ING Direct is my favorite online bank.  They offer decent rates with excellent services.  They have been lagging, though, in the mobile banking market until recently when they unveiled a great new iPhone app.  The app provides core services like checking your balance and transferring money, and it only lacks a few small options that would make it nearly perfect.

Getting Started with ING Mobile

The ING iPhone app is a significant improvement over their previous app offering which simply forwarded the user to their online website.  Now ING customers will find a familiar login screen that requires a username, picture verification, a few questions, and a PIN.  Similar to the online website, you can allow the app to save your username and skip to the PIN when you open the app on your iPhone.  This allows for a quick sign on, but may be a security concern on the mobile platform.

ING Direct iPhone App Features

After logging into the app, you’ll be happy to find a simple and clean interface.  Just swipe right or left at the menu on the top to access accounts balances, bill pay options, customer support, and a “Refer a Friend” link.  The bill pay option allows you to send checks to friends when you owe them money making it easy to pay back friends on the spot (similar to Venmo).  One feature I found lacking was the inability to add a friend to your bill pay list via the mobile app.  Only those people who you have added to your online address book are available which is a significant setback to making this iPhone app very useful.  Additionally, the app doesn’t integrate an ATM finder which exists as a standalone app.

Best Features

• Account balances
• Bill pay and friend pay
• Refer a friend for a commission

Enjoyable Experience

All together this app is a great start for ING Direct as they enter the mobile market, and it is helpful to those concerned about their current balance while considering their next big impulse purchase.  Loyal users will enjoy the friendly comments like “Hang On” and “Sorry, we thought you left & signed ya out” that have made the web version an enjoyable experience.  Since ING users tend to like banking online this is a necessary step to maintaining their online reputation, but until options like adding friends to the bill pay address book are available via the phone this app is incomplete.

Are you an ING customer?  Have you tried the iPhone app from ING or other banks and what do you think/expect from mobile banking?  Let me know your thoughts below.

iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ