Ing Groep Nv

Hey Steven, welcome to second quarter on air.

Hey Melinda.

It's almost summer time, is your out of office on yet?

Not yet.

So we've been doing this for a few quarters, what do you think my first question is?

How do you feel about the quarter?

Oh my gosh, you're psychic. How do you feel about the quarter?

Well, in one word I would say excellent. We had very strong results in all of our business lines. More customers doing business with ING, more customers choosing for ING. So yeah, I'm happy with the excellent quarter.

So looking at wholesale banking, what stood out for you there?

It was very solid. Strong results across lending, trade, banking and financial markets. We saw in the past quarter that we had some delayed deals coming out of the pipeline because given all these uncertainties. This quarter we continue to momentum with new deals as clients continue to invest in our business. So a good momentum. And last but not least, we continue to help our customers get to a lower carbon economy. And that means that in the first half of this year, our sustainable finance mobilized grew with 28% compared to the first half of 2025. So really good.

Okay, and so looking at retail banking, how did we do there?

Yeah, very strong quarter as well. There we saw a continued increase in lending. If you look at mortgages, we helped more customers with them buying their homes and us financing it. If you look at business banking, very strong finance growth as well. And more people invested with ING. As you know, that's a big focus area for us because we want to get more Europeans invested.

Speaking of investments, we made an acquisition. 40% of Singularbank in Spain. Do the possibilities get you excited?

Very excited. There's a lot of excitement there. As you know, we have always said that we would use acquisitions in case we could become more relevant or impactful in a speedier way in a market in which we're active. Looking at Singular, it's a very good bank. They built a very good business and it also helps us to support our customers in a broader service area that we until now did not have. So that's good and it also helps us to become the best European bank, which is an ambition of us.

I mean, the best European bank, that sounds like a pretty lofty goal.

Yeah, and why shouldn't it be? And I believe we have all that it takes to become the best European bank. I mean, for customers and clients, that is the first benefit. The second thing is, of course, for Europe. I mean, if you look at the society, the society will benefit from a strong ING. Because we can help companies and societies to grow, to innovate, and also to help Europe become more competitive and more prosperous. And last but not least for ING as well, because if we're strong, if we're competitive, if we're relevant, that will also help us in a very fast-moving market. And therefore we need to be strong and we need to grow ourselves.

So looking ahead with the rest of the year, what remains your focus?

Well, we build great momentum. We continue to focus on supporting our customers to grow in a disciplined way. And we continue to invest in our business and deliver value.

So now it's time for vacation. What are your plans?

I'm going to enjoy the summer. I'm going to spend time with the family. I'm going to put my phone on mute and try to not look at it too often.

Good luck with that. Thank you very much. See you next time.