Before the year ends, The Netherlands-based ING Bank will close its four-year-old retail operations in the Philippines. It will, however, still continue to invest in its wholesale banking business and global shared services in the country.
“The closure is an intended first step toward a bigger retail banking program in Asia that can help expand our global shared services operations,” said Hans Sicat, country head of ING Philippines. He adds that the company’s retail business in the Philippines has been showing good progress, commercial momentum as well as growth potential.
However, “the uncertain global macro situation in the last few years has led to ING Bank deciding not to expand its activities to other countries, which meant that its retail operations in the Philippines had to be re-assessed for its scalability as a standalone business,” Sicat explained. According to him, the company’s retail customers in the Philippines may carry on as usual as their accounts will remain the same anyway.
Retail clients can continue to access their funds and accounts anytime. Their money will remain safe and secure. The bank’s focus, however, will shift to other areas, particularly in wholesale banking.
Taking advantage of growth prospects
“ING will continue to invest in growing our wholesale banking business to strengthen our position in the country. We also have plans to increase our focus on sustainable finance. Our high-profile hires are steps in this direction,” Sicat said. “At the same time, we are hoping to take advantage of the growth prospects in various sectors like renewable energy, technology, financial institutions, infrastructure as well as media and telecommunications, among others.”
He said that in the last 30 years, ING has developed strong and steady partnerships with a number of the Philippines’ largest corporations and financial institutions.
“We are proud of our leading positions in M&A (mergers and acquisitions), corporate advisory, and capital markets,” Sicat added.
The bank’s retail business started in late 2018 and now serves more than 380,000 customers with savings accounts, current accounts, and consumer lending. ING has also served corporate and institutional clients in the country since 1990. It currently has a workforce of about 120 employees in both its wholesale and retail banking operations.