Deposit pricing tough for ING

ING Bank (Australia) yesterday said it earned a net profit of $133 million in the the six months to June 2010, the first half of the bank's financial year.

The profit is down $7 million on the June 2009 half ING said in a media release. The profit is up from a profit of $123 million in the December 2009 half year, however.

ING cited "compressed funding margins" which it did not spell out, and "a stubbornly higher cost of funding" from the financial crisis as factors in the profit.

The bank offers a "standard" rate of 4.9 per cent on at-call deposits for an account with no transaction facility, which is below the better rates in the market (and as ING deposit rates have been for two years). The bank attempts to stay in touch with the market by offering "welcome rates" and which are 6.25 per cent at present but only for four months.

The media release disclosed a couple of other metrics on the business. ING said it customers more than 70,000 of the Orange Everyday accounts that pays the customer fees in certain situation but pays no interest. Overall ING said "new to bank" customers in the year to June 2010 were 82,000.

APRA data shows ING has a market share of 3.6 per cent in retail deposits and falling steadily from a peak market share of 4.0 per cent in late 2009. In home loans ING's market share is also falling, and also 3.6 per cent at June 2010 though falling more slowly than for deposits.