On April 16, the day after 2009 U.S. income taxes were due, ING Direct emailed customers with a little incentive to establish an automatic savings plan or direct deposit (see first screenshot below).

Any ING Direct savings or checking account customer who has at least $100 automatically deposited into their account is eligible for monthly drawings of $5,000 (April through Sep.). And one grand prize winner takes home $50,000 on October 1st (total prizes awarded = $80,000; full terms and conditions here; FAQs here).

With interest rates so low, it's a good idea to provide extra incentives to keep the savings habit alive. And April 16 is the second best day of the year to make a systematic savings appeal (the first business day after Jan. 1 has to be the best).

The sweeps is not mentioned on the bank's main website or within online banking. This seems odd, given that any account holder can win. Perhaps it's coming to the website.

ING Direct email to existing customers (16 April)

Landing page includes interactive smartphone app graphic (link)
Note: Users can drag and drop icons onto the phone's list to simulate a savings plan

Note: For more ideas on driving deposits online, see our Online Banking Report: Growing Deposits in the Digital Age (Dec. 2008).