At least 300,000 people have seen their ING bank accounts automatically closed in early January 2022. A consumer association claims that online banking wants to “get rid” of unprofitable accounts.
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ING France online banking closed automatically, in the first days of 2022, hundreds of thousands of customer accounts, according to information gathered by franceinfo on Thursday, January 6. According to estimates from the France conso bank association, “that represents at least 300,000 people”.
On December 21, ING France announced that it was giving up its retail banking activity, 21 years after entering the market. She was then the pioneer in France. ING is therefore preparing to best sell its client portfolio, either to Société Générale, on behalf of its subsidiary Boursorama, or to Crédit mutuel Arkéa, for its Fortunéo online bank.
However, each of these suitors wants to buy profitable assets. For Michel Guillaud, president of France conso bank, ING is therefore “cleaning up the accounts of its customers”. According to him, there is “30 to 40% of small inactive accounts that the future buyer does not want”.
“We want to get rid of them because these people are not profitable and we consider that they constitute a burden.”
Michel Guillaud, President of France Conso Banqueto franceinfo
A defense collective, hosted by France conso bank, has been set up for legal action around the notice period for the bank’s operation, because “people are furious”, says Michel Guillaud. The unilateral closure of an account is legal but, for the association, if “the revocation is done according to the fact of the prince”, it should only be done “for just cause, like a dismissal”.