ING and EIB provide €600 million in new loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to boost sustainability

• The European Investment Bank (EIB) is stepping up its cooperation with ING to support entrepreneurs with loans and leases on favourable terms for new investments that have a positive impact on climate and the environment.
• This is the eighth joint programme between the EIB and ING aimed at small and medium businesses based in the Benelux region since 2009 and the second programme designed to boost sustainability since 2019.

ING and the EIB have strengthened their long-term partnership by making over €600 million available for new loans and leases to small and medium-sized businesses in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Half of this sum will go to corporate clients of ING in the Netherlands and the other half to corporate clients of ING in Belgium and Luxembourg.

In the eighth such transaction since 2009, the EIB is lending €300 million to ING, which is matching that amount to provide a total of €600 million in new loans and leases to entrepreneurs for sustainable investments. The EIB's loan enables ING to provide loans and leases at a lower interest rate.

Since 2009, the seven previous programmes have provided financing on attractive terms to around 3 000 companies totalling €1.85 billion.

Laurens de Vos, Head of Business Banking at ING Netherlands, said: “Partnering with the European Investment Bank enables us to offer business financing with an attractive interest rate discount for investments with a positive impact on climate and the environment. This can encourage companies to opt for sustainable investments even sooner. An ING survey earlier this year showed that Dutch companies want to accelerate on sustainability. As a bank, we would like to support them in this effort through financing. The significant interest rate discount obviously helps, and with this, entrepreneurs can invest in, for example, electric vehicles, sustainable forms of production and green buildings."

Saskia Bauters, Head of Business Banking Sales at ING Belgium, stated: “This agreement with the European Investment Bank enables us to offer our business customers a significant interest rate discount for financing sustainable projects. The benefit fits perfectly with the other elements of our sustainability strategy. The discount can be the push that makes small businesses choose the most sustainable solution. In this way, we support our customers and work together towards a sustainable economy that will help achieve climate objectives.”

EIB Vice-President Kris Peeters said: “By now it is clear to almost everyone that becoming more sustainable is a must. As the EU climate bank and also within the framework of the European Green Deal, the EIB wants to offer support and encouragement at both the macro and micro level to green society. Thanks to this partnership with ING we can also reach out to small and medium-sized businesses, and now give them an extra incentive in the form of interest rate rebates, to really start doing something about the environmental aspect of their operations.”

Applications for a loan or lease must meet ING's usual credit conditions. In addition, ING carries out checks to ensure that the financing is used for an investment that contributes to climate and environmental improvement. To this end, conditions are laid down in the agreement between the EIB and ING that are consistent with the EU Taxonomy. Loans and leases are available for companies with up to 3 000 employees. The total investment may not exceed €25 million, and the loan amount is a maximum of €10 million. Final approval of the loan or lease rests with ING.

Background information:

The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution. The Bank is directly owned by the EU Member States — the Netherlands and Belgium both own 5.2% of these shares — and can therefore borrow very cheaply on the capital market. This enables the EIB to make long-term financing available for sound investments that contribute to EU policy goals. In 2022, the EIB made more than €2.26 billion available for Belgian projects, and nearly €1.2 billion available in loans for projects in the Netherlands.

ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s more than 58 000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries.

ING Group shares are listed on the stock exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS) and Brussels, and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).

Sustainability is an integral part of ING’s strategy, evidenced by ING’s leading position in sector benchmarks. ING's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating by MSCI was affirmed as 'AA' in September 2022. As of August 2022, Sustainalytics considered ING’s management of ESG material risk to be ‘strong’, and in June 2022 ING received an ESG rating of 'strong' from S&P Global Ratings. ING Group shares are also included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell.