ING Direct Canada Evolving Its Brand!

Two days ago one of the banks a lot of people have come to love went through a large change.

The bank I am speaking about is none other than ING Direct Canada. After 15 years of being in Canada, it has evolved. The brand as we know it held a slogan of “Save your Money”, which many Canadians have identified with.

The new brand idea shows ING Direct’s growth as it becomes an everyday bank that provides banking for modern lifestyle choices.

What is ING’s new brand idea?

ING’s new brand is to reflect its emergence as an everyday bank; which is done through the slogan “forward banking”.

The idea of forward banking is simple, it helps communicate what they think banking should be, which is simple and innovative. The products offered provide real value to the client, without any unnecessary fees attached to it. You are given the necessary tools to bank when and wherever you want to.

When you sit down and examine ING’s progress over the past 15 years, you will notice that they started from a savings focused bank, to a bank now offering a great no fee chequing account, the THRiVE chequing account – it pays you interest! ING also offers TFSAs, RSPs, GICs, mortgages, and much more.

The fact is, ING has changed over time as did the rest of the world. Their change in brand identity is surprising (to me) but at the same time something we should have seen coming.

How does ING represent “forward banking”?

There are numerous things ING has done which represents their forward, simple and innovative approach to banking. For one their THRiVE Chequing account, not to mention the multiple channels available for you to do your banking. These channels include:

• Online
• mobile
• phone (24/7 contact centres)
• café’s

The café’s is definitely on the top of my list; the Toronto cafe  location is amazing. They offer a large space for you to come in and leisurely get your banking done, and another space for you to sit down and get some work done.

In my opinion, the way they have shown “forward banking” the most is their activity on social media. ING in my opinion has led many (if not all) banks on how to engage properly on social media. Their presence is everywhere, conversing with anyone who talks to them and even those who are not. ING Direct Canada’s CEO, Peter Aceto is also actively engaging on social media, which as you can imagine in a CEO’s busy schedule it cannot be easy but he does it.

Overall, I like the new change, and can’t wait to see what ING does in the future.

What do you think of ING becoming updating their brand?