ING invests in Hong Kong fintech WeLab

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Jan. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ING today announced it has invested in Hong Kong fintech WeLab. WeLab provides consumer loans in China and Hong Kong in a fully automated process that takes minutes from application to approval. The investment is in line with ING's strategic priority to increase the pace of innovation to serve changing customer needs by working with both dedicated internal teams and with external partners and startups.

The investment announced today follows the equity stake ING had taken in US based fintech, Kabbage, a leading platform powering automated lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). ING made this public on 14 October 2015. On 21 October, the two companies announced a partnership and the start of a pilot in Spain. In September 2015, ING also announced that it had taken over Qustomer, a digital loyalty platform in Belgium to benefit from the natural fit between loyalty and mobile payments.

"The stake we have taken in WeLab and the other investments prove that we are determined to transform banking to further improve the customer experience. We will look at the possibilities of starting a partnership with WeLab in ING markets," said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING.

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Press enquiries		Investor enquiries
Diederik Heinink		ING Group Investor Relations
+31 20 576 2847		+31 20 576 6396
[email protected]		[email protected]

ING Profile ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank and holding a significant stake in the listed insurer NN Group NV. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank's more than 52,000 employees offer retail and commercial banking services to customers in over 40 countries. ING Group shares are listed (in the form of depositary receipts) on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, ING.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N). Sustainability forms an integral part of ING's corporate strategy, which is evidenced by ING Group shares being included in the FTSE4Good index and in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Europe and World) where ING is among the leaders in the Banks industry group.
Important legal information Certain of the statements contained in this document 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, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING's core markets, (2) changes in performance of financial markets, including developing markets, (3) consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro, (4) ING's implementation of the restructuring plan as agreed with the European Commission, (5) changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, sources of liquidity such as interbank funding, as well as conditions in the credit markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness, (6) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (7) changes affecting mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (8) changes affecting persistency levels, (9) changes affecting interest rate levels, (10) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (11) changes in investor, customer and policyholder behaviour, (12) changes in general competitive factors, (13) changes in laws and regulations, (14) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (15) conclusions with regard to purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, (16) changes in ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss, net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (17) changes in credit-ratings, (18) ING's ability to achieve projected operational synergies and (19) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the risk factors section contained in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V. Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and, ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

pdf version of press release http://hugin.info/130668/R/1980034/725323.pdf

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ING invests in Hong Kong fintech WeLab

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