ING today announced it has invested in Hong Kong fintech WeLab. WeLab provides consumer loans in China and Hong Kong in a fully automated process that takes minutes from application to approval. The investment is in line with ING's strategic priority to increase the pace of innovation to serve changing customer needs by working with both dedicated internal teams and with external partners and startups.

The investment announced today follows the equity stake ING had taken in US based fintech, Kabbage, a leading platform powering automated lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). ING made this public on 14 October 2015. On 21 October, the two companies announced a partnership and the start of a pilot in Spain. In September 2015, ING also announced that it had taken over Qustomer, a digital loyalty platform in Belgium to benefit from the natural fit between loyalty and mobile payments.

"The stake we have taken in WeLab and the other investments prove that we are determined to transform banking to further improve the customer experience. We will look at the possibilities of starting a partnership with WeLab in ING markets," said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING.

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ING EUR 10,455 -39,5ct vol. ruim 3 milj.