For ING Americas, transaction services play a vital role in helping clients in the US optimise their cash flows and liquidity. And against the backdrop of an increasingly complex global landscape, the company is currently expanding its transaction services team – as underlined by a number of recent high-profile hires:

• Lise Gjertsen has been hired to head up the company’s US-based Transaction Services sales team. Joining from Citi, Lisa will predominantly be working on traditional trade products, as well as payments and cash management.

• Zlatina Hristova has joined ING as Director Transaction Services Sales, having previously headed the company’s transaction services team in Bulgaria.

• Nadine Ghandour has been appointed Head of Working Capital Solutions for the region. Ghandour previously spent ten years working for BNP Paribas’ trade finance franchise across Europe, Brazil and the US.

• Laurence Amar joins from Santander and will be heading the product management team for transaction services in the region.

• Pascal ter Haak, previously ING’s Director of Transaction Services Americas, will be taking on a new role as Director, with responsibility for corporate liquidity management solutions.

“There’s a lot of development in the team, and a lot of growth,” comments Tibor Bartels, Managing Director and Head of Transaction Services Americas. “I’m very happy to see the plans we launched a few years ago are executing as we envisage them.”

Supporting US corporates overseas

Bartels explains that since he moved to ING Americas in 2016, the company has seen double digit growth in the region year-on-year.

“Meanwhile, our service offering now includes the ability to book working capital deals on the ground, which we used to cover from our European locations,” he says. “This gives us a lot more flexibility and makes sure we live up to the high support demands of US corporates.” Other investments include developing on-the-ground payments and cash management capabilities in the region.

He notes that the company’s transaction services offering encompass liquidity management, payments and cash management, working capital solutions and traditional trade products.

Where cash management solutions are currently concerned, ING’s extensive footprint across Europe means the company is well placed to help US corporates access the region. “We can help clients with real in-country solutions, direct access to clearing, support in different languages, and a channel that operates in different languages,” Bartels says.

“We see that we really make a difference, not only in the Western European markets, but especially in the Eastern European markets that are a little more challenging for a lot of US corporates.”

Other points of differentiation include the company’s cash pooling solutions, which mostly operate under Dutch law – making it particularly attractive and flexible to US corporates – and supports multiple currencies, countries and banks.

Turning to working capital, the company has a sophisticated online tool for onboarding suppliers – “and where most companies separate the securitisation of receivables with their ABL teams, we have everything within one Working Capital team,” Bartels says. “That means we can offer a tailored solution for our clients without any internal competition over who will do the transaction.”

And in the area of documentary trade, ING has a global footprint from Asia to the Americas, with operations and capabilities in more than 40 countries.

Sharing knowledge

In the current market, Bartels says ING Americas’ specialists are increasingly being invited to discuss the impact of tariffs on clients’ supply chains.

“Unfortunately, there’s also less trust in the current market, so that triggers discussions with products related to documentary trade,” he adds. “And I think it’s even more important now to get a grip on the scattered cash positions that corporates have all over the world.”

As Bartels explains, this is resulting in more conversations about how to deploy the company’s liquidity management solutions to release those pockets of cash.

More broadly, the company frequently organises ‘lunch and learn’ and virtual and in-person get-togethers for its US clients on topics relevant to companies operating in Europe, such as Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro. “We benefit a lot from sharing knowledge with our clients, especially in the current uncertain times,” he adds.

Meeting sector-specific needs

ING’s approach is to support clients with specialist knowledge and sector-specific events across nine industry sectors, such as TMT, healthcare and diversified corporates. Bartels explains that this is an effective approach because corporates’ needs can differ significantly between sectors – for example, some sectors tend to be more acquisitive, which results in a more scattered ERP landscape.

“Likewise, the solutions we offer from a payments and cash management or liquidity management perspective can vary,” he adds. “So one sector might be interested in in-house banks and On Behalf Of structures. Another might be more decentralised and therefore focused on a flexible cash pooling solution spanning different entities.”

Looking forward, he argues that treasury is increasingly being positioned not as a cost centre, but as a knowledge centre within the organisation – and for that, corporates need the right support from their partners.

As Bartels concludes, “My personal vision is to have a mix of people that bring both ING knowledge and local market knowledge to support our clients in the best way. And our recent hires will contribute to this.”