Back in 2024, the Dutch Ministry of Finance and the Dutch central bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, or DNB) both published reports on discrimination experienced by customers of banks. Unfortunately, some ING customers also experienced situations where they felt discriminated against. This was primarily caused by processes we are required by law to carry out to keep the financial system secure. These processes are designed to counter money laundering and terrorist financing, among other things. However, in many cases the problem was not be caused by the legal requirements as such, but rather by the way we fulfilled these requirements. Customers were repeatedly asked the same questions, for example, or they were kept waiting for or never received a proper explanation of why their account was under review or had been blocked. In May 2025, we apologised for this and presented an action plan. Today, one year on, we are seeing that changes in how we communicate, personal contact and the speed of the processes have made a huge difference for our customers.
“It’s good to see that there is now a greater regard for how customers are approached and how communications come across in practice.”
- Muhsin Köktaş, Chair of the Liaison Body for Muslims and Government (Contactorgaan Moslims en Overheid)
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"What has changed for customers?"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"There are now fewer cases of customers repeatedly being asked the same questions. Accounts are not blocked as quickly as before, because the bank now contacts customers at an earlier stage and explains more clearly what is needed.
The tone and clarity of our communications have a major impact on our customers. With this in mind, we have rewritten all our written communications based on feedback from customers and civil society organisations. Customers now have a better understanding of why we request certain information, what the next steps are, and whom they can turn to for assistance.
This has reduced frustration and stress and has brought greater predictability to customer due diligence processes.
Lengthy or unclear processes proved to have a particularly great impact on religious institutions. For some communities, this meant they had difficulty opening an account, receiving payments or organising activities. By deploying specialist teams, queries are now handled faster and institutions no longer have to keep explaining their situation.
“Opening an account for our church was virtually impossible for a long time. Now we can finally bank normally.”
- Genan Hanooki, Alliance Church
The key lesson from the past year is that experienced discrimination is rarely the result of a single decision. It is the result of a combination of factors: a letter without proper explanation, repeated questions, prolonged silences during the process, the absence of a point of contact. A review conducted correctly from a technical perspective may still be perceived as distrust, exclusion or discrimination. This calls for careful execution and communication, even if the review outcome does not change.
We remain committed, therefore, to improving the way we conduct these legally required reviews. The Discrimination Assessment developed by the State Committee against Discrimination and Racism (Staatscommissie tegen Discriminatie en Racisme) helps us take a critical look at how our communications and processes play out in practice, so that we can further improve them.
“While negative experiences can never be fully prevented, customers should be able to expect careful handling of their situation, clear explanations and room for personal contact. By continuously listening to our customers, we keep learning and improving.”
- Peter Jacobs, CEO of ING Netherlands
"},"video":{"type":"video","originalUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/asset/443416c7-2ac8-4287-be84-f2c6008487af/ING-NL-discrimination-update-July-2026-English.mp4","videoPreviewURLs":["https://assets.ing.com/asset/443416c7-2ac8-4287-be84-f2c6008487af/480p/ING-NL-discrimination-update-July-2026-English.mp4","https://assets.ing.com/asset/443416c7-2ac8-4287-be84-f2c6008487af/720p/ING-NL-discrimination-update-July-2026-English.mp4","https://assets.ing.com/asset/443416c7-2ac8-4287-be84-f2c6008487af/1080p/ING-NL-discrimination-update-July-2026-English.mp4","https://assets.ing.com/asset/443416c7-2ac8-4287-be84-f2c6008487af/mp4/ING-NL-discrimination-update-July-2026-English.mp4"],"thumbnails":{"mini":"https://assets.ing.com/asset/443416c7-2ac8-4287-be84-f2c6008487af/thumbnail/mini-ING-NL-discrimination-update-July-2026-English","webimage":"https://assets.ing.com/asset/443416c7-2ac8-4287-be84-f2c6008487af/thumbnail/webimage-ING-NL-discrimination-update-July-2026-English","thul":"https://assets.ing.com/asset/443416c7-2ac8-4287-be84-f2c6008487af/thumbnail/thul-ING-NL-discrimination-update-July-2026-English"},"extension":["mp4"]}},{"componentType":"highlight","richBody":{"value":"To further improve our processes, we are using the Discrimination Assessment developed by the State Committee against Discrimination and Racism (Staatscommissie tegen Discriminatie en Racisme).
This assessment identifies where employees have to make trade-offs in practice, such as between controlling risk and preventing unnecessary questions. The resulting insights help us be more targeted in the changes we make: