ING Bank delivering superior experiences with real life banking approach

2023 was a fruitful year for ING Bank Romania, thanks to its strong focus on offering lifestyle-friendly products and services that can be accessed anytime and anywhere. Business Review sat down with Eleni Skoura, executive board member and head of retail banking, to discuss the most recent developments.

By Anda Sebesi

What is your leadership style and how does it support your company’s performance?

My approach thrives on inclusivity, collaboration, and fostering a high-performance team environment in a family-like culture. ING has cultivated an extraordinary culture that genuinely nurtures authenticity, providing fertile ground for my leadership style to flourish and drive high-impact results.

I lead by making sure that every member of the team is and feels heard and valued, harnessing the collective potential of our team. I feel that this inclusivity not only empowers our colleagues but also promotes innovation and ownership. I also greatly value collaboration as the fuel for collective effort and I believe that it solidifies the sense of unity and support among team members.

Performance-wise, I advocate for a culture of excellence where clear goals, continuous feedback, and professional growth are paramount. However, it’s very important for me for everything to be powered by joy and respect for work-life balance. The family-like atmosphere within our team is aligned with the bank’s overall culture, which values and promotes authenticity and mutual support. Celebrating each other’s successes, navigating challenges together, and prioritising a balanced work-life approach are practices that resonate with the bank’s ethos.

In essence, the nurturing and authentic culture of the bank has been a catalyst for the effectiveness of my own leadership style. This environment has fostered a resilient and passionate team that is bringing remarkable results in client satisfaction, operational excellence, and business growth.

What were your main professional achievements in 2023?

2023 was very successful for ING Bank Romania overall. In Retail specifically, we’re very proud of having maintained our status as the most client-recommended bank in Romania (Net Promoter Score). We not only met, but surpassed our business objectives, which represented a confirmation of our strategic approach and the hard work of our great team. Our employee engagement levels increased, reflecting a commitment to our vision and to delivering exceptional services. We introduced several client innovations, further solidifying our position at the forefront of customer-centric banking and kept improving our clients’ banking experience. We strongly believe in real life banking, which means offering lifestyle-friendly products and services that can be accessed anytime and anywhere. We focus on delivering a complete digital experience to facilitate this approach, with our super-app, ING Home’Bank, being the perfect example in this regard. Currently, around 83% of the bank’s active private individual customers use Home’Bank in their daily lives, while nearly 90% of them solely use their mobile phone to do banking. This is why I like to say that digitalization is not only part of ING’s DNA but also, increasingly, of our customers’ DNA.

What were the biggest challenges your business sector faced last year and how did you navigate them?

The main challenges of last year were navigating an economic environment that was marked by inflation and interest rate fluctuation, while the digital transformation race intensified. We kept our focus in investing in the delivery of a superior banking experience, providing financial health advice to our customers to help them make informed decisions in this changing economic landscape, and adapting our products to better suit the economic conditions.

Goals for 2024: