ING shuts down PH retail operations

ING Bank will quit its four-year-old retail banking operations before the end of this year while it bolsters its wholesale banking business and expands its global shared services operations, The Netherlands-based firm said on Friday.

Intended as the first step and foundation for a broader plan for retail banking in Asia, ING said its retail business in the Philippines had showed good progress, commercial momentum and growth potential.

But the bank said that “the uncertain global macro situation in the last few years led to ING deciding not to expand the activities to other countries, which meant that the retail operations in the Philippines had to be re-assessed for its scalability as a standalone business.”

No change

The bank’s retail business currently serves more than 380,000 customers with savings accounts, current accounts, and consumer lending. ING Philippines has around 120 employees in both wholesale and retail banking.No change

According to ING, its retail customers in the Philippines may carry on as usual, since there is no change to their accounts.

Retail clients can continue to access their funds and accounts anytime and their money remains safe and secure. Focus, however, will shift to other areas, particularly wholesale banking. “ING will continue to invest in growing our wholesale banking business to strengthen our position in the country, and we have plans to increase our focus on sustainable finance. Our high-profile hires are steps in this direction,” said Hans Sicat, country head of ING Philippines.

“We hope to take advantage of the growth prospects in various sectors like renewable energy, technology, media and telecommunications, infrastructure, financial institutions, among others,” Sicat added in a statement.

He said that over some 30 years, ING had developed strong and steady partnerships with a number of the Philippines’ largest corporations and financial institutions.

“We are proud of our leading positions in M&A (mergers and acquisitions), corporate advisory and capital markets,” Sicat added.