Comments on: Better Way To Convert ING Referrals

By: pfadvice

pfadvice — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 20:19:11 +0000

I don’t think it is an either / or question. A $25 bonus is an instant 10% return on your investment. Even if there are better banks, the money can be taken out immediately and moved to one paying a higher interest rate.

Of course, you have to come to your own conclusions on what you do and don’t want to recommend. I have absolutely no problem doing so and there are other referral programs I have chosen not to do because I don’t think they are a benefit.

By: samerwriter

samerwriter — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 19:57:48 +0000

In my opinion, the part about it that sounds fishy is trying to objectively say it’s a good bank, and then disclosing that you’re being paid cash by the bank for referrals.

Presumably, if there were two absolutely equal banks, with the exception that Bank A gave $25 only to new accounts while Bank B gave $25 to new accounts and $10 to the referrer, Bank B would be recommended more.

Now what if Bank A is a tiny bit “better” than Bank B. It’s likely that Bank B would still get more referrals. It’s easy to rationalize; Bank A is only a tiny bit better; no one’s likely to notice the difference.

Then the question becomes, how much “better” does Bank A have to be than Bank B to convince people to refer new members to Bank A, which offers no money for referrals rather than Bank B.

That’s the question that makes these referral bonuses all seem fishy to me. I would never propose that any individual is doing this, but in aggregate, clearly it happens.

By: pfadvice

pfadvice — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 17:35:52 +0000

One question, though: despite it being completely legitimate, having a “sign up and get $25 free

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:31:15 +0000

I was wondering how people did this. Thank you so much for spelling it out!

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:05:24 +0000

I just made a post about this same thing last week. I haven’t had near the success of you though. I’m still slowly making my way through my referrals at a rate of 1 or 2 a month. It isn’t too bad considering I still don’t have much traffic. One a month will pay for hosting fees at least.

By: junger

junger — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:02:48 +0000

Great idea! I’ll have to see how that method plays out.

One question, though: despite it being completely legitimate, having a “sign up and get $25 free” link just sounds a little fishy. What’s the best way to package it so people won’t be afraid to sign up with ING?