One in four ING POS customers accepts payments directly on their mobile phone, via ING SoftPOS

One year after its launch, the ING SoftPOS application, which turns the Android mobile device into a POS, is enjoying success among Romanian entrepreneurs. One in four ING customers with POS accepts contactless payments (made with card or phone) directly on their mobile phone, through ING SoftPOS. Every month they perform more than 100,000 transactions and the traded volumes are growing substantially.

Furthermore, ING has also implemented instant payments for small and medium-sized businesses in the ING Business internet banking application. Therefore, any payment in lei, with a value of less than 50,000 lei, sent to an IBAN of a bank that has joined the instant system, will be collected immediately by the business partner, without any additional costs or extra steps. ING launches the “Banking even more for small and medium-sized businesses” campaign and continues to improve the user experience of its customers, starting from the dialogue with them.

“At ING, innovation is the result of continuous conversations with our customers, and the rate of adoption of new options and services represents, for us, the success rate of the projects developed. ING SoftPOS is a successful example of this, and the latest version released has incorporated our customers’ suggestions.
At the same time, we improved the user experience in the ING Business application, so that almost 70% of entrepreneurs now access the internet banking platform from their mobile. Our goal is to provide a complete digital experience to customers, and in-person consulting adds value to the operations they perform every day. “Banking and more and” is ING’s philosophy by which we commit ourselves to stay close to our customers at every stage of growth, listen to them and offer them tools that are truly relevant to their business needs,” said Luana Sorescu, Head of Clients, Business Banking division, within ING Bank Romania.

For Romanian entrepreneurs, the flexibility of financial options, the digitization of banking services and access to consulting are key factors for medium- and long-term business development.

Flexibility of financial options and digitization, key factors in the relationship with the bank

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At ING, small and medium-sized businesses enjoy predictability and flexibility with the ING Fix current account packages, which offer fixed monthly costs and access to the ING Business and ING SoftPOS applications. We created the ING Fix packages so that entrepreneurs can focus on what is most important to them – business growth, and the relationship with the bank is a fixed factor in an unpredictable environment that they face every day.

ING was the first bank in Romania to introduce four packages with fixed monthly costs on the market: ING Fix Util, Online, Lei, Currency and Complete, depending on the needs of each business. Moreover, they can change their package quickly whenever there are changes in the type of transactions. At the same time, the crediting needs of entrepreneurs are covered by ING Util, which provides access to quick and easy credit for those who manage small and medium-sized businesses. Companies can instantly receive up to 500,000 lei for a maximum period of 5 years, without material guarantees, for current expenses, new business opportunities or expenses specific to the performance of the activity.

Investing in personal development as an entrepreneur has a direct impact on business development

According to a study carried out by ING Bank, Impact Hub and Bravva Angels, half of the entrepreneurs in Romania are sole founders, and 45% are between 35 and 44 years old and 29% between 25-34 years old. These data indicate the increased interest in entrepreneurship and the desire to succeed through one’s own efforts.

Entrepreneurs learn the most from doing (71%) and interacting with other business people (62%), while 54% prefer to take classes and 43% watch webinars. At the same time, one in two entrepreneurs declares that mentoring and communities dedicated to them are an important need for business development, almost as important as access to financing.

On the other hand, the study reveals that the lack of investment in personal development as an entrepreneur has a direct impact on business development. By supporting the Startarium platform and the ScaleOut program, organized in partnership with Romanian Business Leaders, ING has created a strong community around Romanian entrepreneurs, in order to offer them the necessary levers for personal development, but especially for their businesses.

Thus, within the ScaleOut 4×10 program – scaling program organized by the Romanian Business Leaders Foundation (RBL) and ING Bank Romania, 40 Romanian companies from four regions of the country will be selected. The program is intended for entrepreneurs with a turnover of over 1 million euros, with growth ambitions at national and regional level. RBL and ING will be with entrepreneurs throughout the growth process, from the creation of the expansion plan to its implementation.