ING Direct 2009 Annual Report Download - page 32

In Thailand, ING has a 30% stake in TMB Bank, a universal banking
platform with a nationwide network. TMB’s transformation
towards becoming a leading bank with world-class financial
solutions is progressing well. There was good momentum in
building brand awareness, greater efficiency and a stronger
customer service culture at branches.
The past year saw encouraging growth in retail deposits due in
part to innovative product launches and product enhancements
coupled with aggressive marketing campaigns.
ING will stay committed to these partnerships and continue
to support their growth.
PRIVATE BANKING
In October 2009, ING announced the sale of its private banking
activities in Asia and Switzerland. These divestments are part of
the transformation strategy to take the Group Back to Basics and
to reduce complexity by having fewer businesses and markets.
ING stays committed to private banking in domestic markets.
Given the pressure on the growth of offshore private banking, ING
decided to focus on acceleration of onshore private banking in core
markets. ING wants to focus on creating a strong onshore private
banking franchise, and so ING Private Banking in the Benelux and
Central Eastern Europe remain integral parts of the Group.
CONCLUSION AND AMBITIONS
Retail Banking showed a solid performance throughout the
financial crisis. The customer remained at the heart of the retail
banking strategy and efforts were taken to improve customer
services and processes, make banking easier and regain trust.
The transformation programmes in the Netherlands and Belgium
will be continued to enhance customer centricity, streamline the
business, reduce costs, expand distribution capabilities and enhance
cross-selling. Accordingly, ING will further simplify its product lines
in the rest of Europe and Asia and will continue innovation of
distribution based on direct experience.
ING Belgium also saw an increase in customer deposits thanks both
to innovation and its diversified product offering. Core products
have been successfully redesigned and online products launched.
CENTRAL EUROPE AND ASIA
Retail Banking is well-positioned in Poland, Romania and Turkey, as
well as the important Asian markets of India, China and Thailand.
While ING is committed to growth in emerging markets, for most
part of 2009 it put a pause on expansion. In all these markets ING
is moving towards the direct-first model, but also investing in
gradual organic growth to obtain leadership positions.
ING Bank Slaski is the most internet-oriented bank in Poland and
fast becoming the customer’s bank of choice. It is well-positioned
to capture growth and, thanks to its prudent approach to lending,
in a good position to reinforce those growth efforts and benefit
from improved margins. The number of clients increased by
161,400 to 2.77 million.
In Romania, Self’Bank has continued to grow since the operation
started in 2004. The bank increased its focus on internet and
new client segments. Customer growth continued, reaching over
900,000 customers at the end of 2009. There were 209 outlets
and the bank became profitable in December 2009.
The rebranding of Oyak Bank into ING Bank Turkey has been
successful. ING Bank Turkey is using ING’s expertise in internet
banking, mass marketing and risk management. A distribution
expansion programme was launched in which online banking and
customer relationship management play important roles, and the
programme is expected to be finalised in 2012. The new website,
created in 2009, received ´best-in-class awards’. During the year,
ING Bank Turkey strongly outperformed the mortgage sector, and
in the small and medium-sized enterprise sector it improved the
quality of its portfolio and achieved a healthy growth in market
share. The number of active clients is some 1.2 million. ING Bank
Turkey has also been actively involved in syndicated and club loans
in Turkey. In long-term lending, ING was number one in 2009 in
terms of number of deals (according to Reuters Thomson).
Competition for savings was also strong in Central Europe and
here, too, ING put margins before volumes. Its comfortable liquidity
position meant that ING Bank Slaski did not need to participate in
the savings price war. In Romania, rates were further reduced in line
with the market, while in Turkey interest rates decreased rapidly
following central bank rate cuts.
In India, ING has a 44% stake in ING Vysya Bank and is the
single largest shareholder. At year-end, ING Vysya Bank had 460
branches. ING Vysya Bank provides retail and commercial banking
services to two million customers.
In China, ING has a 16.7% stake in Bank of Beijing, the largest city
commercial bank in China.
Retail Banking (continued)
1.2 Report of the Executive Board
ING Group Annual Report 2009
30