Annual Review 2015
Our strategy
At ING we believe that our purpose as a financial institution is to contribute to the sustainable development of society by empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. This is the essence of our Think Forward strategy.
In 2015, we made good progress implementing this strategy, structuring the organisation and promoting the culture we need to deliver on our Customer Promise.
Our focus is on being a leader in the digital customer experience based on easy, 24/7 access, simple products and services and tools to help customers make sound financial decisions.
To do this, we aim to be clear and easy, make financial services available anytime and anywhere, to empower, and to keep getting better for customers. This is our Customer Promise.
Empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business
In 2015, our work in implementing the Customer Promise was recognised by the growing number of primary relationships, defined as customers with a current account and at least one other product with us. It was also reflected in high NPS scores. Over the course of 2015, customers rated us number one compared to peer banks in seven of our leading markets: Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain.
Sustainable development
Contributing to the sustainable development of society is also an integral part of the Think Forward strategy. Our sustainability focus is directed on two areas: enhancing the financial capabilities of clients and non-clients and supporting companies to make the transition to more sustainable business models.
We financially empower by making banking accessible and easier to understand. We serve communities where we operate through programmes to teach financial literacy in schools. And through our partnership with UNICEF we support life skills training including financial literacy training for adolescents in less developed countries.
We see sustainability as a source of competitive advantage for companies. The sustainable transitions financed by ING amounted to EUR 23.8 billion by the end of 2015.
We also broadened our sustainability approach in Industry Lending and in General Lending and extended it to other parts of Wholesale Banking.
Elements of our strategy
Our Think Forward strategy was launched in March 2014 and guides everything we do.
Our Strategic Priorities
To deliver on our Customer Promise and create a differentiating customer experience, we have identified four strategic priorities.
Enablers
To support our strategic objectives, we need to do four main things: simplify and streamline, further strive for operational excellence, enhance our performance culture, and diversify our lending capabilities.
Strong performance in 2015
We made progress in 2015 building a bank able to support our customers and to fulfil its obligations to our stakeholders in the future.
