ING profit increased by 98.3 percent to 7.3 billion euros

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The ECB interest rate – on which banks depend – has been at a record high for years. Banks benefit from this because they can charge high interest rates to their customers who borrow money. And that works especially well if savings interest rates are increased at a slower pace.

ING gives customers 1.5 percent interest on savings up to an amount of 10,000 euros. This is lower than competitors such as Rabobank and the de Volksbank brands (SNS, ASN and Regiobank).

Income is disappointing

Yet investors are not happy at all. The share price of ING Group fell sharply on the stock exchange. At the time of publication, a share is worth almost 9 percent less than yesterday at the end of the trading day.

Investors are afraid that the bank will benefit less from interest rates in the near future. In the last quarter of last year, the bank’s interest income barely rose, according to the quarterly and annual figures. The bank also recently announced that it wants to be less dependent on interest rates. And want to earn more in commissions.

According to CEO Steven van Rijswijk, this should include more digital services for investors. Another example is the option for customers to take out insurance online. Other European banks previously said they were taking steps to diversify more – as it is called in the banking world – because they take into account that the sharply increased interest rates will fall again.

Concerns about geopolitical tensions

The bank is less concerned about the future. No additional money was set aside for loans that may not be repaid. However, the bank remains ‘vigilant’ due to the various wars worldwide.