ING has signed a partnership with several actors who all bring complementary qualities and skills: the Deloitte consulting firm, the innovation arm of the international messaging bank network SWIFT (SWIFT Innotribe), several investment structures (Belcube, SmartFin Capital, Eggsplore) and the Startups.be support network. ING has created the first accelerator dedicated to financial technologies. Unlike incubators, which help promising start-ups in the preparation and execution of their launch phase, this project is for startups who have already taken this initial step and who are ready to launch their products or services.

Thanks to their specific areas of expertise, each partner brings their own added value to the project. ING FinTech Village allows start-ups to follow a coaching programme so that they can quickly prove the relevance of their concept and then test their" proof of concept" in a real banking context. The objective is to favour the development of existing start-ups and speed up innovation, in order to come up with solutions that improve the client experience  and enrich the FinTech sector. With this project in Belgium, ING is taking a new step to show its commitment to innovation and to allow its clients to stay a step ahead in life and business.

In February, ING also took a participation in the SmartFin Capital venture capital fund for an amount of EUR 7.5 million. Launched at the end of 2014, the fund's objective is to invest exclusively in FinTech.

Together with a few entrepreneurs (notably the co-founders of Ogone, Clear2Pay and Key trade) and representatives of its partners, ING aligns an impressive number of people and collaborators from all its business lines, including IT, innovation, marketing, retail banking, savings and investment, services to companies, etc.

What about Luxembourg?
FinTech is also generating a lot of interest at the moment in Luxembourg, where it is a key element of the government's strategy. The presence in the Grand-Duchy of several financial institutions, European institutions and payment infrastructure managers creates a unique environment. The close proximity of decision-makers and regulatory authorities makes Luxembourg an ecosystem focused on FinTech solutions and rich with knowledge, expertise and know-how.

ING Luxembourg will not only contribute to this initiative but benefit from it as well, as innovation is now more than ever at the heart of ING's strategy. It's a way for ING to stay connected with technological dynamism and contribute to its digital banking strategy by being surrounded and advised by a network of experts who will help it reinvent the banking profession.

At global level, ING has understood the situation quite well, appointing a person responsible for FinTech who reports directly to the Chief Innovation Officer, Brunon Bartkiewicz. Benoit Legrand, the current CEO of ING France, will take over as "Head of FinTech" on 1 October.
He will be in the Grand-Duchy on 17 November to speak at the" Luxembourg Finance Management Summit", a gathering of several hundred professionals from the financial sector.