ING Direct is planning its entry to the checking account business, but at 3% APY and no reimbursement of ATM fees, its proposed product is hardly compelling. After all, it is hard to strike a balance between giving out attractive yield for new customers, and controlling the cost of capital for the existing $60 billion deposit base.

In the latest move by an online bank to expand its offerings, ING Direct, a unit of ING Groep NV, is getting ready to launch a high-yielding checking account.

The new account, dubbed "Electric Orange," is expected to offer an initial annual percentage yield of 3%, although that may change depending on the actual launch date. The account will have no minimum-balance requirements or fees. ING Direct -- which until now has offered only savings accounts, certificates of deposit, home loans and mutual funds -- plans to roll it out to customers this summer.

Customers who sign up for the account will get a debit card instead of an actual checkbook. Instead, the bank will issue "virtual checks" by transferring funds between bank accounts. Customers can also request that the bank issue paper checks for payment purposes.

ING Direct won't charge a fee for using other banks' automated teller machines, though it will pass along any fees charged by other banks for using their ATMs, says Arkadi Kuhlmann, the bank's president and chief executive. ING Direct has four million customers with $60 billion in assets in the U.S. Customers have an average savings-account balance of $12,000, Mr. Kuhlmann says.