Best bank: ING
By far the biggest bank by assets in the country and boasting nine million account holders, ING is also the best bank in the Netherlands this year.
It performed particularly strongly thanks to higher rates and a low cost of risk. As a group, ING doubled its profit in 2023 to €7.3 billion, up from €3.7 billion in 2022. Return on equity came in at 14.8%, up from 7.2% a year earlier, even while it boosted its common equity tier-1 ratio from 14.5% to 14.7% in 2023.
That compares with ABN Amro’s very respectable 12.2% return on equity in 2023 off a similar capital base and a €2.7 billion net profit.
ING is mostly a retail bank, famed for its digital prowess, while also running a wholesale business. Both performed well in 2023. Its retail bank in the Netherlands was also able to grow fee income in 2023, for example on payment packages.
ING continues to innovate. It has launched Everyday Roundup in the Netherlands, which allows customers to round up their payments and automatically move the difference to their savings accounts. The idea is to make saving instant and easy. By the end of the year, over 1.5 million people had used this in the seven countries where it’s offered, including 120,000 in the Netherlands.
ING also went live with a new online application process for business loans in its home market, consisting of an instant offer and decisioning, along with digital signing.
The bank deserves recognition as one of the European champions of sustainability. Noteworthy transactions in its home market in 2023 include the €540 million syndicated sustainability-linked loan for food and agribusiness company Acomo. ING was sole sustainability coordinator and facility agent on that transaction, for which it was also a mandated lead arranger.
ING mobilized €12 billion of sustainable finance in the Netherlands last year through 63 transactions, which included 20 sustainability-linked loans.
Best investment bank: JPMorgan
JPMorgan is the best investment bank in the Netherlands. It led the investment bank revenue rankings with a 10.1% market share, ahead of second placed UBS with 7.4%. Still sometimes regarded as a financing bank, JPMorgan owes this to its M&A prowess. For example, it advised Dutch bioscience company Koninklije DSM and provided a fairness opinion on its €17.7 billion merger of equals with private Swiss fragrances firm Firmenich.
First agreed in 2022, that deal crossed the finish line in May 2023. JPMorgan was also a joint global coordinator on the subsequent €730 million share placement by DSM-Firmenich to finance the buyout of minority shareholders that did not tender into the merger-exchange offer.
Best digital bank: Bunq
Dutch neobank Bunq delivered impressive financial results and continued to improve its platform with the introduction of new functionality.
In its first full year of profitability, the firm posted a net profit of €53.2 million in 2023, following a €10.5 million loss in the previous year. This was underpinned by a substantial increase in net interest income, which more than tripled to €127.1 million. The bank’s balance sheet growth was equally impressive – increasing from €2.06 billion to €7.42 billion.
The key driver was user deposits, which surged nearly fourfold to €6.92 billion. This generated a 30% increase in user fee income, which amounted to €59.5 million. Transaction volumes also soared, with monthly transactions growing by 79% to 44.1 million and total transactions reaching 528.4 million.
The bank also launched its artificial intelligence-powered personalized financial management platform, Finn. This offers tailored financial advice, budgeting tools and spending analytics.
The bank also partnered with insuretech company Qover to launch travel insurance across seven of its markets. Users can make claims and access travel certificates, with Qover’s claims data dashboard helping to simplify the process.
Best bank for SMEs: Rabobank
Rabobank has leveraged strategic partnerships, innovative financing and sustainable investments to support Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises.
It provided €1 billion in new lending for Dutch small businesses and mid-caps via its longstanding partnership with the European Investment Bank. Funds were delivered through two recently signed facilities: one involving impact loans for sustainable entrepreneurs and the other aimed at businesses struggling with the challenging economic environment.
The bank also enhanced access to short-term financing for SMEs through its partnership with the German fintech Banxware. Banxware’s embedded lending solution allowed the bank to integrate its financing products into its digital business platforms, enabling SME entrepreneurs to apply for short-term financing within 15 minutes.
The lender also allocated €51 million to support SMEs in their sustainable transformation efforts. The bank contributed up to 12.5% of investments made by SMEs in sustainable projects.
Best bank for ESG: ING
ING made significant progress in advancing global decarbonization efforts, while also enhancing transparency and sustainability in its operations.
The bank dominated the Netherlands’ sustainable financing market. It mobilized €12 billion, completing 63 sustainable finance deals and issuing 20 sustainable loans. This put the bank well on track to mobilize €125 billion annually in sustainable finance by 2025.
The bank also continued to reduce financed emissions in its lending portfolio. Emissions in the power generation sector were reduced by 31.3%, while upstream oil and gas emissions saw a decrease of 47.5%. Progress was also noted in other sectors including automotive, shipping, cement, steel and aviation.
ING also made headway in improving the robustness of its internal environmental, social and governance structure. It standardized its climate reporting format to align with the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures recommendations and extended its restrictions on financing midstream activities in oil and gas. It also adopted a comprehensive strategic framework focusing on net-zero buildings, sustainable procurement, technology and conscious working practices.
Best bank for corporates: ING
ING’s trade and supply chain finance business saw significant progress in 2023, expanding its client base to 5,000 and increasing programmes to around 200. This growth encompassed over 14,000 suppliers and was made in collaboration with 40 partner banks. The portfolio is now valued at €140 billion.
The bank’s cash management and payment network facilitated more than four billion transactions last year. Its digital investments focused on streamlining onboarding and know-your-customer (KYC) processes. The bank’s InsideBusiness corporate banking platform introduced new features that reduced outreach time by over 50%, driving the opening of 600 new accounts. ING also launched two innovative ventures, CoorpID and BlacksmithKYC, aimed at streamlining KYC compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
ING also piloted a SoftPOS solution in the Netherlands and made enhancements to the iDEAL payment system.
