ING Direct 2011 Annual Report Download - page 39

1 Who we are 2 Report of the Executive Board 3 Corporate governance 4 Consolidated annual accounts 5 Parent company annual accounts 6 Other information 7 Additional information
37ING Group Annual Report 2011
Retail Banking continued
ING Direct was recognised with awards in 2011 in the areas of
customer centricity, product innovation and marketing. Most
notably, ING-DiBa received awards for its website, investment
options and customer service. It was also named ‘Online Broker of
the Year’ by financial magazine Börse-Online for the seventh
consecutive year and ‘Most Preferred Bank’ by finance magazine
Euro for the fifth year in row. ING Direct Italy won an award for
financial innovation in the Funds category awarded by AiFin, the
Italian association for financial innovation. ING Direct Spain won
multiple awards for their online advertising campaigns.
Social media remained an important area of activity for ING Direct,
enabling closer contact with the customer. ING Direct Canada
supported the national roll out of the new THRiVE cheque
(payment) account with an extensive campaign on social media
platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The new payment account
wascreated thanks to customer feedback through crowd sourcing
(using the internet to ask a large group of people their opinions
about something) and it won the product of the year 2011 award
inCanada. In France a similar approach was taken, when ING Direct
organised a blog which asked for suggestions and feedback from
existing customers on a range of issues from the development of
anew mobile phone application to their thoughts on proposed
promotional offers. In Germany, ING-DiBa conducted a campaign,
DiBaDu und Dein Verein on its website to sponsor local non-profit
associations. Associations had to register on the website and people
could then vote on which association should receive funds. The
campaign resulted in more than 17.5 million votes over a six-week
period and generated much discussion in social media channels.
Operational excellence
All of ING’s business units focus on timely, efficient and flawless
execution of customer services. Making banking easier for
customers through innovation in distribution is an important aim
ofthe business.
ING Direct France launched an initiative allowing customers to open
savings accounts through a 100% online process – responding to
consumer wishes and enhancing efficiency. ING Direct Canada was
awarded ‘Best Mid-Sized Contact Center’ by Contact Center World
North America. The Canadian team won based on customer
satisfaction scores, call response times and training programmes.
InAustralia, ING Direct’s ‘Simply Orange’ quality programme
resulted in process improvement tools for all employees. Ideas
forimprovements came from customer ‘front-line’ workers.
Customer centricity
ING Direct continued to search for ways it can best meet
customers’ needs. It encourages customer feedback and uses
it to update and improve its service. In all its markets, ING Direct
is either first or second in terms of customer satisfaction as
measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS).
In the important mobile banking space, all ING Direct business units
launched either applications or m-sites (ING-DiBa in Germany and
ING Direct Italy) which allow users to carry out everyday banking
transactions from their mobile phones and tablet devices. ING
Direct in France produced an award-winning mobile phone
application which was developed in part by crowd sourcing. This
application was then successfully used as a basis for developing
mobile phone applications in four other ING Retail Banking units.
In the internet channel, advances were made in functionality and
accessibility with ING Direct Canada introducing a web-chat
application to better assist site visitors with finding relevant
information and Italy launching a renewed website with a more
client-centric focus.
A number of ING Direct business units produced compelling
content aimed at empowering consumers and helping them to
manage their household finances. ING Direct France’s Monnaie
Time partnership with Yahoo, the Finanzversteher portal of
ING-DiBa Germany, and the Voce Arancio blog of ING Direct Italy
are all examples of client-centric initiatives to educate clients and
non-clients alike about personal financial matters.
RETAIL CENTRAL EUROPE
FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTS
The underlying result before tax of Retail Central Europe rose 2.6%
to EUR 158 million, driven by higher results in Poland, partly offset
by lower results in Turkey due to increased risk costs. Underlying
income in Central Europe increased 5.2% as higher income in
Poland and Romania was partly offset by lower income in Turkey
due to negative currency effects.
Overall volumes in Poland remained relatively stable, while margins
improved, particularly in savings and current accounts. In Turkey, a
variable savings product was launched which led to a slight
decrease in margin and an increase in volumes. In Romania, both
volumes and margins remained largely stable. Net production of
lending in Central Europe was EUR 3.5 billion, while the net inflow
of funds entrusted was EUR 2.2 billion.
Operating expenses were up 1.6% driven by the increased client
activity. The addition to loan loss provisions rose to EUR 97 million,
or 42 basis points of average risk-weighted assets, compared with
EUR 61 million, or 28 basis points of average risk-weighted assets,
in 2010. Risk costs increased mainly in Turkey due to business
growth, while the level in 2010 was low due to releases of specific
provisions and improved data quality.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS
Retail Central Europe has a leading presence in Poland and strong
positions in Romania and Turkey. In all three countries, retail
banking is an integrated part of the domestic bank, which serves
retail and commercial banking customers, and offers a wide range
of services.
All Retail Central Europe banks are rapidly expanding into direct
distribution, illustrating the convergence of the retail and direct
business models.
Operational excellence
During the year, many initiatives were taken to improve operational
effectiveness including implementing business process
management, knowledge sharing across countries and building up
direct distribution capacities by enhancing websites.
ING Bank Romania carried out an upgrade of its internet banking
site, Home’Bank. A new interface and improvements in usability
resulted in a 39% growth in transactions. In September a mobile
version of the Home’Bank website was introduced and led to a
threefold increase in site visits from smartphones.