Business Forum • 17 February, 2025 at 2:52 PM
The increase in the number of customers and the portfolio of loans granted, as well as the increase in the volume of deposits attracted were among the factors that contributed to the consolidation of ING Bank Romania's financial results in 2024.
”The ING team achieved very good commercial and financial results in 2024, the year in which we celebrated 30 years of activity on the local market. We recorded a remarkable increase in the number of customers and the bank's assets, while profitability remained relatively constant, in the context of the introduction of the new turnover tax. At the same time, the cost of risk remained low, in line with our prudent risk and provisioning policy. We also continued the accelerated pace of investments in new services and functionalities, but also in the resilience and security of our systems, as well as in projects with social impact. The ING team remains committed to its 1.9 million customers and follows its vocation as an innovative and responsible bank,” Mihaela Bîtu, CEO, ING Bank Romania.
The value of deposits attracted from customers exceeded the threshold of RON 70 billion (up 11% compared to 2023), while the gross loan portfolio reached RON 45 billion, up 18% compared to the same period in 2023. In 2024, ING Bank Romania recorded a good level of profitability, with a gross profit of RON 1.83 billion, approximately at the same level as in 2023. The amount of corporate income tax and turnover tax for the financial year 2024 amounts to over RON 465 million, plus VAT and other categories of taxes.
Innovation has guided the way for new products launched in 2024
Innovation has continued to underpin the products and solutions launched last year to respond relevantly to customers' everyday needs.
One such example is ING Together, a product available in the Home'Bank app, which brings transparency and efficiency to the management of family budgets or groups of friends. It allows access to the same current account to up to 4 people (including foreign citizens) over the age of 18 and can be activated online, without the need to go to the bank. Also in the direction of better expense management, ING has launched Statistics, a Home'Bank tool that allows customers to track and analyze their monthly expenses by different categories.
The security of customer transactions is a priority for the ING team and we are constantly investing in this area. Starting last year, the bank's specialists can detect fraudulent transactions and suspicious operations carried out in the banking application from other geographical areas through a new geolocation service launched in 2024, available in Home'Bank. The system can flag transactions made at the POS and unusual bank transfers, but also actions initiated in Home'Bank, such as viewing card data or authorizing secure payments. This filter is all the more relevant as approximately 1.6 million ING Bank customers, respectively 85% of the bank's total 1.9 million customers, use the Home'Bank mobile application.
Also, the "Permissions" functionality in Home'Bank offers users the possibility to disable certain types of card transactions, such as cash withdrawals from ATMs, cryptocurrency transactions or "gambling" payments.
A new chapter in the direction of sustainability
Sustainability remains a priority for ING Bank Romania, and the year 2024 stood out through strategic projects, with clear long-term ambitions, but also concrete initiatives in several areas.
ING Bank Romania recorded remarkable results in the field of loans with sustainability components. In 2024, mortgage loans granted to individuals for homes with class A energy certificates amounted to 382 million euros. In addition, the volumes of sustainable financing mobilized through loans or bond issues for corporate clients reached over €1.5 billion.
In the area of community investments, ING's involvement has largely meant strengthening strategic partnerships, such as the Environmental Platform for Bucharest or Banometru, but also the development of integrated interventions in schools. In total, €7.2 million were invested in projects with an impact on the community, especially in environmental, financial health and education projects.
Among the environmental projects is the expansion of the Environmental Platform in Cluj through the In Your Area program, which brings together initiatives and finances environmental projects in the vicinity of ING offices, as well as the consolidation of the Environmental Platform for Bucharest. With ViitorPlus we updated the Harta Reciclării project, and through the ROENEF caravan and the Energy Efficiency Academy we contributed to the promotion of energy efficiency and brought together 160 energy experts and auditors.
In 2024, Banometru ran the Debt Challenge, a program that guided over 12,000 people in the process of improving their relationship with money.
In the field of education, we launched Începe la Școală, a unique pilot project that tests an interdisciplinary method of working together with a consortium of 4 organizations. The consortium acts unitarily in 10 schools and is based on four pillars: infrastructure and energy efficiency, healthy relationships and wellbeing, quality of teaching methods and civic participation.
On the entrepreneurial track, we were especially present in supporting female entrepreneurship through the Visa She's Next program, developed together with Visa and Impact Hub, where about 1000 people signed up for the competition.
ING Bank has entered into new partnerships for financial sustainability and digitalization
ING Bank Romania is a dedicated partner for its clients and has contributed over the years to the development of many local and international companies. Over the 30 years, the bank has grown together with its customers. A notable example is the customer Digi, for which ING has brokered transactions of over €3 billion in the last ten years alone. In 2024, ING facilitated a €150 million loan for Digi Romania and Digi Communications, the telecommunications operator's parent company, facilitating the expansion of their operations.
In addition to supporting large companies, ING has expanded its portfolio of digital solutions for SMEs, by launching products such as the Util 100% online credit line (through which entrepreneurs can obtain up to 500,000 lei online without trips to the bank) and the Business Deals platform, which offers access to business-to-business discounts, negotiated by the bank's consultants for entrepreneurs.