ING Electric Orange Requirements

[desunny]

I've been busting my butt to fix my credit since before my bankruptcy was discharged in January of 2008.  My TU score is 690 and my EQ is at 674.  My EX had just gone over 700 when they stopped making their scores available.  I've been wanting to open an ING Electric Orange account but have been hesitant because I don't want to take the hit for the hard pulls if their requirements are higher than my current scores. 

I finally called them the other day to ask them their requirements and I got the run around.  I was told to "just apply and see what happens."  I asked the customer rep if a manager could help me and they put me on hold to ask the question.  They came back and said that "ING has no policy against bankruptcy.  It all depends on your credit scores."  I asked what the minimum scores need to be and she told me that she couldn't give me that information because "each bank is allowed to set its own criteria".  I ended that conversation and told her that I would not be applying.

I sent an email to them, explaining the situation and this is the reply I just received:

Dear Donald,

We received your email and wanted to follow up with you. It's important to understand that ING DIRECT is a conservative lender and certain requirements must be met to open an Electric Orange. ING DIRECT does not take bankruptcy into consideration when reviewing an Electric Orange application. Your credit score can change at any time, and there are a number of different factors that can increase or decrease your credit score. For this reason, we encourage all Customers to apply and use the credit requirements for internal use only   we don't want to discourage Customers from applying.

Thank you,

ING DIRECT

 They use their credit requirements for internal use only and can't be bothered to tell me if my scores are sufficient BEFORE I allow them to do the hard pull?  I don't understand their reasoning.  What harm could possibly be done by them telling me my scores are most likely acceptable or most likely not acceptable before I give them the application?

 Makes no sense at all...

[Anonymous]

desunny,

Sorry ING is giving you the run around.  I am not sure why they won't tell you if your scores are acceptable.

If you are still interested in the EO checking, here is my experience.  I have had orange savings accounts for years.  Recently, I opened the EO checking.  They pulled EQ for me (I am in TX).  On the application screen it gave me the choice of three overdraft amounts - I chose the lowest as I don't intend on using it.

I am very happy with the account so far.

Scout

[Anonymous]

That's too bad that you are not getting what you want.  I think they try and keep the numbers private for business reasons.  I recently called USAA to ask about getting a new card and asked them first if they could tell me if I'd be approved if I told them my scores instead of them pulling and they gave me the response of "I don't know" and "just apply and we'll see".  I did bite the bullet and was approved but it was quite annoying to risk that hard pull for nothing.

That being said, if you want an ING account for the interest rate, check around and see if any CU or other online accounts appeal to you and maybe one of them won't result in anything.  I know when I opened my account at Ally (it is a savings account - 6 withdrawals per month max) that I didn't get any hits on my credit (or at least, nothing showed up).

good luck!

[ShowCredit]

I have a BK on my CR and have 2 accounts with ING, opened withing the past year, 1 savings and 1 checking.