ING Bank NV Philippines is gearing up to provide loan products this year, expanding its banking services to tap more customers.
“Our focus now for ING Loan is building a strong value proposition and good customer experience,” ING Philippines Head of Retail Mohamed Keraine told the BusinessMirror.
To recall, ING announced last year that it will be introducing consumer loans in its portfolio of offerings.
Keraine, however, declined to provide a target amount of borrowings for 2021 as it was “too early to give a figure.”
Given the economic slowdown amid the pandemic, many customers have been struggling to settle their borrowings on time, as evidenced by the increasing nonperforming loans.
While this may pose as a concern, the ING official said it has no comment yet on how it will affect the bank’s loan portfolio.
“We will have to look at the overall situation when our consumer loan product is launched,” he told the BusinessMirror.
Keraine, however, said the bank would be able to support the economy and its customers.
“We remain committed to empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business,” he told the BusinessMirror.
This year, ING is also eyeing to further the growth of its retail and wholesale banking business.
Keraine shared that the bank’s app downloads and sign-ups doubled year-on-year on the retail front since its launch in November 2018. In addition, the wholesale banking segment was able to support clients with several bond issuances and sustainable finance.
“As we have demonstrated our ability to support corporate and institutional clients amidst the pandemic, we are confident that we will continue to do so and identify opportunities for our clients,” he said.
“As more Filipinos are appreciating the benefits and security that digital banking has to offer, we are also confident that we will continue to gain traction with our frictionless and safe banking proposition,” he added.
Last year, the all-digital bank introduced ING Pay, which is a payment solution app that charges zero fees on transactions.
It is aimed at making payments through the following features: bills payment, virtual Visa debit card and real-time InstaPay transfers.
The app currently has over 70 pre-enrolled billers and merchants, including utility, insurance and credit card companies.
The bank installed a security measure on the ING Pay account, which asks the users to verify personal details when accessing the account in a different phone. In addition, ING said there is a maximum deposit insurance of P500,000 per depositor.
“We also know that managing and moving funds digitally to support one another is important especially during this time. Transferring funds from ING to other banks has been free of charge since our launch in 2018 and we intend to keep it this way,” Keraine told the BusinessMirror.