ING Diba buys corporate client Fintech Lendico

ING Diba acquires Berlin-based Fintech Lendico, thereby accelerating its growth plans in the German corporate customer business. So far, the bank had only set on cooperations with Fintechs.

The Dutch bank ING Diba has been planning to expand its German corporate banking businessfor some time . Now, she has reaffirmed her intentions with an M & A deal: as it became known today, ING plans to acquire the Berlin-based fintech Lendico. First, the online portal “financial scene” reported on the transaction.

Corresponding documents were reported to the Bundeskartellamt for review, the bank announced in the course of the morning in a press release. The ING expects two to four weeks for the review of the purchase. How much the acquisition of Lendico will cost, is not known. Both sides would have agreed to silence, said a spokesman.

Lendico is from Rocket Internet Forge

Lendico was founded in 2013 by the start-up blacksmith Rocket Internet . The Fintech focuses itself on loans for small and medium-sized companies. On the Lendico platform “borrowers and professional investors are brought together,” it says on the company’s website.

So far, companies can borrow between 10,000 and 250,000 euros with a term of between 12 and 60 months at Lendico. According to own data, fintech employs more than 100 people in four countries.

ING deliberately decides against self-development

ING CEO Nick Jue had already indicated at the annual press conference in early February that he wanted to go online with an online loan for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Observers had previously assumed that ING would develop such a digital offer itself.

But the ING relies on the speed factor. The acquisition should accelerate developments in this area. “The resources are scarce, so there is the acquisition,” explained an ING spokesman to the question of why the bank has not developed an offer itself.

ING has previously focused on fintech co-operations

The takeover of Lendico is also surprising because the ING has so far pronounced against the integration of Fintechs in the processes of the bank. “We currently see no need to buy Fintechs in Germany,” said Tomas Peeters, former Chief Strategy Officer of ING-Diba, in an interview with FINANCE about two years ago, arguing that the start-ups should remain self-employed they could maintain their innovation and speed. Cooperation was therefore always preferred to equity investments.

But under the new ING CEO Nick Jue this requirement does not seem to apply anymore. In the future, nothing would be categorically ruled out, ING reports on a FINANCE request. If attractive takeover targets were to be achieved, further acquisitions would be considered in addition to cooperation agreements.

Fintechs are making more and more competition for banks

Fintechs are considered a threat to traditional financial institutions. Through largely digitized and automated processes, fintechs have become a real alternative to consultants and physical offices. The question is increasingly raised as to whether traditional banks are still needed.

To counter these developments, some banks have taken the step on Fintechs. In addition to ING, Commerzbank has entered into cooperation agreements with the start-ups. With the launch of its venture capital segment Main Icubator 2014, Bank Fintechs has even given a platform to evolve.