“When, Arkadi Kuhlmann first started ING Direct, he had people visiting the ING Direct building on a regular basis to make sure the bank actually existed. It was the first time that anyone had heard of a bank without any branches. People drove from miles away just to make sure the place was legit. Kuhlmann figured the least he could do was invite them in for a cup of coffee and answer any questions they had. The concept stuck, so when he brought the ING Direct concept to America, he decided to open ‘touchpoints’ for the public…ING Direct says the cafés are profitable retail operations, but they are more concerned with how the cafés build the bank’s brand image and awareness.”

http://thefinancialbrand.com/2008/11/14/ing-direct-cafes/

Basically, these cafes do two things: 1) Serve as big, giant billboards for the ING brand. Except you can actually walk in and around these billboards. 2) Serve to reassure a nervous public anxious about a virtual bank paying almost too-good-to-be-true rates — “Yes, we really do exist. And yes, we really do have tangible, valuable assets.”