both get some love.
TFSA’s — you can earn interest on them in advance of the tax year! Yes that’s right, they found a way for you to start earning interest 4 months before the end of the year.
NO bank fees! I’ve saved HUNDREDS of dollars in fees already, and earned plenty more in interest. Interest rates at banks are pretty much zip — but I still get a tidy little sum in my account every month. I put my property tax $ in here — why should the city get the interest by paying them monthly?! No thanks, I’ll just hang on to that cash. No fee chequing with the Thrive account, GIC’s and other investment options exist as well.
ATM Banking you now have access to all the Scotiabank ATM’s including the ones in 7 – 11 stores. Very convenient. I do 99.9% of my banking online, occasionally I have to call, and they have really excellent customer service.
I do miss having a branch to visit — being from Edmonton, I have to come to Calgary, and if I want US cash, I’m out of luck in Edmonton.

HOLLA FO’ DOLLAS. ING Direct is cool in the way no banks are cool, because generally banks aren’t very cool. As a personal finance blogger, I knew I couldn’t pass through Calgary again without dropping in at the ING Direct café, since there isn’t one in my home town. It’s a unique place: like ING’s banking philosophy, it’s not your traditional branch. Come here for information and advice, the doors are open and the staff is here to help you meet your financial goals — you’ll probably even get some cool swag! I’ve been a customer of ING for years, and I really appreciate their human approach. It really feels like they have the customer’s best interest in mind, so I think they’ll have my business for many years to come. See you again soon, guys!

ING DIrect is my favourite bank. I can say this with confidence because I have tried three different banks. When I was in Calgary last summer for work I had a little bit of spare time to wander around down town so I popped into the ING café. Since I had tweeted that I was stopping by all of the staff welcomed me warmly as if I was part of the family. They then proceeded to give me a ton of free swag and chat with me about my time in Calgary and my blog. I love talking with the representatives, I felt like we knew each other before we even met because they do have such a great online community. I will be spending a lot of time in Calgary this summer and I’m looking forward to heading to the ING café during some of my spare time. If you have questions about the bank and have time to pop into the café I would highly recommend it, you won’t be dissapointed!

You’ve seen the ads of the European gent giving you advice on how to save your money, avoid fees and all that. You may have even seen the odd person or two with the nifty @OrangeScarf who are ING ambassadors promoting @SuperStarSaver around town. And of course, there’s the way cool Orange colours with the white lion. Yep, that’s ING, the mostly online bank. But that’s the key phrase… MOSTLY.
You see, they actually have some branches and ATM machines. But it really can’t be called a branch in the traditional sense. It’s much more like a café, in form and function with plenty of open space. In fact, they call themselves the Orange Café, and come complete with access to coffee (in neato orange coffee mugs).
You can come in for the banking advice and all that but one things that’s fairly unusual is that the space is free and available for users to work in. I’m not quite sure if it’s for ING customers mostly (I assume so), but if you’re in town, or need a place to work, they actually make it available for clients. And best of all, if you’re a non-​profit group, the space is also available for people to host events for charity, or their own purpose.
The @OrangeYYC Café also sponsors a lot of local events and groups, so they’re quite pro-​community support, with actual people dedicated on the ground to help. As such, they’re actually involved in a much more visible and active manner, as opposed to say a name on a banner saying Sponsored by and so on. Follow them at @OrangeYYC for their regular social events and check out a bank branch that’s not a bank branch.
#14 of Unilocal’s 30-​Day Review Challenge