The Dutch group ING established itself in France in 2000 with the ambition of competing with aging agency networks in no hurry to participate in the Internet revolution. France’s leading online bank, featuring an Orange savings account with attractive remuneration as a call product, ING Direct has contributed to the modernization of the banking sector. After twenty-one years of losses, ING has however decided to leave the online banking market in France, as it announced on Tuesday, December 21 in a press release.
A decision “taken because of the difficulties linked to the current economic context, and in particular the low interest rates”
This decline is not a surprise. In June, the financial institution launched a strategic review of its retail banking activities in France. A decision “Taken because of the difficulties linked to the current economic context, and in particular the low interest rates, the negative financial results recorded by online banking in recent years and its relatively limited market share”, then explained ING.
In addition to online banking, the establishment also carries out corporate and investment banking activities in France, which it will keep. While the French branch now has 700 employees, ING will implement a job protection plan (PSE) concerning “About four hundred and sixty job cuts”.
“Employees will gradually leave the company from March 2022”, specifies a spokesperson. The time for ING to find a buyer for the approximately one million customers of its online bank. “Customers continue to benefit from the usual online banking services, he says. Customers and partners will be informed individually before any change in products and services. “
A hypercompetitive market
Several banks looked at the file, in particular the Crédit Mutuel Alliance Federal, which however did not submit offers. Boursorama, the online banking subsidiary of Société Générale, however, has never hidden its interest in this portfolio of customers considered interesting. Because they have taken out mortgage and life insurance with ING, invested in the stock market or opened savings accounts, they are much less volatile than those recruited by other neobanks. “Customers who look like ours”, summarizes a leader. “Boursorama will probably recover, whatever the outcome of this case, customers!” “, said on Tuesday, December 21, Frédéric Oudéa, the boss of Société Générale, in an interview with The gallery.
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