ING Champions Digital, AI, and Financial Education
ING's International Media Insights Day set a clear tone: digital-first growth, applied AI, and a push for financial education that actually changes behavior. Raymond Vermolen, ING's global head of media relations, opened the day with presentations, Q&A, and direct access to senior leaders.
A Legacy of Innovation
ING has a history of challenging traditional banking models. A late-90s clip showed the launch of ING Direct, a branchless approach to cut costs and offer higher savings rates-rolled out across Spain, Australia, France, the US, and the UK long before smartphones and instant onboarding were common.
Global Footprint and Retail Engine
ING employs about 60,000 people (20,000 are engineers) and operates in over a hundred countries. Its balance sheet exceeds €1.1 trillion, with more than €700 billion in customer lending and nearly €740 billion in deposits. Profits in 2025 surpassed €7 billion.
Retail drives scale and earnings: it holds half of the bank's capital and produces two-thirds of profits, serving over 40 million clients. ING is a leading European mortgage lender with over €300 billion in housing loans and supports entrepreneurs with €100 billion in SME lending.
Digital Growth and Applied AI
ING's digital engine is moving fast. Last year, 1.2 million clients joined fully digitally, almost 70% of loans ran through straight-through workflows, and 90% of sales happened online. The mobile app sees about 170 million visits per week.
Generative AI is already in production across customer contact centers, marketing, KYC, lending, and coding. Next steps include agentic AI in mortgage operations in Germany and the Netherlands, plus voice agents launching in Spain and Germany.
Financial Literacy and the Wealth Transfer Ahead
Europe faces a major generational wealth transfer. Matteo Pomoni, head of investments & wealth for ING in Italy, called it "a fantastic opportunity for the whole European financial system," while warning "it is not going to be a walk in the park." European households lag US peers in investment growth; in Italy, less than 10% of portfolios sit in equities, which he says leads to a deterioration of personal wealth.
ING's answer is a three-pillar approach: innovation, personalization, and transparency. "Instead of blaming clients, we should ask what we can do more and better to help them in this process," Pomoni said. Advice is delivered at scale-91% of proposals go out through digital channels-and is framed around client goals first: "Products are just instruments. They are the last mile."
On fees, Pomoni was direct: "If in a business of trust, it's not even clear how much I'm paying for your services, then there is a lack of trust." For context on adult financial capability trends, see the OECD's work on financial education here.
Investment Outlook for 2026
Bob Homan, Head of ING Investment Office, expects "a good year but not too good." He sees European equities delivering around 6% including dividends, real estate near 5%, and government bonds close to zero. With volatility and wide dispersion between presumed AI winners and losers, he stressed the need for active management.
He flagged risks of an AI bubble but noted clear beneficiaries: "We all use AI," he said, pointing to names like Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon.
Private Markets for More Investors
ING's Private Markets Platform, launched in October 2023, opens access that used to be reserved for institutions and ultra-high-net-worth clients. The goal is simple: make private market exposure more accessible and efficient across client segments, with suitable guardrails.
What This Means for Educators and Finance Pros
- Teach goal-based investing. Tools and products are execution. Outcomes come from clear goals, time horizons, and behavior.
- Make fees obvious. Simple, upfront cost explanations build trust and improve client retention.
- Integrate AI literacy across curricula and teams. Start with use cases in KYC, credit workflows, and client communications. For practical options, see AI tools for finance here.
- Prepare for dispersion. Case studies on factor spreads and AI-linked equities help investors handle the gap between perceived winners and laggards.
- Cover private markets basics. Access is widening, so education on liquidity, fees, and risk budgeting is essential.
Looking Ahead
ING sees room to grow across a footprint that covers 400 million people and 30 million enterprises. The bank is focused on organic expansion, adding around a million mobile primary clients annually while deepening digital services for entrepreneurs, retail, and wealth clients.
Pinar Abay, ING's global head of retail banking, summed it up: "We want to make banking accessible, seamless, and lovable, and to empower both entrepreneurs and retail clients with financial expertise and innovation."
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