Strengths
- ING is a long established brand and is known for solidity and has been named in the Interbrand list.
- The organization has diversified into different financial services, such as banking, investments and insurance thus making it a well-known name and a big player in the financial industry worldwide.
- ING is well known for its innovative Internet banking activities in the last decade of the 20th century. This helped the bank to be synonymous with being an innovative bank that was on the customer’s side. The bank was known for charging no bank charges and providing customers with high rates of interest and lower lending rates.
- Further the organization is well known with its innovative products such as the “ING unmortgage”.
- ING has been in existence in many different countries for many years, either as ING or operating under other established names thus increasing confidence in its name.
- The organization has grown through mergers and acquisitions as well as through organic growth, thus making it a very strong business entity.
- The organization is able to cross sell its products and services as it has diversified into so many different areas of the financial services industry.
Weaknesses
- The organization in some parts of the world like Britain and in North America does not have strong presence when compared with banks such as RBS and BoA.
- Many individuals have the wrong notion that the organization has no brick and mortar branches and is a virtual bank only – thus denying it of the older and senior citizens market as a customer group.
- The organization has been growing through mergers and acquisitions more than through organic growth, which in certain aspects can be considered as a weakness rather than a strength.
- ING had to request for help from the Dutch government in the last month or so, thus projecting an image of weakness – even though in reality this is not the case and the organization is still very strong – it has given it some negative publicity.
Opportunities
- The current economic crisis has not adversely effected the organization, thus proving that the organization can be trusted with the customers’ money.
- The collapse of many different banks and insurance companies has given the organization the opportunity to acquire stakes in these banks and grow and expand even further.
- Further the collapse of such big names in the banking industry has enabled ING to increase its reputation and even climb in rankings when compared to other banks.
- The organization has taken over the operations of a failed Icelandic bank in the United Kingdom thus increasing its goodwill with the British public and will be able to cash in on this good will at a future date.
Threats
- If the mortgage crisis and the looming recession should continue for a pro-longed period of time the organization is not going to be able to come out of unscathed as it has done in the past during previous recessions.
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