ING Group N.V.
Explore ING Group
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
ING Group N.V.
Explore ING Group
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Company History
Founded 1991 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1991, Amsterdam: the merger of Nationale-Nederlanden, one of the Netherlands' largest insurance companies, and NMB Postbank, a bank with roots in the Dutch postal savings system, created a financial institution with both insurance and banking capabilities under a single corporate structure. The combination was called ING — Internationale Nederlanden Groep — and it was, from the beginning, an entity that didn't fit neatly into conventional banking or insurance categories.
The 1997 launch of ING Direct in Canada was the experiment that changed the industry. A bank account with no branches, no fees, and a higher-than-average interest rate — accessible only by telephone and, eventually, the internet. The proposition was simple enough to explain on a billboard and compelling enough to attract millions of customers who had never considered switching banks before. ING Direct expanded to the United States, Germany, Spain, France, Australia, and the United Kingdom within a decade.
The 2000 acquisition of Bank Brussels Lambert added corporate banking capabilities in Belgium. The 2007 acquisition of Oyak Bank in Turkey added emerging market exposure. The 2008 global financial crisis exposed the gap between ING's deposit funding base and its investment portfolio — a mismatch that required the €11 billion Dutch state bailout that triggered the European Commission's forced divestiture requirements.
The 2018 AML fine of $845 million — imposed by Dutch prosecutors for systemic failures in transaction monitoring and customer due diligence — represented both a financial cost and an operational catalyst. The compliance infrastructure investment that followed has been substantial, and the cultural change it forced has been cited by management as a necessary, if painful, transformation.
The creation of ING Group in 1991 was the culmination of decades of consolidation within the Dutch financial sector. Nationale-Nederlanden, with roots tracing back to 1863, had grown into the Netherlands' premier life and non-life insurance provider, possessing massive actuarial reserves and long-term investment horizons. NMB Postbank, formed from the 1881 Nederlandsche Middenstands Bank and the state-owned postal giro system, commanded the largest retail deposit base and SME lending network in the country. As European financial deregulation loomed in the late 1980s, the leadership of both institutions recognized that standalone domestic entities would be vulnerable to aggressive cross-border expansion by larger British and German banks. The merger committees orchestrated a highly complex integration, officially launching Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING) to leverage cross-selling synergies between insurance policies and retail banking products. This foundational strategic vision transformed ING from a domestic utility into a global financial powerhouse, setting the stage for its aggressive international expansion and the pioneering launch of its direct banking model in the late 1990s.
Nationale-Nederlanden and NMB Postbank merged to create ING Group.
ING acquired Barings after its collapse, expanding investment-banking exposure.
ING received Dutch state support during the global financial crisis.
ING continued the separation of insurance activities as it refocused on banking.
Steven van Rijswijk became CEO during the pandemic and low-rate banking cycle.
ING reported EUR 25.678B total income and EUR 8.324B profit attributable to owners.
Rescued Barings after the Nick Leeson derivatives trading scandal collapsed the 233-year-old bank. ING acquired Barings for £1, inheriting its client relationships and Asian banking network.
Acquired Equitable of Iowa to expand US life insurance and annuities, later sold as part of ING's post-2008 divestiture program.
Major US insurance acquisition to build ING's American life insurance platform, subsequently divested.
Turkish retail banking acquisition to build presence in an emerging European market; later sold in 2019.
ING Group was formed in 1991 through the merger of insurer Nationale-Nederlanden and banking group NMB Postbank.
ING is growing through mobile-first retail banking, more products per customer, wholesale sustainable finance, payments, data-driven credit scoring, and automation of compliance and back-office processes.
The history explains why ING's current moat, culture, and capital allocation look the way they do.
This profile includes major milestones, leadership changes, and strategy shifts for ING.