Word: kuhlmann
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...worldview and still inspire love, respect and gratitude from those in opposition [Sept. 7]. Through Kennedy's example, we can see that graciousness and a spirit of compromise can accomplish wonderful things and that lives can be redeemed at any point. Limbaugh, Coulter, Beck and others, take note. Ron Kuhlmann, DANVILLE, CALIF...
...personality cult hasn't hurt the company either. Headquartered in an old warehouse on the Christiana River in Wilmington, Del., ING Direct projects a Silicon Valleyesque energy and idealism that come straight from the top. Consider the Orange Code, a manifesto of sorts penned by Kuhlmann and chief operating officer Jim Kelly, which includes lines like "We aren't conquerors. We are pioneers." Kuhlmann rants about spend-happy Americans and the companies that feed their addiction by selling them credit cards--"the opium of consumerism." When the rest of the banking industry lobbied for a new bankruptcy...
...reacting," says Alenka Grealish, managing director of the banking group at consultancy Celent. Citibank, HSBC, Capital One, E-Trade and Emigrant Bank are among those offering no-fee, no-minimum-balance Web-only accounts with well-above-average interest rates. Many even offer rates higher than ING Direct's. Kuhlmann's response: "Knock yourself out." So far, new-account growth at ING Direct hasn't slowed, and the 3% of accounts closed each year is below the industry average...
...handing out checkbooks was deemed too cumbersome. But there was no easy solution for customers who had to have paper checks for the landlord or the babysitter. So ING Direct now prints and mails some 25,000 paper checks a month on customers' behalf--no charge for the stamp. Kuhlmann battled his staff for weeks over the issue, insisting that no matter how transparent, ING Direct wouldn't charge...
...with each new product, Kuhlmann tests the limits of the firm's founding ideals. Take mortgages. ING Direct offers just two: a five-year mortgage currently at 6.60% APR and a seven-year one at 6.67%. Why no 30 year? Kuhlmann reasons that since most people move or refinance within seven years, they just don't need it. "It seems to me they're paying a lot more than they need to," he says. That's a fine principle. But the reality is that most people still want a 30-year mortgage. So this spring, ING Direct started referring people...