ING to charge €10 monthly fee on Orange Account balances over €30k

ING charges €10 monthly for Orange Account balances over €30,000

The ING Orange Account had long marketed itself as commission-free, with no conditions and no fine print. That promise is now broken. The bank has informed customers that starting in April 2021, it will apply a €10 monthly custody fee when the average monthly balance reaches or exceeds €30,000. Below this threshold, nothing changes. Above it, you must meet a condition or pay.

What exactly changes in ING's Orange Account

There are two ways to avoid the fee. First, open a payroll account and direct your salary, pension, or unemployment benefit there. Second, make a monthly transfer of €700 from another institution. Those who do neither and maintain €30,000 or more will pay €10 a month, totaling €120 annually, according to the bank's statement.

The email sent to customers makes it clear: the account remains free if the balance stays below the threshold, as before; only if it reaches that level "will we have to apply a custody fee." Not everyone received the notice at the same time, and this delay fueled confusion for days.

The paradox lies in the remuneration. The Orange Account pays 0.01% APR (Annual Percentage Rate) and only if linked to a salary. Without that link, it pays nothing. In other words, €30,000 generates just three euros a year. Paying to hold money that yields nothing turns the product into something useless for anyone.

Why banks charge for holding money

The argument repeated online is cost. Managing liquidity isn't free, and with negative interest rates, idle cash shifts from asset to liability. Some European institutions already apply surcharges up to 0.5% on high balances, trinc the same logic: without solvent credit demand, deposits become burdensome.

This excuse crumbles when looking at the rest of the market. BBVA allows keeping up to €100,000 without charging anything, although it also offers no yield. Traditional Spanish banks don't charge for deposits; they simply don't pay. Other entities still offer real returns, debunking the narrative that savings are a burden for everyone equally.

Is moving your money worth it? Remunerated alternatives

The difference is stark: €30,000 at 0.01% yields €3 a year; placed at Orange Bank's 1% APR, it would generate significantly more, though that account caps remuneration at €20,000, not unlimited as recently claimed. Renault Bank enters with an account at 0.65% APR and a deposit at 1% APR, with no fees, while MyInvestor accepts up to two holders.

One step below is NN Bank, offering an account at 0.35% APR with annual settlement—interest arrives every January—though it remunerates up to one million euros. Comparing entity by entity, considering each product's limits, reveals a map that varies depending on individual balances and should be reviewed before deciding.

The €700 trick to avoid the fee

The loophole is already identified. Simply deposit €700 from another bank and withdraw it the next day: the institution only requires the money to pass through the account for a few hours. Another drastic option is leaving the balance at zero or closing the Orange Account, which contributes little given its 0.01% return.

Still, the dominant feeling is one of being cheated. With these rules, the bank isn't seeking savers: it wants salaries and clients who boost its monthly figures. And the 170,000 customers affected by this measure, according to the website that uncovered the change, are not a silent mass. Those who save the most are precisely those who leave first.

What ING charges when lending that same money

The contrast stings. The entity signs variable-rate mortgages at 2% nominal interest rate for the first year, then Euribor plus 0.99%; fixed rates stand at 1.79% nominal. Personal loans hover around 3.99% nominal. It lends expensive money that was previously free to receive and now intends to charge for holding. This isn't unique, but it breaks an identity antiestéticature the bank sold for years.

With such arithmetic, the fee compensates no one. Ten euros a month for €30,000 yielding three a year: the Orange Account has ceased to be an oasis, and the bank knows it. What doesn't appear in any press release is how many of those accounts will be closed before April.