“ Our mission statement as a lab is to validate and build new businesses for ING and its clients leveraging our ecosystem ”
— Olivier Guillaumond , Global Head of Innovation Labs and Fintechs , ING
the experience that employers can offer their staff post-COVID is substantially different ( i . e . remote working , social distancing , video calls , etc ); making sure that teams are no less cohesive despite these changes should form part of any strategy , Guillaumond states . “ ING has defined what we think is the ‘ new normal ’ together with our complete ecosystem to determine a sustainable way of working . There is a bigger question that everyone needs to answer : ‘ How do we want to operate in our society ?’”
A direct benefit of this mentality is the corporate self-assurance to meet future uncertainty with confidence . With Brexit-related uncertainties poised to destabilise the UK ’ s financial market in 2021 following a year of sustained disruption , ING , Guillaumond claims , remains steadfast in its dedication to partner with fintech in its
London Lab . “ Our commitment to clients will not change . London is among the leading ecosystems in Europe and we want to maintain a strong link to it .” As always , forging the best partnerships that have synergy with ING ’ s own mission will be paramount , in addition to recruiting and leveraging the best local talent available . ING ’ s success so far has been part of an ongoing journey to develop innovative global solutions for global challenges . Whether a collaborator is a startup , scale-up , researcher , or entrepreneur is immaterial ; what matters is the effect that partnership could have on helping ING ’ s clients around the world . “ We have been on this innovation path for the last five years ,” Guillaumond concludes . “ The current setup for innovation within ING presents some challenges and we want to accelerate execution speed and generate an even greater impact . We want to show that , as a business , we ’ re committed to innovation .”
65 fintechmagazine . com