There was already a lot going on in the banking industry this week, with all 6 big banks reporting quarterly earnings. But one major announcement grabbed the headlines. On Wednesday, Scotiabank announced it was buying ING Canada for $3.1B. ING Canada was on the shopping block because its parent company, ING Group NV, had to unload assets following the recession and current economic fears in Europe.
ING customers went off on their Facebook page Wednesday, with over 350 comments about the sale – 95% of them negative.
But what does the sale really mean for ING customers? Well, for now it’s wait and see. The sale is subject to regulatory approval, and from there Scotia will have 18 months to re-brand ING Canada. Both Scotia and ING spokesmen insist nothing will change, and that ING will remain a separate and distinct business with its own unique products.
It sounds like they’ll introduce new products, like a credit card and a few more mutual funds, but ING customers should expect few big changes once the deal goes through. Keep an eye on what happens with ING south of the border – ING Direct was sold to Capital One back in February, in a deal with similar terms for re-branding.
As for the quarterly earnings reports, those were mostly positive for the big 6 banks, which earned a combined $8.2B in the 3rd quarter this year. 5 of the 6 raised their dividend payouts, including BMO, which hasn’t increased its dividend since 2007.
2nd Anniversary Giveaway
A few weeks ago we celebrated our 2nd anniversary blogging here at Boomer & Echo. We held a contest to give away the following prizes:
- 1st prize is a Samsung 10.1″ 16GB Galaxy Tab 2 Tablet – retail $349.99
- 2nd prize is a $50 Amazon gift card
- 3rd prize is a $25 Future Shop gift card courtesy of our friends at Great Canadian Rebates.
The contest closed last Friday and we received a ton of entries (thank you!). Here are the winners:
- Samsung Galaxy Tablet – Colin
- $50 Amazon Gift Card – Shannon R
- $25 Future Shop Gift Card – Jesse
Congratulations to all the winners! I’ll get in touch with each of you and arrange to send your prizes.
Weekend Reading
Here are some great personal finance articles for you to enjoy this weekend:
- Retire Happy Blog wrote an online guide to leverage (borrowing to invest)
- Seeking Alpha said dividend investors: don’t forget about Canada
- Excess Return asked is it time to buy gold again?
- She Thinks I’m Cheap looked at investments strategies: emotional vs. analytical
- Timeless Finance asked do you really need an emergency fund?
- Million Dollar Journey shared 5 lessons learned as a first time home buyer
- Free From Broke looked at the costs of being self-employed
- Planting Money Seeds said if you truly want it, you’ll find a way to afford it
- My Own Advisor said now is not the time to shift your equities to bonds
- Canadian Finance Blog asked are mutual funds are ever worth it?
- Bible Money Matters said discipline is an attribute of millionaires that you need to succeed
- Rewards Cards Canada shared where to find the best student credit cards
We were also included in the following blog carnivals:
- Weekend Ramblings
- Carnival of Financial Camaraderie
- Carnival of Financial Discipline
- Financial Carnival for Young Adults
- Carnival of Retirement
- Nerdy Finance Carnival
- Canadian Personal Finance Happy Hour
- Carnival of Personal Finance
- Carnival of Wealth
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Thanks for the mention!
Been travelling this week, hard to find the time to write more articles. Oh well, always next week!
Congrats again on year # 2 and such a great giveaway.
Have a great long weekend!
Mark
I don’t think ING Canada being owned by Scotiabank will be any different then PC Financial being owned by CIBC.
ING Direct already ruined their delivery model. They cut their interest rates and pay crazy bonuses. I’m not complaining as you know, having collected a few of the bonuses myself — my point is that they’ve incentivized abusing their system at the cost of real savers. It’s money-stupid to keep real savings at ING when Canadian Direct Financial pays 2% on taxable savings and 3% on TFSAs. CDF is CDIC-insured, too (I don’t compare rates to the Manitoba Credit Unions because they’re not CDIC-insured). They offer a great chequing package; that’s it. Their mortgages are worth a look, but you can usually beat them with a broker.
It’s funny how they offered so many bonuses in the last 6 months; it was a literal flurry. I suspected something was up re: their trying to beef up their customer #s.
Anyway, thanks for the mention and have a good weekend!
Thanks for the plug. Here’s to at least 3 more years of Boomer and Echo. Cheers!