When Vaughn Richtor launched ING Direct in Australia in the mid-1990s he was one of the pioneers of branchless retail banking.The bank had a lower cost structure than most of its competitors and this allowed it to offer a high-interest savings account with no fees. Savings Maximiser was the key to the bank's success in its early years.Richtor, who announced his retirement last week, left Australia for a broader role with ING in Asia. When he returned to Australia in 2012 the bank was still dependent on Savings Maximiser and a handful of other products.He launched a low-cost superannuation product and, more importantly, a transaction account that would be the basis for transforming the bank into a main financial institution for many of its customers.At the time Richtor said: "In the past our challenge was to build a client base in Australia. Today the opportunity to grow our primary client numbers."When he leaves the bank in June he will have achieved much of what he set out to do. Last year ING Direct reported that Orange Everyday transaction account numbers grew 34 per cent in 2013 and 40 per cent to 270,000 in 2014. The number of customers with more than one ING Direct product also grew 40 per cent in 2014.The business transformation was not without cost. ING Direct scaled back its non-branded (white label) mortgage business and sold part of that portfolio.Although the bank's branded loan portfolio was growing, the total mortgage book was flat for a couple of years from late 2012.Although Richtor is retiring from his executive role, he will continue to represent ING on the board of TMB Bank Thailand and will act as an adviser to ING in the region.He will be succeeded by Uday Sareen, who is currently president of the operating management committee of Kotak Mahindra Bank India. Kotak Mahindra Bank merged with ING Vysya Bank last April. Sareen was deputy chief executive, in April last year.