ING Direct Bonus Now Requires $250 Deposit

Welp, ING Direct changed its referral program, and it now requires an opening deposit of $250 to qualify for the $25 bonus. You can still open an account for $0.01, but it just isn’t the same without that $25 kicker.

The news does make the VirtualBank referral program look even better, though. VirtualBank still offers its $20 referral bonus on new accounts with only a $100 opening deposit. If you are trying to play the referral game, ING Direct may no longer be the first choice.

The only real disadvantage to the VirtualBank referral program is that it appears that you use one of your allotted referrals each time you send an email. If the person you’ve referred doesn’t open the account, you’re screwed. With the ING Direct referral program, unused referrals don’t cost against you.