With Money20/20 about to open in Amsterdam, local bank ING is showing its innovation chops with a slew of announcements around SME financing, fintech investments and smart money management.
“Thanks to Funding Options, business owners will now have access to a wide choice of financing options that they can easily compare and conclude on one platform – even if they aren’t an ING customer,” says Vincent van den Boogert, CEO of ING in the Netherlands. “This platform will enable them to compare what’s on offer and allow us to make alternative sources of financing available to them quicker than before. For instance, there are market parties that have developed specialist financing options, such as working capital, leasing or debtor financing. These are an excellent addition to the wide number of options that ING already provides. By lining up all these options next to each other, we’re offering the SME business community the most extensive selection on a single platform.”
In a related move in neighbouring Germany, ING’s venture capital unit ING Ventures has participated as a lead investor in a $10 million Series A financing round for SME financing startup FinCompare, which offers a marketplace model equivalent to that being set up by the bank in its home market.