THE HAGUE: Leading Dutch bank ING said Wednesday it would press ahead with its strategy of digitalisation, as rising customer numbers helped boost profits last year.
"Our commitment to our customers and progress in accelerating our 'Think Forward' strategy are evident in the good results and continued customer growth we posted for both the fourth quarter and full year 2017," said chief executive, Ralph Hamers.
ING launched its "Think Forward" initiative in 2014 to meet customers' growing demand for digital banking via mobile devices.
The strategy is paying off, said Hamers.
Net profit rose by 5.5 percent to 4.9 billion euros ($6.1 billion) last year, ING said. And revenues were up 1.4 percent at 17.7 billion euros, a "solid result," the group said, that "reflects business growth at resilient margins, growth in commission income and low risk costs."
ING said its customer base grew to 37.4 million last year, "including a 900,000 increase in the number of primary customers to 10.8 million."
"Overall, there was strong commercial growth over 2017, with 26.9 billion euros of net core lending growth at resilient margins and a 19.0-billion-euro net increase in customer deposits," ING said.
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