When Andrew Bester joined ING just over four years ago to lead its wholesale banking division, he quickly identified the strengths and weaknesses of the transaction services franchise. “We had phenomenal product capability and transaction services at its broadest,” he recalls. “But what I identified quite quickly is that we didn’t have the right commercial focus on it.”
What followed was a strategic overhaul – a move that allowed ING to redefine how it positions itself with clients and in the market. “Transaction services is the heartbeat of the wholesale bank,” says Elvira Kruger, who moved from running the wholesale bank’s real estate and infrastructure business to lead the transaction services unit. “We gave it that identity because the concept of heartbeat speaks to the importance of this product proposition and to our relationship with the clients.”
We’re no longer just providers of capability – we’re partners in our clients’ decision-making. That’s what we’re building ING around.
Andrew Bester, ING
The strategy has begun to yield results. In the first quarter of 2025, ING reported strong fee growth in transaction services, attributed to higher product volumes, success in liquidity management and increasing demand for trade solutions. “Transaction services is now about a quarter of the wholesale banking topline contribution,” says Kruger. “We think in a more mature state, we should probably be at about a third: that’s the goal.”
From capability to commercialisation
Bester and Kruger’s approach is grounded in using existing capabilities as building blocks. Notional pooling and structured finance, for example, were already areas of recognised strength. “Through Bank Mendes Gans, we’re the leading cash pooling business in the world,” Bester says. The task was to ensure that ING’s transaction services solutions, spanning 29 countries, were brought closer to the client.
“Firstly, we needed to make sure our own teams understood the strengths we have. Externally, we needed to better position these strengths with clients. If you’re a large global organisation with a European footprint, you need to understand what we can do for you in Europe. We have now a systematic way of engaging with clients,” says Bester.
With over two decades at ING, Kruger brought a client-centric mindset to what had long been a delivery-focused function. “My job was to really find the way to bring the product capabilities closer to the coverage and the origination capabilities,” she explains. “Part of that was really repositioning the teams within the product organisation.”
That meant not just tweaking the org charts, but redefining roles. “Transaction services is an interesting one because there is an enormous tech component, there is a huge operational component,” Kruger says. “There is also the need to understand what is it that the client needs and how you meet your clients where they are. We see ourselves in more of an advisory role now than historically.”
Thinking ahead
For Bester, the key to maintaining relevance lies in anticipating change and helping clients navigate it. “There are very big challenges that are escalated to the CFO or treasurers’ desks,” says Bester. “Whether that’s managing some of the volatility that’s happening across interest rates, commodity prices, supply chains.” In this context, advisory services have become central to ING’s proposition. “The role of the bank has changed a lot,” he adds.
That shift is particularly evident in trade finance, where clients are dealing with more than just geopolitical tensions or tariff shifts. They are also responding to technological disruption and increased complexity in global operations. “What we have seen, and it already started with COVID, but certainly has continued with the current geopolitical environment, [is] that it’s become a lot more about a combination of efficiency and resilience,” says Kruger. “I think that change in mindset on the treasurer side is very important.”
Transaction services is now about a quarter of the wholesale banking topline contribution. In a more mature state, we should probably be at about a third: that’s the goal.
Elvira Kruger, ING
In the fast-evolving payments space, ING’s emphasis is on pragmatism over hype. “2025 is the year of instant payments,” says Kruger. “Now within Europe we need to make sure that we can process payments within 10 seconds, 24/7. What does that mean then for a treasurer of a company? All of a sudden, you’ve got all this money coming in at all points in time during a week.”
That shift demands new levels of insights and flexibility. “It certainly requires a change from our standpoint or at least an understanding that we need to provide more flexibility and better and quicker insights,” she says.
On ISO 20022, Kruger is clear: “we, as an industry, have invested a lot into making sure that we have a better standardised approach and a better language and enriched data. So now we need to follow through.”
Repositioning sustainability
As the organisation evolves, ING is also linking its sustainability goals with its core banking operations, particularly in trade and financing. “We’ve always financed complex infrastructure and complex assets. We look at these financing opportunities differently now, because you need to understand the entire value chain,” Bester explains. Trends like near-shoring and supply chain diversification are also having an environmental effect.
Younger leaders at ING are also pushing this agenda from within. For Kruger, this adds a new dimension to the bank’s focus on sustainability: “this is very important to them. Since they are the future of the bank, we need to listen.”
Beyond an internal transformation, ING managed in the past four years to reposition its transaction services unit both internally and externally.
The advice comes not from being “the wise guys in the room,” as Kruger puts it, but from helping clients navigate complexity with confidence. “What do we know? What do we see? And how can we use that to try and make our clients’ lives easier?”
For Bester, it comes down to partnership. “We’re no longer just providers of capability – we’re partners in our clients’ decision-making. In a world that’s becoming more volatile and interconnected, that advisory role, that depth of understanding and that ability to act fast – that’s what clients expect. And that’s what we’re building ING around.”