The IDEA Conference: Reinvention. And the velocity of ideas.

Arkadi Kuhlmann

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Chairman and President
ING DIRECT USA

Arkadi Kuhlmann is the "CEO of Savings." He is also the Chairman and President of ING DIRECT USA, the #1 direct bank in the US that offers great value and simple financial products to consumers. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ING DIRECT USA is part of ING Group of the Netherlands, one of the world's largest financial services institutions.

In June 1996, Mr. Kuhlmann joined ING as President charged with starting up the first ING DIRECT in Canada. Currently, he serves as chairman of the board of ING DIRECT Canada and is a member of the Global Management Team for ING DIRECT N.V., and ING DIRECT N.V. Supervisory Board. He is on the ING Foundation Board, ING Americas Advisory Board, ING Direct Council, and the ING Group Leadership Council.

Following the successful launch of ING Direct in Canada, he embarked upon the launch of ING DIRECT USA in September 2000. In just eight years, ING DIRECT USA gained the trust and savings of more than 7.5 million customers and $82.4 billion in assets. It has now become the largest savings bank in the country.

Driven by its dedication to foster a nation of savers, ING DIRECT offers simple financial products that meet the needs of "Main Street" consumers. ING DIRECT operates through a suite of direct channels and shares the resulting efficiencies with customers in the form of attractive rates on savings and payment accounts, mortgage loans as well as investment services.

ING DIRECT's passionate focus on customer advocacy has fortified a culture, both internally and externally, of strong ethics and integrity. As a result of straight-forward communication, customer service excellence and consumer-friendly policies, including the "Opt-In" feature where consumer data is not shared with external parties unless customers choose to opt-in, ING DIRECT has created a brand awareness of 79% and a Net Promoter Score besting industry standards by a wide margin.

In an industry where two thirds of market share growth is attributable to mergers and acquisition, ING DIRECT has consistently harnessed its organic resources to innovate. The bank passionately re-invents itself in order to disrupt the conventional laws of retail banking and sustain its leadership position as the largest direct bank in the US. By re-engineering customer behavior, stripping away customized product features and offering a select set of high-value products, ING DIRECT has become the foremost low-cost operator in the industry. This "Back to Basics" approach enables an expense base of 0.6% compared to an industry average of 2.5%.

While only 20% of firms are able to develop and implement products or services that are radically new, ING DIRECT has been successful at disrupting a mature industry and sustaining innovative ideas including Electric Orange, ING DIRECT's no fee paperless checking account.