1. How to empower
people to make
better financial
decisions
Dagmar van der Plas – 27 November 2019
2. ING’s Sustainability Direction
“Banks can make the difference
by rewarding their clients’
sustainable and future-proof
decisions and pushing back on
the unsustainable and
environmentally damaging ones.”
Ralph Hamers – CEO, ING Group
3. Empowering people means helping customers and society stay
a step ahead of the challenges they’re facing.
We want to help create a
healthy planet with
prosperous people
We must at the very least
ensure that our own
impact is responsible
But we can do more,
financing change, sharing
knowledge and using our
innovation skills.
4. Where can we make the biggest impact while addressing
the biggest challenges? We think that’s in two areas.
Climate action
Steer our business towards the well-
below 2ËšC goal of the Paris Agreement
Steer our customers and community
towards improved financial health
Financial health
5. What is Financial Health?
Control over day to
day and month to
month finances
Capacity to absorb a
financial shock
Financial freedom to
make choices to
enjoy life
On track to meet
your financial goals
SECURITY
FREEDOM OF CHOISE
FUTUREPRESENT
6. The problem
HEALTHY
A group of people that is financially empowered and well prepared
for current future needs.
SOMEWHAT HEALTHY
A group of people that is somewhat financially empowered and
prepared for current needs but not likely prepared for future needs.
STRUGGLING
A group of people that is not financially empowered and
has difficulty making ends meet for current or future needs.
UNHEALTHY
A group of people that is not financially empowered
and are not making ends meet.
6%
44%
42%
8%
Financial health of European population
42% of people in Europe, struggle to make
ends meet. This is not merely an income
problem, it is about making better financial
decisions.
44%
7. MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
500% more likely to experience increased anxiety and depression
COSTS TO EMPLOYEES
€ 4,500 cost of financial stress to an employer per employee per year
PHYSICAL HEALTH ISSUES
44% more likely to suffer migraines
200% higher risk of heart attack
LARGE AMOUNTS OF DEBT
57.6% EU household debt of GDP
LACK OF SAVINGS
29% of Europeans have zero savings
LOW PRODUCTIVITY AND PERFORMANCE
3.5 days average amount of absence for employees who are worried about finances
Why is this a problem?
FINANCIAL INSECURITY
CAUSES SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Health, productivity and general prospects
suffer significantly when people lack financial security.
8. How to improve?
CREATE OVERVIEW
Firstly, consumers need to
understand their situation.
DEVELOP
CAPABILITIES
Next, consumers need to
know what they should do.
CHANGE BEHAVIOUR
Finally, consumer need to
know how to actually do it.
1
2
3
WE ARE FOCUSED ON
SHIFTING FINANCIAL
BEHAVIOR AND
DECISION-MAKING
Financial behavior and decision making is the most difficult lever to
improve financial fitness and wellbeing, and where we can add the
most value.
9. EMPOWER 100 MILLION
PEOPLE TO MAKE BETTER
FINANCIAL DECISIONS
Life is full of financial decisions. Our goal is to find out how and why
people make certain choices, and help them to make better ones.
10. RESEARCH:
Commissions and conducts cutting-edge, data-driven research in social
and behavioural sciences to learn more about people’s decision-making.
ACCELERATOR
Translates research insights into innovations. It develops new and selects existing
start-ups and supports them to scale faster and helps people to change their
behaviour and improve their financial well-being.
COMMUNITY
Promotes the activities of the other two hubs through our network of TFI
community members, and it launches campaigns to ensure our work
reaches the people that need it the most.
ACTIVITIES
THE INITIATIVE IS ORGANISED
AROUND 3 PILLARS TO REALISE
THE AMBITION
11. RESEARCH
Research heat map to understand research gaps, opportunity
Spaces to inspire actionable change within business
900 active members in our research community
ACCELERATOR
Growth track #3 just started
12 alumni start ups that gained more than 110% average
additional growth thanks to our programs
Ready to start the Incubator track as soon as when funding is
available from additional partners
COMMUNITY
16.7 million customers reached in the last 12 month in 8 EU markets
TFI summit will take place April 23rd 2020 in Amsterdam
IMPACT
THE INITIATIVE IS
SUCCESSFUL AND
HAS PROVEN IMPACT
146 research submissions based on our latest call for papers.
The selected proposals that will receive funding will be announced
on December 16th.
Formal collaborations with researchers from top universities like
Harvard, John Hopkins, University College London
Currently in the process of growing the partner network
Over 110 expert sessions with the start ups
More than 1.700 individuals being a member of the TFI community
12. GROWTH PATH
NOW THAT WE HAVE
PROVEN RESULTS,
WE WILL FOCUS ON
FURTHER SCALING
OUR IMPACT
CREATE THE
RIGHT SETUP
PROVE FIRST IMPACT
AND WORK TOWARDS
SOLID ENGAGEMENT
SCALE THE
IMPACT
MAKE TFI SELF-
SUSTAINABLE
2016 - 2017 2018 - Mid 2019 Mid 2019 – End 2019 2020 – Mid 2021
13. OUR START-UPS PLAY A
PIVOTAL ROLE!
Helping consumers learn the value of money
Working with a range of start-ups, all focused on helping consumers use
their (and their family’s) money more wisely.
14. Start-ups
Experts
Research
• Bring in expertise to help solve the challenges
• Review your work
• Help define next steps and actions
• Sparring Partner during weekly check-ins
• Continuously pinpoint start-up challenges & needs
• Envision potential partnerships
• Identify area where consumer behavior insights can make
the most impact
• Gather and summarize relevant insights
• Provide actionable insights applied to your situation
Core
Team
• Organize and manage growth track
• Understand what challenges you have
• Spot opportunities for cross-collaboration
• Support you in meetings with corporates for potential pilot /
partnership
Match-
makers • Help identify potential matches
• Introduce you to the right people
Mentor
ODIS ANT MOLEST
15. MITTO
Mitto is a prepaid card for young people
from 14 years on. Through the app,
parents link a bank card, send money
and their children receive it instantly;
providing easy budgeting for parents
while teaching children the value of
money.
MONKEE
Saving has never been so motivating.
Strengthen your financial fitness while
fulfilling your small goals and big
dreams. Define your savings goals and
receive weekly targets to make them
come true.
15
ODIS ANT MOLEST
DYME
All your fixed expenses in one clear
overview. Do you know what you’re
paying every month? Dyme shows you
automatically. Dyme imports your fixed
expenses securely and quickly, and will
show them in one clear overview.
TULLY
Tully helps the 23 million people in the
UK who are worried about money. Tully
starts by helping customers build a
budget online that helps customers
understand exactly what their money
situation is and from that Tully helps
them work out a plan to make the most
of their money.
16. How can you get involved?
BECOME A PARTNER
By joining the Think Forward Initiative,
partners can help to foster greater financial
capability among consumers. You will also
have the opportunity to make suggestions
for the TFI agenda for the coming years, co-
develop practical solutions and make them
available to consumers through your own
channels.
1 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
We are aiming for a vibrant community of
contributors including researchers,
universities, influencers, think tanks,
innovators, policy makers, and other
organizations. Through our TFI platform you
can get involved with other experts and
collaborate to create content or tools to
reach consumers.
2
