ING Bank Romania obtained, in the first half, a gross profit of 441 million lei, up 19% compared to the same period in 2020, and total revenues of 1.1 billion lei, up 6%, announced Monday bank.
In the first half of the year, the bank had attracted deposits amounting to 46.1 billion lei (+ 13%), and the loan portfolio stood at 30.4 billion lei (+ 9%). The costs with provisions were of 134 million lei (-33%).
“We started the year on a positive note, which marked the first half of the year. We see an increased confidence of all categories of customers in the economic recovery, many of them resuming their plans postponed due to the pandemic. In this positive context, our portfolio loans and sales increased significantly, while provisioning costs decreased significantly, leading to a 20 percent increase in profit. year reaching in just two and a half months the level of the entire year 2020 “, underlined Mihaela Bîtu, CEO of ING Bank Romania.
According to the bank, contactless payments continue to rise steadily, a trend accelerated by the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today, almost one in four POS card payments is made with an ING card. And online commerce continues to grow. The number of card transactions has increased by 20% compared to the first half of 2020, while the value of payments in commerce “ING recently introduced the ability to copy card details directly from the mobile app to merchant payment authorization pages for a more enjoyable and faster shopping experience,” the statement said.
At the same time, ING continued its digital strategy and launched a new product, all the more relevant in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic: the provision of ING Health Protect, which covers the risk of surgery due to an accident or illness, and which can be completed 100% digitally.
“The production of new mortgages increased by 21% in the first half of the year against the background of the growing interest of Romanians for more generous living spaces or closer to a green area. This interest translated into an increase of almost 50 % of the applications received for the New House program “, the bank ‘s representatives claim.
According to the quoted source, in the middle of April, the Business Banking division within ING announced that it will continue to offer financing under the umbrella of the SME Invest program in 2021 as well.
Thus, by June, ING received over 4,000 applications, compared to the 7,500 registered throughout 2020. The value of loans approved in the two and a half months of operation of the program this year is similar to that recorded throughout the year 2020. Accordingly, ING Bank requested that the ceiling be supplemented in order to continue to offer this financing option until the end of the year.
Regarding the process of digitization of tools dedicated to entrepreneurs, ING continued the process of migrating existing customers in the application for the business segment, where 48% of log-ins took place from mobile devices.
In the segment of large companies, the second quarter also brought new green financing to the bank’s portfolio. After intermediating the first green bond issue of NEPI Rockcastle last year, in April 2021, the Wholesale Banking division ING Bank Romania transformed the standard loan granted to the group into a “green” one, with a value of 100 million euros.
According to the bank, the standard loan, originally contracted in 2017 by NEPI – the largest owner of shopping centers in Central and Eastern Europe, has become “green” by adding environmental, social and governance components. The financing has reconsolidated the commitment of the two companies to promote the transition to a green economy.
“This comes in the context of ING’s recent announcement that it has joined the Net-Zero banking alliance to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve zero net emissions by 2050. Guided by Terra’s own innovative methodology, ING continues its strategy of identifying opportunities for green financing and supporting sustainable customer objectives through dedicated financial solutions, knowledge and expertise, “the statement said.
ING Bank Romania is part of ING Group, a global international financial institution, which offers banking services to over 38.8 million individual customers, companies or institutions in over 40 countries. ING Bank Romania is a universal bank with over 1.6 million customers from three business segments: individuals (retail), SME and Mid-Corporate companies and Wholesale Banking.
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