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ING DIRECT Canada to Become Tangerine

Today, ING DIRECT Canada announced its new name: Tangerine. Not officially launching until Spring 2014, the name change was revealed early so new and existing customers would not be surprised at the last minute. For a little background info on why the name is being changed, and what other changes may go along with it, keep reading.

Why is ING DIRECT Canada Becoming Tangerine?

This time last year, Scotiabank’s acquisition of ING DIRECT Canada became official. The deal – which rang in at $3.13 billion – came with $40 billion of high quality assets, including more than $29 billion of residential mortgages.

While both lenders promised it would be business as usual at ING, change always comes with a certain level of uncertainty. And when it became known that part of the deal included a name change, a few (3,000 of 1.9 million, according to CEO Peter Aceto) customers jumped ship.

Based on other bank acquisitions, Canadians had every right to be weary. Soon after RBC acquired Ally Financial, RBC closed all existing Ally consumer accounts. When TD acquired MBNA, it slashed the benefits of the popular Smart Cash rewards credit card.

Then shortly after Scotiabank acquired ING, the bank exited the broker channel – a hit to both consumers and mortgage brokers across the country. At the time, ING was offering lower mortgage rates than Scotiabank – who, along with other major Canadian banks, market higher “posted” mortgage rates – and the exit from the broker channel signalled more change to come.

But the question remains: why have so few customers left ING since the acquisition was announced? A likely answer: its distinctive orange brand.

Since its arrival in Canada in 1997, ING DIRECT’s brand has paved the way of forward banking, using its orange colour and no-fee promises in all of its product development and marketing strategies. With only one promise – not to change the name to Scotiabank 360 – ING has spent the last year trying to choose a name that would continue to represent the brand it has spent 16 years creating.

After consulting with more than 10,000 Canadians – including 800 employees and 5,500 customers – Tangerine was chosen. The name reflects the bank’s core DNA but with a rather modern zest – pun intended.

Peter Aceto TangerineWhat Else is Changing?

The short answer is nothing – Tangerine promises to operate as the exact same lender it always has, with no changes being made to its existing model, other than the name. However, customers can expect to see a couple of new features/products added, including:

  • access to Scotiabank’s ABMs
  • a no-fee credit card that would help Canadians save

“We have very ambitious plans for the future in the role we’re going to play in Canadian banking and the lives of Canadians, so for all of this I think I and the entire team here are very excited,” said CEO Peter Aceto, in a video about the name change.

For more information about ING DIRECT Canada’s acquisition, the name change and more, visit Tangerine.ca.