ING to Cut About 5,800 Jobs to Reduce Costs

• ING  to Cut About 5,800 Jobs to Reduce Costs

ING Groep NV plans cut about 5,800 jobs in Belgium and the Netherlands over five years to reduce costs as the Dutch lender accelerates its digital transformation.

ING expects to save about 900 million euros ($1 billion) in annual costs through the initiative, the lender said in a statement Monday. It will also invest about 800 million euros in digital technology. ING, which had 51,833 employees as of the end of June, expects about 2,300 job cuts in the Netherlands and about 3,500 in Belgium. About 7,000 workers in all will be affected, it said.

Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers, who took over in October 2013, is investing in financial technology to reduce personnel and branch costs as well as seeking to expand lending to consumers and companies outside its home market of the Netherlands. While ING doesn’t face major legal penalties like some of its competitors, record-low interest rates and regulatory demands are putting pressure on the Amsterdam-based lender to cut costs.

Commerzbank AG said on Thursday it plans to shed 9,600 jobs and that it won’t consider resuming dividend payments until it has carried out most of the job cuts in 2019.