It’s been months since Capital One announced its pending acquisition of ING Direct. Well, today comes news the sale is pending no more. The Federal Reserve has approved the acquisition, confident it will not give Capital One an unfair advantage over other financial institutions.

With the purchase of ING Direct, Capital One will become the fifth largest bank in the nation in terms of deposits. However, as reported by The Consumerist, “the Fed ruled that Capital One’s business and investments are not complex enough ‘to a degree that would pose significant risk to other institutions.’ ”

In this $9 billion cash and stock deal, Capital One will acquire as many as 7 million ING Direct customers. Of course, that’s assuming ING has not lost a significant number of customers upset over the Capital One takeover. Concern stems from fear that Capital One will make fundamental changes to the service loyal ING Direct customers have come to know and love – high interest rates, no fees, free bill pay, free ATM withdrawals, and no minimum balance required on savings accounts.

Note, the sale is not motivated by ING Direct. On the contrary, the Dutch-owned company has no say in the matter. As I blogged last summer:

The European Union is ordering the company to sell as a condition of ING’s 10 billion euro bailout in 2008. For the U.S. service, Capital One is paying ING $6.2 billion in cash and 55.9 million Capital One shares valued at $2.8 billion.

Evidently we’re just days away from completion of this long-awaited sale.

Do you have an ING Direct account? If so, will its acquisition by Capital One inspire you to take your money elsewhere? Why or why not?

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