Company: INGVF
Filing Date: 2025-03-06
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001628280-25-010764
Chunk: 89

Company: ING GROEP NV
Filing Date: 2025-03-06
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 89
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 Within nearly all our Retail markets there is at least one assisted channel available (e.g. call centre, branch, human chat, social media), and at least one self-service channel (e.g. mail, e-mail, online channels app and web) where customers can file a complaint which will then be handled by a human agent.
Customers are made aware of these channels via publicly available information e.g. websites of ING (FAQs and search engine) and via the Terms & Conditions provided to customers during onboarding. Furthermore, a call centre, branch and/or a chat agent can provide further information regarding the complaints processes when a customer contacts ING. We value our customers and evaluate their concerns seriously and, while not embedded in our customer focused policies, we do not tolerate retaliation by any employee. For our anti-retaliation measures included in our Whistleblower policy, see the ‘Business conduct' chapter. 
We manage complaints primarily through contact centres and when possible complaints are solved upon initial contact. If unresolved, they escalate to specialised teams. We evaluate the complaints handling process, for instance, through an assessment of the time it takes to resolve complaints and how frequently we do so. A change in products, financial compensation and/or apologies can help to address any negative impacts on customers. We analyse complaints to implement structural changes in products, processes, policies, procedures, and communication, and involve relevant risk parties and internal stakeholders as 

needed. We have established channels and procedures to ensure that customers are aware of and have confidence in our complaints procedures. However, we do not assess this confidence separately. Instead, if concerns about our complaints procedures are raised, they are considered within our broader evaluation of customer concerns.
Over the course of 2024, ING developed a minimum set of standardised labels on human rights (like discrimination, accessibility, privacy), customer centricity and ESG. These labels will be applied to complaints and become operational in 2025, enabling us to perform root cause analyses and to rectify service breakdowns, improve the customer journey, address potential human rights abuses and provide appropriate remedy, help senior management better understand customer protection and further strengthen customer trust. We are currently developing an internal approach to enable a granular and systematic identification of severe human rights incidents. 
Actions regarding access to quality information and social inclusion
We have introduced various measures to make ING a more accessible bank, such as installing voice-activated ATMs in certain countries for people with a visual impairment to withdraw money, and issuing bank cards with a