ING Nears SRTs on $10 Billion of Loans Including AI-Linked Debt

ING is reportedly on the verge of completing Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) transactions involving $10 billion in loans. A notable aspect of these transactions is that a portion of the loans are linked to artificial intelligence development and deployment. These SRTs are strategic moves by ING to manage its balance sheet and optimize capital use. By offloading a portion of the credit risk, the bank frees up risk-weighted assets (RWA), enabling it to support new lending initiatives without needing to raise additional equity. This strategy is particularly relevant as the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to maintain stable interest rates at a 2.0% "neutral" level throughout 2026, shifting the focus from net interest margin (NIM) expansion to loan volume growth and fee income.

This follows ING's previous successful SRT activity, including two transactions in November 2025 involving a €10.5 billion portfolio of corporate loans, which freed up €3.4 billion in RWA. The bank has been actively leveraging SRTs as a core component of its capital management strategy. ING's robust financial health in 2025, with a net profit of €6.327 billion and a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 13.1%, provides a strong foundation for such initiatives. Retail Banking saw significant growth in 2025, with €38.6 billion in lending, primarily in residential mortgages and SME lending, while wholesale banking contributed €2.646 billion to group pre-tax earnings.

Analysts generally hold a positive outlook on ING, with a consensus "Buy" rating and an average price target of €26.67. The bank’s deployment of artificial intelligence and automation, including GenAI chatbots in seven countries, has yielded an 82% straight-through processing rate for customer journeys and improved the FTE over customer balances ratio by over 7% since 2023. This focus on technology-enabled banking and strategic capital management, such as the use of SRTs, aims to drive earnings growth through fee diversification and disciplined lending, rather than relying solely on interest rate fluctuations. The bank also remains committed to shareholder returns, having distributed over €7 billion in 2025 through dividends and share buybacks, and an additional €1.1 billion share buyback program is ongoing, expected to conclude by April 2026.