| By Jim Bruene on May 17, 2007 3:25 PM | Comments (1) |
I just received an email (inset) from ING Direct announcing a 1% cashback promo for its Electric Orange debit card. Not surprisingly, the rebate applies only to signature debit, where interchange fees cover the cost.
Initially I thought it was a permanent feature of the bank's new paperless checking account. But after clicking through to the landing page (see screenshot below), I discovered it's just a two-month promotion, running June 1 through July 31.
Given ING Direct's staunch consumer advocacy positioning, I am a little surprised it is not a bit more upfront about the two-month time period. Perhaps it's just an oversight, or maybe they are testing different copy treatments.
The 1% offer is also shown on the bank's main Electric Orange product page (here). Again, there is no mention that it's a promotion until you click through the "1% cashback" banner.
Analysis
Overall, it's a good promotion. A clear benefit for the customer and limited duration for the bank. And it helps build awareness that ING Direct supports debit card use at the point of sale, a relatively new feature for the direct bank. See previous coverage here.
Landing page (here)
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Thank you for posting this. But while it may be a good deal if you're savvy enough to read through all the fine print, I worry that the majority of consumers who may sign up for this card will not be clear about the duration of the cash back deal. I feel that a lot of credit card companies are not transparent enough in disclosing information about fees and promotions which is more regularly getting reported by the media. A company that I work with, the Merchants Payments Coalition, is focused on getting more attention for these types of issues which I think is positive change and would go well with increasing focus on consumer knowledge like yourself.