ING Direct 2013 Annual Report Download - page 39

Through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy ING BE aims
to manage its business not solely on the basis of financial criteria
but also by giving the necessary weight to the environment, ethical
considerations and the needs of society in general.
Against this background, ING BE committed itself to improve the
accessibility of its branches for physically challenged people. By the
year-end, more than 600 branches had been renovated to meet
this objective. The Bank also strives to reduce its carbon footprint
every year. Branches and ING BE’s two main buildings have been
“carbon neutral” since 2007. They use 100% green electricity and
foster a strict waste-recycling policy. Various projects aimed at
reducing the use of paper, such as paper cheques and paper
payment orders, were started in 2013, in coordination with efforts
to improve the ease of use of electronic alternatives, such as
Home’Bank. On top of these initiatives, sustainability is also
embedded in ING BE’s product offering to private customers. While
the growth of real-estate eco loans to private customers stabilised
in 2013, eco car loans increased by close to 5% year-on-year.
ING BE’s employees participated in various initiatives enabling to
raise funds for children and education (ING Run for UNICEF, Special
Olympics and Ekiden Run). The ING Solidarity Award represented
one of ING BE’s strongest CSR initiatives throughout the year. More
than 1,400 organisations participated in this contest, with over
200,000 voters on the Award platform. In total, 70 non-profit
organisations throughout the country were rewarded with financial
support from ING BE.
Operational excellence
ING BE launched a new version of Home’Bank, the Bank’s online
banking service, which is fully integrated with the ing.be website. It
provides easier navigation, more product information and a clear
overview of the different functions. Business customers were also
given a more complete online banking service during theyear.
From 2013, legal entities have been able to open accounts and
manage mandates within the Home’Bank Plus and Telelink Online.
Business customers can also manage a more complete range
ofprofessional accounts on Smart Banking for smartphones
andtablets.
Top Employer
In a fast-changing world, ING BE strives to give its employees
themeans to develop themselves, and to create a working
environment that favours well-being, performance, mobility,
flexibility and growth.
The local Top Employer programme implemented a new induction
course for newly recruited staff. It also rejuvenated its Performance
Management Approach to ensure continuous constructive
feedback. This new approach supports employees in developing
their employability and managers in their people-coaching role
while reinforcing the role of HR as a strategic business partner.
For the seventh year in a row, ING BE received a Top Employer
Certification from the CRF institute. It also won the Corporate HR
Award at the annual HR Excellence Awards ceremony, in
recognition of its efforts to increase its employees’ employability.
ING BE created the ING Mobility Centre in 2013. It helps employees
whose positions were made redundant find other jobs in ING BE or
elsewhere.
The Bank organised an ING Day in October for all employees to
celebrate success, prepare for future challenges and reinforce
company pride.
Record Bank
Retail Belgium includes Record Bank, the fourth-largest retail
savings institution in the country, with close to 730,000 customers
(up from 700,000 in 2012). Record Bank serves retail, professional
and small business customers with safe, simple and transparent
savings and lending products.
Its strength is the personal approach taken by its network of
around 1,500 independent agents, credit brokers and vendors. Its
funds entrusted volumes went up by 8% compared with 2012,
with a strong increase in savings and deposits of EUR 1.3 billion, as
a result of its excellent position in the Belgian savings market.
The Bank continues to invest in online facilities to support its
various distribution channels. In December, it launched its Mobile
App for smartphones – Record Bank Mobile – giving customers the
ability to check account balances and make bank transfers.
Under the Belgian government’s Bank Switch Service
(Bankoverstapdienst) customers should be able to switch banks
within eight working days. The service has proved to be a great
success for Record Bank, which has welcomed about 11% of the
people switching in 2013. They have been attracted by Record’s
free current account, competitive savings rates, and personal
contact with a local banking agent.
ING Luxembourg
The Luxembourg economy showed signs of gradual recovery in
2013, with an expected GDP growth rate of around 2.0%. Against
this background, ING Luxembourg – a top five, full universal bank
in the country – delivered a solid performance. The Bank has a local
as well as a wide international customer base, with 114,000
customers, of which 84,000 are retail, and 16 branches. It is fourth
in the mid-corporate market and third in the corporate market.
Its funds entrusted have grown by 10% since year-end 2012, driven
by Commercial Banking (+14% in net funds entrusted). There was
also an increase in retail funds entrusted in 2013 (+4%): Retail
Banking benefited from the success of its savings campaign,
focusing on all the savings solutions proposed by ING Luxembourg.
ING Luxembourg reduced by 80% the time it takes for corporate
customers to access the Bank’s website and improved the online
account opening process for retail customers with “First time
right”. The bank also launched an improved version (2.0) of ING
Mobile, ING Luxembourg’s mobile app for mobile devices.
As for its Top Employer ambitions, ING Luxembourgwas in 2013
again included in the “Great Place to Work” ranking for
Luxembourg. The Bank was awarded “Best Multinational
Workplace in Europe”in the ranking of 100 Best Companies to
Work for in Europe. ING Private Banking was awarded “Best Private
Bank” in Luxembourg.
On 10 April 2013, Luxembourg announced its intention to switch,
from 1 January 2015, to the automatic exchange of information
under the European Savings Tax Directive, thus following a general
international trend. ING Luxembourg continually informs its
customers of any changes in regulation, in this case an obligation
by both the bank and the customer to comply with local tax
regulation. ING Luxembourg further advises its customers to
contact a tax adviser if necessary and (re-)affirm that they
complywith local tax regulations following the European Savings
Tax Directive.
37ING Group Annual Report 2013
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