Main objectives In this activity, you will apply the Business Model Canvas methodology to a digital company in the banking industry and learn how the tool works.

Description of the activity and instructions

You should read the case below and find the information needed to answer the following questions:

Questions to be solved: 1. What is the vision of ING? 2. Is ING a digital company? Justify your answer. 3. Draw the canvas of the ING business model. For this, you can use the free formats available on the Internet. 4. Explain each part of the Business Model Canvas described in the previous point.

The ING case ING is a Dutch financial institution that offers banking, insurance, and investment services. In 2007 it was one of the twenty largest institutions in the world in terms of its market value and, according to the Fortune Global 500, it was the seventh largest company in the world. However, the effects of the financial crisis in the first decade of the 21st century led to the announcement in 2009 that it was downsizing and retaining only its European activities. Its assets in America were therefore sold to other entities.

ING is currently the brand of the retail banking arm of ING Bank NV, a bank that belongs to the Dutch ING financial services group specializing in direct banking or online banking. It has 35.8 million customers distributed across six countries in two continents. It manages funds with a total value of more than 410,000 million euros.

What does the company stand for?

Anytime, anywhere. Banking should be possible anytime, anywhere, regardless of where and how people access our products and services. Authorize. The best financial decisions are informed decisions. Customers want relevant, up-to-date information at their fingertips. They need to understand their choices, and the implications, both today and for the future. Keep improving. Life and business are about moving forward. ING continues to look for ways to improve. With new ideas, new solutions and new means to make things easier for our customers.

How does it define its strategy?

The ING strategy is based on empowerment and the commitment to customers to make banking clearer and easier, available anytime, anywhere, and to keep getting better.

But banking is changing. It is being challenged by newcomers with new technologies such as blockchain, robotics and artificial intelligence. Customer expectations are also changing in view of their experience with the Internet and smartphones: personal, immediate, relevant and seamless.

They believe in the role of ING as a financial institution to support and promote economic, social, and environmental progress while generating healthy returns for shareholders.

To achieve this, it has defined a customer commitment based on four pillars: Clear and easy. Banking does not have to be difficult and time consuming. It is all about clear products, plain language, fair prices and simple processes which save both time and money.

Technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon are setting new standards for how people can interact with the brands they use. To become bigger and better, offering differentiation for customers, ING has to be where they are: on the digital platforms where they shop, socialize and do business. ING affirms, therefore, that it must either find clear and easy ways to empower people and companies on their preferred platforms, or convert itself into a business platform.

Platforms are empowering and have the capacity to put people in control of their own situation, as ING does. The real advantage, however, lies in the control of data. Knowing what people want and need is a great way of generating value for the bank and its users. It attracts more customers, which in turn attracts more business to the platform. A virtuous circle.

Another factor of platforms is that they are scalable, open and borderless, offering users the same experience wherever they are. With so little to differentiate the products of one bank from another, ING believes that customer experience will make it stand out.

To create this superior customer experience, ING focuses on four strategic practices and business models and captures the primary relationship. In doing so, it is redistributing the number of retail customers and publishing customer and transaction list results.

ING aims to simplify and standardize its products and processes, maintaining operational excellence, improving the business performance culture and expanding its lending capacity. The idea is for all customers, everywhere, to have the same experience with ING.

In Benelux, where it is the market leader, its strategy is to grow in selected segments. These are retail and wholesale businesses. It is therefore investing in digital leadership to offer a universal customer experience that is best in class, with an integrated banking platform and harmonized business model. It is making efforts to reinforce its position in markets that it considers challenging: Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Czech Republic and Australia. They aim to build a complete banking relationship, delivered digitally at low cost on platforms such as Welcome in Germany and Model Bank, to offer a unique and differentiating experience. Businesses can use their direct banking experience to increase consumer trends and lending to small and medium-sized businesses. They are also looking to increase the corporate customer base and build their capacity.