A multi-year, exclusive bancassurance partnership between major lender ING and insurance giant AXA has been announced that will see property & casualty (P&C), health and protection insurance solutions offered to ING customers in six countries – France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria and Australia – via its mobile app.
This agreement sees ING step back into the insurance sector for the first time since divesting its businesses in the industry two years ago.
The move falls in line with ING’s ‘Think Forward’ strategy, a comprehensive plan to develop the firms digital presence that saw an initial pledge of €800 million back in 2016. For AXA, the partnership is hoped to develop its payer-to-partner strategy and explore new risk potential.
Ralph Hamers, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ING Group, commented, “Our partnership with AXA adds an important dimension to our ambition to build one customer-centric platform. Adding personalised protection products that are life stage driven, will ensure we keep our customers ahead in life, empowering them to stay in control, in line with their widening demands.”
“The initiative will also contribute to diversify our income. We are excited to embark on this journey with AXA and we are united in our vision. We believe that, between our leading digital banking capabilities and AXA’s unparalleled insurance expertise, we will be able to build an international platform of significant value to our customers.”
CEO of AXA, Thomas Buberl, added, “We are excited about the opportunity to partner with ING to deliver a significant step change in the future of digital insurance solutions, leveraging our joint digital capabilities and innovative assets, and providing a differentiated customer experience to address ING customers’ protection needs.”
“The partnership with ING represents a strong meeting of minds and a shared ambition of becoming a partner in our customer’s life journey. This is another key step in AXA’s transformation, fully aligned with our payer-to-partner strategy. We will indeed accelerate our growth in Europe and build innovative insurance solutions and services that have the potential of creating more frequent interactions with the customers”
