Unemployed? You, being customer, have to report that to the ING!
At first, we thought it is a bad joke – but it is not April anymore.
About the facts:
New reporting obligation about the change of the employment relationship, AGB (Terms and Conditions) 11 (6)
The newly introduced Paragraph 6 of Number 11 of the General Terms and Conditions – valid from the 1st of November – stipulates that the customer is obliged to present proof of the origin of the asset, if the bank asks for it. It says that a change of the origin of assets has to be reported immediately to the ING.
It continues:
Up to the point marked in bold letters by me, this is a matter of course.
The reporting of a change of employment or the cancellation of the job and the beginning of unemployment is – not only regarding the new economic crisis – unprecedented!
Since years, it is an “open secret” that people with the professional status of “unemployed” could not open a current account at the ING. So, what will happen, when you report the start of unemployment being a current account customer?
We do not know and the ING was currently not available for information queries (see supplement on the bottom). We do not assume that the account will be cancelled … but what will happen with the framework loan on the current account (overdraft facility) and the credit line?
It is an uncertainty, which has been brought to our attention by some of our community. As we could not get information from the bank, we kindly ask our community to observe the ING very intensively from the 1st of November and report any possible changes of the limits on the part of the bank or also if everything remained the same, please always using the comments feature.
We will then evaluate the observations and keep our subscribers up to date through the Sunday Mail.
How does it look like at the competitor DKB?
The DKB also offers a cost-free current account ► www.dkb.de
A conversation with the DKB beginning of this week confirmed our recommendation of building a good overdraft facility through the incoming salary transfer to the current account, which will also remain to the same amount even after the lack of salary transfers – for example at unemployment.
Especially regarding possible worsenings of the economic crisis, it is a good moment to evaluate ones personal financial system and, if necessary, make adjustments.
You can still build overdraft facilities and credit lines …
in particular, if you want to build some credit lines for an emergency with the current creditworthiness, as recommended in the last article.
The credit line of the ING is still my recommendation, because it is by far the best product at the market. Nevertheless, we will observe in the coming months, whether the credit line at a change of professional status remains the same.
Up to now, you were able to:
- become unemployed,
- change to self-employment or even
- move abroad, without the bank bothering!
Build an overdraft facility?
If I would be interested in building a nice overdraft facility, I would choose the DKB for my current account. It (still not) requires such report obligations as at the ING and openly says that the overdraft facility will remain the same even at unemployment. This is the security that we bank customers highly estimate.
As a supplement, you can add the ING with the credit line. It is better to be customer of two banks with a credit line, than of only one bank. If one bank should fail, you still have one credit line instead of none!
Idea: Current account at the DKB + additional credit line at the ING
 DKB |
 ING-DiBa |
|
|---|---|---|
| recommended account | current account with overdraft facility at an incoming salary transfer with free account management |
overdraft facility at a proof of salary also free account management |
| possible credit line | € 500-15,000 up to a maximum of 3-times the incoming salary transfer |
€ 2,500-25,000 depending on your internal creditworthiness evaluation |
| Already have it or want to start with the application? | ||
| Start the account opening |  (read further information) |
(read further information) |
After editorial deadline: ING gives the all-clear!
After editorial deadline (our articles are not only written on Sundays), we gladly had a conversation with the ING and it was stated that the changes to the General Terms and Conditions only reflect what the legislator demands. One needs to know the customers and therefore the customers are required to cooperate.
A decisive statement followed:
There is no change to the credit line on the part of the ING at changes of the professional status!
It could be that you cannot get a credit line or not a credit line of the same amount with your then updated status (e.g. unemployment or self-employment), but you can keep everything that you already have!
An exemption would only be, if the loan is not repayed. For example, overdrawing the credit line or no interest payment. In this case, you would have to find a solution together with the bank. Luckily, this hardly is the case for anyone in our smart bank customer community.
Yes, I am glad for the statement of the ING. We measure “our” banks on their statements and conditions to the same extend, but also on their actions. We depend on the support of our smart community for a big and quite objective picture. Therefore, please, observe and give feedback. Many thanks!
Articles that you like to be read repeatedly:
- DKB current account in comparison with the ING (DiBa)
- Setup and increase of the DKB overdraft facility
- Open a Schufa-free current account?
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