With the launch of a new private banking service in Q3, Amsterdam-headquartered bank ING in Italy says it want to accelerate growth and serve an even wider range of customer needs.

ING in Italy is launching a new private banking service as it marks 25 years of digital banking.

The move supports ING in Italy’s ambition to be a universal bank, offering a range of products and services to more customers. It follows the launch of an all-in-one business banking service for freelancers and sole proprietors earlier this year, the lender said in a statement.

“With the launch of private banking in the third quarter of this year, we want to accelerate growth and serve an even wider range of customer needs,” ING in Italy CEO, Andrea Diamanti, said.

Private banking is the third tier of ING’s retail offering, providing wealth management, investment strategies and financial planning for high net worth individuals, it said. ING’s approach to private banking blends innovative digital tools that simplify and personalise investing, while relationship managers provide tailored advice for more complex decisions.

Italy's attractions as a wealth management and private banking centre have increased in recent years. Italy has a residency system aimed at HNW and UHNW clients, unlike the UK, which is scrapping the residential non-domicile regime and abolished Tier 1 Investor Visas in 2022. Italy recently changed its residency system for HNW individuals, which had been in place since 2017. In 2024 the government in Rome approved a measure to double a "flat tax" applied on income earned abroad by HNW people moving their tax residence to Italy to €200,000 ($232,428) per annum.

Italian pioneer
ING entered the Italian market in 1979, offering wholesale banking services to mid-to-large companies. In 2001, it became a pioneer for private individuals with the launch of Conto Arancio (Orange Savings Account), one of Italy’s first digital savings accounts. Diamanti said the bank was now building on that foundation to support a wider range of customers and needs.

“Today, ING is in all respects a universal bank with over 1,360,000 customers, €18 billion in deposits, €20.3 billion in financing to individuals and large companies, with a 10.3 per cent market share in mortgage disbursements in the first quarter of 2026,” said Diamanti.

ING formally marked its 25th anniversary on 2 April, celebrating the milestone with an external event in Milan. The evening brought together ING leaders and business partners, including ING chair Karl Guha, CEO Steven van Rijswijk and global head of retail banking Pinar Abay. Presentations were made by former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and Nobel Prize-winning economist, James Robinson. An internal event will be held for around 600 staff next week.

Private banking is an important pillar of ING’s ambition to become a universal bank in all its retail markets. It is available in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Poland, with Spain set to follow later this year.

WealthBriefing recently spoke with Anneka Treon, global head of private banking, wealth management and investments at Amsterdam-headquartered ING, on European wealth, and discussed the recent launch of ING’s Global Investment Centre designed to elevate investment capabilities across ING’s markets.

The move into Italian private banking in a way represents a slight push back against its move, back during the 2008 financial crash, to sell its Asian private bank assets to Singapore-headquartered OCBC. The business has been renamed as Bank of Singapore.