What is ING?
ING Group is a global financial institution of Dutch origin with more than 110,000 employees. ING offers banking, insurance and asset management to more than 60 million clients in over 50 countries. The clients are individuals, small and medium businesses, large corporations, institutions and governments. INGs mission is to set the standard in helping its customers manage their financial future. ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent businesses that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand. ING wants to contribute to the socio-economic development of the communities where it does business. Microfinance is an important tool for that by providing sustainable access to financial services for small entrepreneurs and individuals in third world countries.
Our Commercial activities in Microfinance offer new market opportunities for investment, wholesale and retail banking. In India, the rural branches of ING Vysya Bank serve Self Helf Groups with loans and savings products. In addition ING Vysya, in cooperation with ING Wholesale/Green Finance, also provides loans to several microfinance institutions in India and has a total outstanding portfolio of EUR 9 million*, reaching 75,000 women. Furthermore ING Green Finance has an outstanding portfolio of loans to Eastern European microfinance institutions of EUR 4,5 million*.
ING Green Finance aims to expand the current portfolio of loans to microfinance institutions. Interested parties are invited to contact ING Green Finance: Mr Richard Paardenkooper or Mr Nuno Spier van Zwicht (see contact details below).
(*January 2006).
Corporate Responsibility: ING Microfinance Support
ING has set up ING Microfinance Support, a programme based in the Netherlands and aimed at raising awareness of microfinance and giving employees working in the Netherlands the opportunity to participate in the development of microfinance. 3,000 employees joined the special network and are active in awareness-raising activities for microfinance or by investing in microfinance funds. Furthermore, through partnerships ING offers microfinance institutions the opportunity to engage ING employees as advisors on microfinance projects all over the world. They contribute their individual expertise to assist microfinance institutions with improving their operations and expanding their services.
ING Partnerships
In October 2004 ING entered into a partnership with Oikocredit and the UNCDF. These partnerships are focused on working together for the strengthening and growing of the microfinance sector. It consists for example of the transfer of knowledge and expertise.
Currently we are researching the possibility of working with more partners in this field. We have started working with Women’s World Banking and Opportunity International.
The ING Offer for technical assistance
As part of the cooperation with our partners ING offers to make available an ING-employee to assist or advise partners of Oikocredit, WWB, Opportunity International and UNCDF. The ING advisor is willing to share his/her experience with MFIs with regard to specific projects.
Form
The assignments will be short-term, up to a maximum of 8 weeks. Two times 4 weeks (or less) is also possible. Follow-up relationship (by email, telephone) may be possible as are follow up assignments.
What type of projects?
ING supports MFIs that are facing a challenge or specific project and that need some extra capacity to sort it out, to think about a solution or to assist a MFI in (starting) the implementation.
Track record
Since the start of ING Microfinance Support (October 2004) technical assistance projects for Microfinance in the field of Product & Marketing Management, Risk Management, Credit Analysis, Internal Audit, Financial Management and MIS, Database Management and IT Security have been executed. We have been working in the Philippines, Montenegro, Serbia, Nicaragua, Mexico, Russia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and the Netherlands.
Apart from the activities directly related to Microfinance, ING has a longstanding experience with technical assistance to Financial Institutions in emerging markets.
Regions with representation: Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America.
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