Page 1 of 2

Ralph Hamers brings with him a track record of not only profitability but also effective transformation to compete with tech giants that threaten to take the financial sector’s lunch.

As expected, Sergio Ermotti stepped down from UBS’s top role succeeded by 30-year ING veteran Ralph Hamers. Though ending on a less than ideal note with 2019 results missing both profit and cost targets, Ermotti leaves behind a legacy of successfully transforming the business from being investment banking-focused to wealth management-focused.

In Hamers, UBS has also hired a chief with a proven track record for transformation. His thoughts, speech and subsequent results at ING may very well paint him as the poster boy for the current zeitgeist in banking.

Finance But Not Finance

In mid-2019, ING’s app was reportedly ranked 10th by daily usage in the Netherlands, behind mainstays like Facebook or Google. The reasons are almost purely non-financial. In addition to regular online banking, it was the biggest outlet for Philips products in the country through an e-platform that sells a vast array of non-food products including barbecues, TV sets, clothing and discount tickets for theaters.

«The Amazons, the Facebooks, the Googles of this world – knowing what people are looking for – are involved much earlier in this [decision-making] process,» Hamers said in a «Euromoney» report. «They know the trajectory of this customer going through that process and already have more intelligence than we will ever get. The question for me is whether I can build this platform, which is open, so I extend my activities into this decision-making process.»

Stemming from this strategic focus on mind share, the bank in 2018 purchased Makerlaarsland, a sizeable digital housing broker and agent (4-5 percent market share), precisely to be involved earlier in the decision-making process.

Fintech Tested

While Europe does not house as many household tech names as the U.S. or Asia, its regulatory environment in finance is nonetheless in many ways more liberal and progressive. Since 2017, regulators leveled the playing field in payments through the Payment Service Directive 2 (PSD2), breaking banks’ monopoly on customer data.

«Fintechs force us to be more efficient, as a consequence of which we can deal more easily with low interest rates and tougher regulations. If you open up to trends and try to make them yours, then it can still be fun to run a bank,» Hamer said in a 2015 report with German newspaper «Handelsblatt.»

Asia: Plug and Play?