Best bank: ING
By far the biggest bank by assets in the country and boasting nine million account holders, ING is also the best bank in the Netherlands this year.
AfE 2024
It performed particularly strongly thanks to higher rates and a low cost of risk. As a group, ING doubled its profit in 2023 to €7.3 billion, up from €3.7 billion in 2022. Return on equity came in at 14.8%, up from 7.2% a year earlier, even while it boosted its common equity tier-1 ratio from 14.5% to 14.7% in 2023.
That compares with ABN Amro’s very respectable 12.2% return on equity in 2023 off a similar capital base and a €2.7 billion net profit.
ING is mostly a retail bank, famed for its digital prowess, while also running a wholesale business. Both performed well in 2023. Its retail bank in the Netherlands was also able to grow fee income in 2023, for example on payment packages.
ING