'I'm pleased with our results in the third quarter,' said ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk.
'We saw continued lending growth in mortgages, whereas loan demand from businesses was influenced by the economic effects of the Covid pandemic. Even so, our commercial lending margins were slightly higher and we saw strong fee growth in account package fees, investment products and lending.
'Expenses were under control, the quarter includes a EUR180 million provision we took for the compensation of Dutch retail customers for past interest charges that did not sufficiently follow market rates. On risk costs, we were able to release some of the additional provisions we took earlier. Other issues are moving to the forefront for clients, like disruptions to supply chains, rising energy prices and increasing inflation. We'll continue to support our clients wherever we can. I'm grateful for our customers' loyalty, as we gained about 95,000 primary customers since the last quarter, bringing the total number of primary customers to 14.1 million.
'We aim to digitalise processes in order to increase productivity and decrease the time customers have to spend on banking. At Interhyp in Germany, the digital mortgage platform called 'HOME' is used by customers, advisors, brokers and bank partners. Today, nearly 500,000 customers use the digital self-services the platform provides. This has led to a marked decrease in manual workload for advisors and partners, and a much faster decision for customers.
'In Romania, where over 70% of our customers connect with us through their mobile device, we now have a complete digital product offering, including personal loans, insurance, investments, savings, current accounts, shopping programmes, mobile card payments and virtual cards. Our mobile sales in Romania have more than tripled since 2019.
'We continued to take steps in the third quarter to be an action leader in the fight against climate change, sharpening our target for reducing our funding to upstream oil and gas and working to set net-zero targets for the eight other sectors in our Terra approach. Many of our clients trust us as their strategic partner in achieving their sustainability and long-term growth ambitions, such as leading data-centre provider Aligned. They're taking good steps on sustainability in the area of digital infrastructure. ING has received four consecutive sustainability-related mandates from Aligned over the past 12 months, helping them issue the first data-centre sustainability-linked loan and the first green data-centre securitisation.
'We've launched a share buyback programme as we start on the path to optimise our capital while maintaining our focus on our customers. I am pleased we could return capital to our shareholders, and thank them for their understanding throughout the distribution restrictions during the pandemic.
'Our hybrid mode of working is beginning in ING countries around the world and colleagues are slowly starting to return to the office, but we need to remain vigilant until the pandemic is truly over. In the meantime, I remain grateful for everyone's flexibility and commitment.'
ING PROFILE
ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank's more than 57,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries.
ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
Sustainability forms an integral part of ING's strategy, evidenced by ING's leading position in sector benchmarks.
ING's ESG rating by MSCI was upgraded to 'AA' in December 2020. ING Group shares are included in major sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) index products of leading providers STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell. In January 2021, ING received an ESG evaluation score of 83 ('strong') from S&P Global Ratings.
IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION
Elements of this press release contain or may contain information about ING Groep N.V. and/ or ING Bank N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) to (4) of EU Regulation No 596/2014.
ING Group's annual accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union ('IFRS-EU'). In preparing the financial information in this document, except as described otherwise, the same accounting principles are applied as in the 2020 ING Group consolidated annual accounts.
Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions and customer behaviour, in particular economic conditions in ING's core markets, including changes affecting currency exchange rates (2) the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and related response measures, including lockdowns and travel restrictions, on economic conditions in countries in which ING operates, on ING's business and operations and on ING's employees, customers and counterparties (3) changes affecting interest rate levels (4) any default of a major market participant and related market disruption (5) changes in performance of financial markets, including in Europe and developing markets (6) political instability and fiscal uncertainty in Europe and the United States (7) discontinuation of or changes in 'benchmark' indices (8) inflation and deflation in our principal markets (9) changes in conditions in the credit and capital markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness (10) failures of banks falling under the scope of state compensation schemes (11) non-compliance with or changes in laws and regulations, including those concerning financial services, financial economic crimes and tax laws, and the interpretation and application thereof (12) geopolitical risks, political instabilities and policies and actions of governmental and regulatory authorities (13) legal and regulatory risks in certain countries with less developed legal and regulatory frameworks (14) prudential supervision and regulations, including in relation to stress tests and regulatory restrictions on dividends and distributions, (also among members of the group) (15) regulatory consequences of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, including authorizations and equivalence decisions (16) ING's ability to meet minimum capital and other prudential regulatory requirements (17) changes in regulation of US commodities and derivatives businesses of ING and its customers (18) application of bank recovery and resolution regimes, including write-down and conversion powers in relation to our securities (19) outcome of current and future litigation, enforcement proceedings, investigations or other regulatory actions, including claims by customers who feel mislead and other conduct issues (20) changes in tax laws and regulations and risks of noncompliance or investigation in connection with tax laws, including FATCA (21) operational risks, such as system disruptions or failures, breaches of security, cyber-attacks, human error, changes in operational practices or inadequate controls including in respect of third parties with which we do business (22) risks and challenges related to cybercrime including the effects of cyber-attacks and changes in legislation and regulation related to cybersecurity and data privacy (23) changes in general competitive factors, including ability to increase or maintain market share (24) the inability to protect our intellectual property and infringement claims by third parties (25) inability of counterparties to meet financial obligations or ability to enforce rights against such counterparties (26) changes in credit ratings (27) business, operational, regulatory, reputation and other risks and challenges in connection with climate change (28) inability to attract and retain key personnel (29) future liabilities under defined benefit retirement plans (30) failure to manage business risks, including in connection with use of models, use of derivatives, or maintaining appropriate policies and guidelines (31) changes in capital and credit markets, including interbank funding, as well as customer deposits, which provide the liquidity and capital required to fund our operations, and (32) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V. (including the Risk Factors contained therein) and ING's more recent disclosures, including press releases, which are available on www.ING.com.
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ING GROEP N.V. 
