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Intrinsic Value is all-important and is the only logical way to evaluate the relative attractiveness of investments and businesses.
Hi Steven. I have some tasty questions for you about this quarter. How would you describe the case this quarter? Was it sweet, bitter, sour, or perhaps salty?
Well, it was sweet based on good results. We were able our primary customer base. We had good financial results also on the back of the current interest rate environment, and we also grew our deposits. Now when I look at the outside, it's going to be a bit more challenging, maybe even a bit bitter to use your words. Clearly, we do see major economies still slowing down. We see geopolitical uncertainties continuing and we see inflation rates still being high, although not as high as we've seen in the previous quarters. So all in all, based on our business model, we realized really good results, and we also continue to execute on our strategy supported by our digital foundations.
All right. Now let's add a little bit of spice to it. As interest rates go up, so does our profits. Should we pass on a little bit more of that to our savers?
These are exceptional circumstances, circumstances that we haven't seen for decades. Inflation rates are high. Central banks have been increasing interest rates at a very fast pace. And on the back of that, we and also other banks have also significantly increased deposit rates. That always takes time and the pace of it depends on the markets in which we operate, but we have very successful competitive offerings in all the markets. And in the second quarter, we increased the amount of deposits in these retail markets.
That's great news. Do we have further proof that clients actually like what we're doing?
Well, we have over 200,000 new primary customers. And when I talk about mobile banking, this quarter in Germany, we reached the fourth million customer on our mobile to go app and more over 60% of our customers currently only deal with ING through mobile.
You said it already, major economies have weakened. Do we already notice that, for example, through our wholesale banking clients?
We see that in commodity finance, for example, also because commodity prices have come down. But all in all, wholesale banking realized good results, in particular, in daily banking and trade also given the current interest rate environment, but also when you look at fees, we had good fee growth in global capital markets, in lending, in corporate finance. So job well done by wholesale banking.
I have a burning question for you. Are we a sustainability leader or not?
Well, we aim to be. This quarter, Wholesale Banking mobilized EUR 25 billion in sustainable finance. We also are launching new sustainable products in retail and in business banking. One of them is an eco renovation loan for Belgian business banking customers to help them to make real estate more sustainable.
Let's be honest, we also still finance not so green clients, right?
The world is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. So are our clients, so are we. In all the scenarios or realistic scenarios that we see people will still use cement or steel or fossil fuels and it only means the sense of urgency is increasing. We need to do more.
Let's take it on and make that happen. And finally, do you have a spicy prediction for the next quarter?
Not really. I'm going to be careful with that. We see interest rates normalizing. Let's see what happens on that front. We see inflation coming down a little bit. Let's also watch that space. But for now, I wish everybody a happy summer holiday.
Great. Thank you very much. And something I always wanted to know. What is actually your type of sauce? Is it outlets? Or are you really down for the true hot sauce.
I lived in Asia, and I really like spicy and hot food. So I would go for the really hot sauce.
It's all yours. Enjoy.