“I’m pleased with our results in the third quarter,” said ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk. “We saw continued lending growth in mortgages, whereas loan demand from businesses was influenced by the economic effects of the Covid pandemic. Even so, our commercial lending margins were slightly higher and we saw strong fee growth in account package fees, investment products and lending.
"Expenses were under control, the quarter includes a €180 million provision we took for the compensation of Dutch retail customers for past interest charges that did not sufficiently follow market rates. On risk costs, we were able to release some of the additional provisions we took earlier. Other issues are moving to the forefront for clients, like disruptions to supply chains, rising energy prices and increasing inflation. We’ll continue to support our clients wherever we can. I’m grateful for our customers’ loyalty, as we gained about 95,000 primary customers since the last quarter, bringing the total number of primary customers to 14.1 million.
“We aim to digitalise processes in order to increase productivity and decrease the time customers have to spend on banking. At Interhyp in Germany, the digital mortgage platform called ‘HOME’ is used by customers, advisors, brokers and bank partners. Today, nearly 500,000 customers use the digital self-services the platform provides. This has led to a marked decrease in manual workload for advisors and partners, and a much faster decision for customers.
- 3Q2021 result before tax of €1,924 million; capital position strengthens, CET1 ratio at 15.8%
- Strong growth in fee income of 20% year-on-year, net interest income resilient.
- Operating expenses remain under control. This quarter’s expenses include €180 mln provision for compensation to Dutch retail customers with certain consumer credit products.
- Risk costs remain low as overall book quality is strong.
- Resumption of capital distribution through dividends and launch of share buyback programme in October.