ING to transfer Retail Banking operations, staff and customers in Austria to bank99

ING to transfer Retail Banking operations, staff and customers in Austria to bank99

ING announced today it has reached an agreement to transfer ING’s Retail Banking operations in Austria to bank99, the bank of Österreichische Post, the Austrian postal services. The agreement follows a review of strategic options for ING’s Retail Banking operations in Austria as announced in March 2021. ING will retain its Wholesale Banking activities in Austria.

Bank99 was launched in 2020 and currently offers online banking to 80,000 customers. As announced in March, ING has discontinued its savings-only offering in Austria. The approximately 150,000 customers with current accounts, mortgages or consumer loans will be onboarded with bank99, which will also acquire all Retail staff and assets. This process will start in the coming months and is expected to be finalised in the last quarter of 2021.

“We are happy that in bank99 we have found a partner that offers a new home to our Retail customers in Austria. Bank99 is focused on digital banking and therefore our customers will enjoy easy to use banking services,” said Aris Bogdaneris, head of Retail Banking and Challengers & Growth Markets and member of ING’s Management Board Banking.

The agreement announced today is subject to approval by relevant regulators.

Note for editors

For further information on ING, please visit www.ing.com. Frequent news updates can be found in the Newsroom or via the @ING_news Twitter feed. Photos of ING operations, buildings and its executives are available for download at Flickr. ING presentations are available at SlideShare.

ING profile

ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s more than 57,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries.

ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).

Sustainability forms an integral part of ING’s strategy, evidenced by ING’s leading position in sector benchmarks by Sustainalytics and MSCI. ING ranks first in our market-cap group by Sustainalytics as of July 2020. ING’s ESG rating by MSCI was upgraded to ‘AA’ in December 2020. ING Group shares are included in major sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) index products of leading providers STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell. In January 2021, ING received an ESG evaluation score of 83 (‘strong’) from S&P Global Ratings.

Important legal information

Elements of this press release contain or may contain information about ING Groep N.V. and/ or ING Bank N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) to (4) of EU Regulation No 596/2014.

Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to diff er materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may diff er materially from those in such statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions and customer behaviour, in particular economic conditions in ING’s core markets, including changes affecting currency exchange rates, (2) the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and related response measures, including lockdowns and travel restrictions, on economic conditions in countries in which ING operates, on ING’s business and operations and on ING’s employees, customers and counterparties, (3) changes affecting interest rate levels, (4) any default of a major market participant and related market disruption, (5) changes in performance of financial markets, including in Europe and developing markets, (6) political instability and fiscal uncertainty in Europe and the United States, (7) discontinuation of or changes in ‘benchmark’ indices, (8) inflation and deflation in our principal markets, (9) changes in conditions in the credit and capital markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness, (10) failures of banks falling under the scope of state compensation schemes, (11) non-compliance with or changes in laws and regulations, including those concerning financial services, financial economic crimes and tax laws, and the interpretation and application thereof, (12) geopolitical risks, political instabilities and policies and actions of governmental and regulatory authorities, (13) legal and regulatory risks in certain countries with less developed legal and regulatory frameworks, (14) prudential supervision and regulations, including in relation to stress tests and regulatory restrictions on dividends and distributions,, (also among members of the group), (15) regulatory consequences of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, including authorizations and equivalence decisions, (16) ING’s ability to meet minimum capital and other prudential regulatory requirements, (17) changes in regulation of US commodities and derivatives businesses of ING and its customers, (18) application of bank recovery and resolution regimes, including write-down and conversion powers in relation to our securities, (19) outcome of current and future litigation, enforcement proceedings, investigations or other regulatory actions, including claims by customers who feel mislead and other conduct issues, (20) changes in tax laws and regulations and risks of non-compliance or investigation in connection with tax laws, including FATCA, (21) operational risks, such as system disruptions or failures, breaches of security, cyber-attacks, human error, changes in operational practices or inadequate controls including in respect of third parties with which we do business, (22) risks and challenges related to cybercrime including the effects of cyber-attacks and changes in legislation and regulation related to cybersecurity and data privacy, (23) changes in general competitive factors, including ability to increase or maintain market share, (24) the inability to protect our intellectual property and infringement claims by third parties, (25) inability of counterparties to meet financial obligations or ability to enforce rights against such counterparties, (26) changes in credit ratings, (27) business, operational, regulatory, reputation and other risks and challenges in connection with climate change, (28) inability to attract and retain key personnel, (29) future liabilities under defined benefit retirement plans, (30) failure to manage business risks, including in connection with use of models, use of derivatives, or maintaining appropriate policies and guidelines, (31) changes in capital and credit markets, including interbank funding, as well as customer deposits, which provide the liquidity and capital required to fund our operations and (32) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V., (including the Risk Factors contained therein) and ING’s more recent disclosures, including press releases, which are available on www.ING.com.

This document may contain inactive textual addresses to internet websites operated by us and third parties. Reference to such websites is made for information purposes only, and information found at such websites is not incorporated by reference into this document. ING does not make any representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of, or take any responsibility for, any information found at any websites operated by third parties. ING specifically disclaims any liability with respect to any information found at websites operated by third parties. ING cannot guarantee that websites operated by third parties remain available following the publication of this document, or that any information found at such websites will not change following the filing of this document. Many of those factors are beyond ING’s control.

Any forward looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason.

This document does not constitute an off er to sell, or a solicitation of an off er to purchase, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction.

Attachment

• PDF version of press release