荷蘭ING銀行的網路銀行戰略
GERMANY』S third-biggest retail bank has no branches. It is also Dutch. And it is highly profitable. ING-DiBa, an online bank owned by ING, the Netherlands』 biggest lender, looks after €133bn ($154bn) of deposits for over 8m customers. In a fragmented market—most Germans entrust their savings to small, local banks—that means a share of around 6%. ING-DiBa』s lack of branches keeps costs down, allowing it to resist charging for current accounts and offer savers a tad more than rivals, despite a recent cut; and it has won a name for good service in a country not renowned for it. While other banks struggle after years of ultra-low interest rates, ING-DiBa thrives. Its return on equity exceeds 20%.
德國的第三大零售銀行沒有分支機構，與此同時也是一家荷蘭銀行，利潤奇高。這就是是荷蘭最大的銀行荷蘭國際集團（ING）下屬的網上銀行荷蘭國際直銷銀行（ING DIBA），為800多萬客戶管理著近1330億歐元（1540億美元）的存款。在碎片化的市場里，大多數德國人將儲蓄存放在約佔市場份額6%的本地小銀行。荷蘭國際直銷銀行（ING DIBA）沒有分支機構，能不斷降低成本，剋制對活期賬戶收費的想法，並為儲戶提供比競爭對手更多的收益，儘管最近收益減少了；它在一個自己不出名的國家裡贏得了優質服務的好名聲。在其他國家因連年超低利率而苦苦掙扎之時，荷蘭國際直銷銀行（ING DIBA）卻茁壯成長，股票回報率超過20%。
ING as a whole is in fair shape, too. On November 2nd it reported net third-quarter earnings of €1.4bn, slightly more than a year earlier. The group』s return on equity was a healthy 11%, nearly two percentage points up. Since 2014 the number of 「primary」 customers (with an active current account and another product) has climbed by 25%, to 10.5m. By 2020 ING aims to have 14m. They are especially valuable because they want further services and because frequent transactions yield reams of data.
荷蘭國際集團（ING）在整體上運行良好。11月2日發布的第三季度財報顯示有14億歐元的凈利，略高於去年同期。該集團的股本回報率為11%，提升了近兩個百分點，十分可觀。自2014年起，「主要」客戶的數量（有活躍的經常賬戶和其他產品的客戶）攀升了25%，達到1050萬人。到2020年，ING的目標是增加到1400萬。由於他們想獲得更進一步的服務，又因為頻繁的交易能產生大量數據，所以「主要」客戶的價值尤其重要。
Banks prattle a lot about digital strategy. At ING, the talk is far more convincing than in most. Last year Ralph Hamers, the chief executive, unveiled a plan costing €800m to bring the whole bank onto one digital platform and to save €900m a year by 2021. It is closing 600 Belgian branches; 7,000 jobs will go.
銀行業一直在談論數字戰略問題。在ING的討論比大多數的更有說服力。去年，首席執行官拉爾夫哈默斯（Ralph Hamers）宣布了一項計劃，將花費8億歐元把整個銀行整合到一個數字平台，且在2021年前每年節省9億歐元。它將關閉600個在比利時的分支機構，裁掉7000個工作崗位。
Roel Louwhoff, who is overseeing the digital transformation, explains that ING aims to build 「components」—processes and products—that can be used across the group, so that costs can be saved and customers better served. Examples include the way new customers are taken on, and security procedures. The bank has borrowed from other industries, for instance by studying how carmakers use common parts in several models. In ING』s honeycomb of a headquarters in Amsterdam is an 「Obeya」 room (Japanese for 「big room」: Toyota was a pioneer of the idea) in which plans are co-ordinated and updated. (It is closed to visiting journalists.)
負責數字轉型的羅埃爾·洛沃夫（Roel Louwhoff）解釋稱，ING的目標是建立流程和產品的「零件」，並能在整個集團內使用，進而節約成本，更好地服務客戶。例如招新客戶的方式以及安全流程。該銀行借鑒其他行業，例如研究汽車製造商在多個車型中使用公共部件的方式。在ING的阿姆斯特丹總部里，蜂窩是一個「Obeya」式房間（即日語的「大房間」：豐田是這個觀念的先驅者）。在個地方，人們協調、更新計劃。（不對來訪的記者開放。）
One fruit will be Model Bank, the standardisation of processes in European online banks (except in Germany), based on those already followed in Spain and Portugal. A 180-strong team in Madrid is developing Model Bank, which ING will deploy next year in the Czech Republic before moving on to Austria, France and Italy.
一個成果會是標準銀行模型，即遵循的歐洲在線銀行（除德國）流程標準化。這在西班牙和葡萄牙都已實現。在馬德里有一個180多人的團隊正在開發標準銀行模型。ING明年將在捷克共和國使用這個模型，然後應用於奧地利、法國和義大利等國。
It helps that ING has for years been on the digital trail abroad: it bought 49% of DiBa in 1998 and has owned all of it since 2003. Yet the early start was almost ING』s undoing. Before the financial crisis, says Koos Timmermans, the chief financial officer, it managed the balance-sheets as well as the operations of the foreign online banks and the conventional business separately. The online banks attracted plenty of deposits but lacked assets; they bought lots of bonds, many backed by American mortgages. The domestic bank had ample loans but relied on wholesale funding.
多年來，ING一直在國外展開數字業務，這種經驗是有益的：它在1998年收購了荷蘭國際直銷銀行（ING DIBA）49%的股份，自2003起擁有所有股份。然而，在最初的時候，ING無所事事。首席財務官庫斯·提莫曼斯（Koos Timmermans）稱，在金融危機爆發之前，ING分別管理資產負債表、國外網上銀行運行以及常規業務操作。網上銀行吸引了大量的存款，但沒有資產；他們購買了大量債券，其中許多是美國抵押貸款所支持的。國內銀行有充足的貸款，但依靠批發融資。
When the crisis struck, this dual exposure to capital markets proved calamitous. The Dutch government bailed ING out to the tune of €10bn in 2008 and later took over the American mortgage securities (on which it eventually made a profit). As a condition of state aid, the European Commission obliged ING to sell its insurance arm and its online bank in America. Other businesses, including online banks in Britain and Canada, were also offloaded. ING finished repaying the aid in 2014. Dividends restarted the next year.
當金融危機來臨時，這種雙重曝光的資本市場是災難性的。荷蘭政府2008年向ING提供了高達100億歐元的緊急援助，後來接管了在美國的抵押貸款證券（並最終獲利）。作為接受國家援助的條件，歐洲委員會要求ING出售其保險業務及其在美國的網上銀行業務。其他包括英國和加拿大的網上銀行的業務也下線了。ING在2014年底償還援助資金。從明年會重新開始分紅。
Dutch treat
荷蘭式的方式
Nevertheless, says Mr Timmermans, branchless banking was 「a smash hit」. ING has learnt its lesson, he adds. Now the balance-sheets 「are more in sync」. At the foreign online banks, savings still outstrip loans (mostly mortgages). Trying to lend more where people are more inclined to save may not pay. But today』s ING is wary of bonds. 「Never, ever, will we collect savings and invest in the bond market,」 Mr Timmermans says, except for liquidity needs. Instead, ING smooths imbalances internally—for example, by putting $5bn of loan assets generated in America onto its German balance-sheet.
儘管如此，提莫曼斯稱，無分支機構的金融業務是「明智之舉」。他還表示，ING吸取了教訓。現在，所有資產負債表都「更為同步」。在國外的網上銀行，儲蓄仍然大於貸款（主要是抵押貸款）。想要借錢給那些更願意存錢的人可能不會那麼簡單。不過，今天的ING對債券持謹慎態度。提莫曼斯稱，除了流動性需求，「我們從未收集儲蓄並將其投資於債券市場，也永遠不會。」。相反，ING在內部略有虧損，比如，把產生於美國的50億美元貸款資產放到德國的資產負債表上。
There are gaps. ING hopes to lift the share of revenues from fees and commissions from 15% to 20% in the next four years, reducing its dependence on interest income. Stefan Nedialkov of Citigroup notes that European banks averaged a 24% share last year—but also that ING is picking up the pace. In the first nine months of 2017 fees rose by 12% year on year.
差距的確存在。ING希望能在未來四年將手續費和傭金收入從15%提高到20%，減少對利息收入的依賴。花旗集團的史蒂夫·尼迪亞科夫（Stefan Nedialkov）指出，去年，歐洲銀行該類平均收入佔24%——但同時ING也正在趕超。2017前九個月，ING該類費用同比增長了12%。
The online banks are pushing into more sophisticated products than current and savings accounts and mortgages. ING is happy to find allies. In September it formed a partnership in Germany with Scalable Capital, a robo-adviser. Last year, with Kabbage, an American financial-technology company in which it has a stake, it started offering online loans, available within minutes, to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Spain. It has recently started doing the same in France and Italy. In October the bank launched a €300m fund to invest in fintechs.
網上銀行正推出比活期存款、儲蓄賬戶和抵押貸款更為複雜的產品。ING很樂意能找到盟友。九月，在德國，ING和一家機器人顧問公司英國智能投顧（Scalable Capital）達成合作。去年，與其持股的美國金融科技公司卡貝其（Kabbage）合作——該公司以向西班牙中小型企業（SMEs）提供幾分鐘內的在線貸款發家。最近，它在法國和義大利也開始發售貸款。十月，該銀行推出價值3億歐元融資基金，用於投資金融科技（fintechs）。
This shift is a test for branchless banking. 「The jury is still out on whether we will accomplish the same on the SME side」 as in basic retail banking, says Mr Timmermans, though he believes young entrepreneurs will be keen. ING has not yet 「cracked the nut」 of avoiding bad credits. But, he adds, it makes no sense to open branches just for SMEs. With ever fewer people visiting banks, the online model must move on. How far and how fast? ING will be among the first to find out.
這種轉變對無分支銀行業務來說一種考驗。提莫曼斯說：「目前尚不確定，我們能否像基本的零售銀行業務那樣，在中小企業界獲得同樣的成功。」雖然他認為年輕創業者十分渴望能成功。ING尚未「解決難題」，即避免壞賬。但他還表示，只為中小企業開設分支機構是毫無意義的。隨著越來越多的人訪問銀行，在線模型必須繼續進步。走多遠，走多快？ING將是最先發現解決方法的銀行之一。
編譯：張楚燕
審校：張嘉揚
編輯：翻吧君
來源：經濟學人
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