ING will cease its online banking activity in France from 2022. An Employment Protection Plan has been signed with the unions.
For several years, many people have already been seduced by the concept of online banking. But not all the companies that offer this service have experienced the same trajectory; today we learn that ING has just formalized its withdrawal from the French market; the first online bank in France will soon cease all activity with us.
The world recalls that the Dutch firm arrived in France in 2000 hoping to revolutionize traditional agencies, which dragged their feet when it came to the Internet era. She finally resigned herself after two decades of consecutive financial losses; at the end of the day, they are “difficulties related to the current economic context” and the “negative financial results recorded by online banking in recent years”Which eventually convinced the board of directors to pack up.
A job protection plan and a sale of the customer portfolio
In an interview with World, a spokesperson clarified that the employees “will gradually leave the company from March 2022”. In its press release, however, ING announces that it has signed an agreement with the trade unions to set up a Job saving plan regarding “around 460 job cuts”. This plan will still have to be validated by the Regional and Interdepartmental Directorate for the Economy, Employment, Labor and Solidarity.
As for its million customers, the situation is much more blurred. For now, they continue to benefit from the usual services offered by online banking. But the bank explains that it “is currently investigating with third parties the possibility of concluding an agreement regarding its customer portfolio”.
According to The gallery, three candidates would have positioned themselves to benefit from this disposal process: Crédit mutuel Arkéa, Crédit mutuel Alliance Federal and Boursorama, the subsidiary of Société Générale. Customers could therefore be offered an attractive offer to transfer their finances to one of these operators. But this is yet to be confirmed, and the bank promises “to inform each customer and partner individually before any change concerning products and services ”.
