Barclays gobbles up ING Direct

Barclays taking over ING Direct

Highlights for customers:

*Barclays promises to honour ING terms and conditions. But long term Barclays will be setting the interest rates. Savers will need to shop around.

*Mortgage customers reverting to Standard Variable Rate (SVR) would face a higher rate at Barclays: 4.99% rather than 3.99%. My understanding is that Barclays won't want them to suffer but policy to be confirmed.

*Deposit protection goes up to £85,000 from £80,000 because savers will be protected under the UK not the Dutch system

*Transfer won't happen until the 2nd quarter of next year, then there will be a 2 year transition after which the ING name is like to be dropped

*Customers should make sure ING has their correct address so they receive all the info about the transfer through the post

*1.5m customers affected, just 70,000 mortgage borrowers so virtually all savers. Average deposit is £8,300, average mortgage £80,000.

Here's more information on the ING page.