ING Group


ING Group N.V. is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale banking, private banking, asset management, and insurance services. With total assets of US$967.8 billion, it consistently ranks among the largest banks globally.
ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a co-operative consortium of 11 prominent European banks. Since in 2012, ING Bank is a member in the list of global systemically important banks. It has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank.
In 2020, ING had 53.2 million clients in more than 40 countries. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. The long-term debt for the company as of December 2019 is €150 billion.
ING is an abbreviation for Internationale Nederlanden Groep. The orange lion on ING's logo alludes to the group's Dutch origins as the color of NN and logo of Postbank N.V.

History

ING Group traces its roots to two major insurance companies in the Netherlands and the banking services of the Dutch government. In 1991, the insurance branch of Nationale-Nederlanden and the banking branch of "NMB Postbank Groep" merged. NMB stands for "Nederlandsche Middenstands Bank".File:Detail Schrijvende Hand Marte Röling Postbank Tesselschadestraat Leeuwarden.JPG|left|thumb|Postbank in Leeuwarden, 2008

Insurance

In 1845, the fire insurance company Assurantie Maatschappij tegen Brandschade de Nederlanden van 1845 was founded. It grew to be the leading Dutch insurance company with branches outside the Netherlands. It later changed its name to "De Nederlanden van 1845". Two decades later, in 1863, the life insurance company Nationale Levensverzekerings Bank was founded in Rotterdam. These two insurance companies made multiple acquisitions, and in 1963 merged to form the Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company. Nationale-Nederlanden expanded significantly during the 1970s and 1980s.

Banking

In 1881, the Dutch government created the Rijkspostspaarbank, a postal savings system to encourage workers to start saving. Four decades later, they added Postcheque and Girodienst services allowing working families to make payments via post offices. Separately in 1927, the Dutch government initiated a re-organization of Dutch banks which resulted in the creation of the Nederlandsche Middenstands Bank . NMB provided retail banking services in the Netherlands and abroad.
In 1986, post office banking services were privatized as Postbank N.V. and three years later it would merge with NMB bank to form NMB Postbank Groep.
On 28 January 2025, ING has reached an agreement to sell its Russian operations to Global Development JSC, reducing its exposure to €1 billion, with the deal expected to close in 2025 and result in a €700 million loss. The bank has been progressively scaling down its Russian business since 2022.

Merger of banking and insurance

In 1991, the banking business of NMB Postbank Groep and the insurance business of Nationale-Nederlanden were merged to create ING Group.

Further acquisitions

Since the ING Group was founded, it has made many acquisitions:
OrganizationYearCore business
Parcom1994Asset Management
Wellington1995Insurance
Barings Bank1995Investment banking
Equitable of Iowa1997Insurance
Furman Selz1997Banking
Bank Mendes Gans1997Banking
Guardian1998Insurance
Clarion1998Asset Management
Bank Brussels Lambert1998Banking
Canadian Group Underwriters1999Insurance
Aetna2000Financial services and International units
ReliaStar2000Insurance
Seguros Comercial América2001Insurance
Bank Śląski2001Banking
DiBa2002Banking
Allianc of Canada2004Insurance
Rodamco Asia2004Asset Management
Johnson Insurance of Canada2021Insurance

International expansion

ING Group expanded its international business through several acquisitions through the 1990s including the Belgian bank Banque Bruxelles Lambert in 1998, US-based insurance company Equitable of Iowa and the commercial bank Furman Selz. It also acquired Frankfurt-based BHF-Bank in 1999, although it disposed of this later. It increased its Latin American and Asia Pacific insurance businesses with the acquisition of ReliaStar and Aetna's Financial Services unit. It also acquired the Polish Bank Śląski and Mexican insurance company Seguros Comercial América.
The 1995 purchase of Barings Bank for one pound after its dramatic failure led to a boost in the company's investment banking business.
Expanding its retail banking business overseas, ING used the direct banking business model it had developed with NMB Postbank to launch direct banking in other countries. The first of these was set up in Canada in 1997, and was soon followed in several other countries including the US, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Australia.

Capital injection and divestiture

In 2008, as part of the 2008 financial crisis, ING Group, together with many other major banks in the Netherlands, took a capital injection from the Dutch government. This support increased ING's capital ratio above 8%, however as a condition of Dutch state aid, the EU demanded changes to the company structure, including the sale of insurance businesses in Latin America, Asia, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and ING Direct units in the US, Canada and the UK. This included the sale of the ING Direct US operations to Capital One, ING Direct Canada to Scotiabank and the ING Direct UK operations to Barclays Bank in 2012. The spun-off insurance businesses in North America were renamed Voya Financial in 2014.
In April 2016, ING sold the last shares in NN Group, making it exclusively a bank again.
Since the largest settlement ever in the Netherlands by Vimpelcom in 2016, its house banker ING has also come under fire from the Public Prosecutor's Office. As a result of the Vimpelcom case, among others, it was announced in 2018 that ING reached a €775 million settlement with the Public Prosecutor's Office. According to the prosecution, the bank was negligent in preventing money laundering. Between 2010 and 2016, clients misused accounts at ING to launder hundreds of millions of euros.
In February 2018, ING bought fintech company Payvision founded by Rudolf Booker for 350 million.
In July 2025, ING Group finalised the acquisition of a 17.6% stake in private bank Van Lanschot Kempen, thus bringing its total share to 20.3%.

Controversies

ING Bank has faced criticism for maintaining operations in Russia despite the sanctions and geopolitical tensions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the Leave Russia project, the bank continues to operate in the region, raising ethical concerns about its business practices and its alignment with international sanctions.

Global operations

As of 2022, ING operates in the following countries:
Following the separation of ING Group into ING Bank and ING Insurance, the head office of ING Bank and ING Group was the Amsterdamse Poort building.
ING's corporate head office is situated in Cumulus Park, Amsterdam's innovation district in the south-east of the city. The five-storey building has a glass facade and is named after the Cedar tree, symbolising sustainability and growth. Its framework, with its layered branches and open spaces in between, is characteristic of a Cedar.
ING House was the head office of NN Group and located in the business district of Zuidas in Amsterdam, Netherlands from 2012 to 2014. It was designed by Roberto Meyer and Jeroen van Schooten and was officially opened on 16 September 2002 by then Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.

Recent notable transactions

Capital injection and repayment

In October 2008, in a move to increase its core Tier 1 capital ratio above 8%, ING Group accepted a capital injection plan from the Dutch Government. The plan supplied €10 billion to the operation, in exchange for securities and veto rights on major operational changes and investments. The European Commission also required ING to divest itself of its insurance and investment management operations by the end of 2013 as a condition of approving the state aid.
In December 2009, ING raised €7.3 billion through share issues, and repurchased securities representing half of the €10 billion in state aid. It repurchased another €2 billion in May 2011, and looked to complete the repayments by May 2012. However, in January 2012 it cited eurozone conditions in putting the repayment timetable as 2012–2013 for the remaining €3 billion. The final tranche of €1.025 billion was paid on 7 November 2014, half a year ahead of the repayment schedule as agreed with the European Commission in 2012.