More than two decades since setting up wholesale banking operations in the Philippines, Dutch financial giant ING has entered retail banking using a pioneering all-digital platform that offers higher-than-market interest rates alongside a string of “game-changing” features.
“The Philippines is on the road to become an upper middle income economy and Filipinos have more disposable income,” ING country manager Hans Sicat said during the launch of the digital platform on Tuesday. “ING wants to encourage more Filipinos to save by giving an attractive interest rate of 2.5 percent [a year] with no minimum amount and no lock-in period. We want to help promote a healthy savings mind-set and with our high interest rate, to help Filipinos achieve their savings goals faster.”
ING’s digital platform had gone live last year but fine-tuned afterwards to incorporate customer feedback prior to the grand launch. Starting June 1, interest rate will be raised to 2.5 percent from 2 percent a year—about 10 times higher than the rates typically offered by other savings products in the market today.
This is a great time for ING to get into all-digital banking given that the Philippine growth story is presenting a lot of opportunity not just in the corporate market long served by ING but also in the individual space, Sicat said in a press briefing. He added that this rollout was very timely given that a lot of Filipinos are digital natives.
Using innovative technology in a country with a median age of 23, ING aims to make a dent in the local retail banking scene, which is currently dominated by players with vast brick-and-mortar footprint.
Mohamed Keraine, head of retail at ING Philippines, said this was the first bank savings product where all the transactions would be conducted only through the ING mobile app. It is also the first bank to be authorized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to allow end-to-end electronic onboarding of the customers via the mobile phone, by using the latest in facial recognition technology. Deposits can also be done via fund transfers from other banks that are on the PESONet or Instapay platforms.
“We are pushing the boundaries of how customers can deposit anytime, anywhere. With the ING mobile app, a customer can deposit to his account by taking a picture of any check issued by any bank based in the Philippines,” Keraine said.
“The check image goes to the same interbank check clearing system. This game-changing feature is the first-ever approved by the Philippine Clearing House Corp. Customers can transfer funds free of charge to any bank in the Philippines in just a few clicks via the ING app,” Keraine said.
Before the end of the year, the platform will also offer bills payment options and other features. The deposit-taking capability enabled by this platform can help boost ING’s lending portfolio, not just to consumers but also to wholesale clients.