ING rewards its customers for paying their bills

ING Australia has embarked on a new customer satisfaction strategy by introducing a cash-back offer that is unique in Australia. The offer is based on rewarding customers for paying their energy bills.

FACTS

• The Australian bank has introduced its new initiative as part of an update to the benefits of its Orange Everyday account.

• A cash-back offer has thus been integrated into it, offering its customers to pay back 1% of the amount of their energy bills.

• Conditions:
  • access from an Orange Everyday account,
  • amount paid back limited to 100 dollars per year,
  • eligible bills only for energy expenses (gas, water, electricity),
  • payments by BPay (Australian electronic bill payment system) or direct debit.

ISSUES

• Remain a main bank: To fight against multi-banking, ING is counting on a double loyalty formula combining a reward and the obligation for beneficiary customers to inform their ING account with their energy suppliers.

• Responding to an important need: ING conducted a study on the needs of Australians prior to the launch of its new service. 71% of Australian households said they had noticed that the cost of their energy services had increased over the past three years. However, 23% admit they have never compared utility bills and 22% say they have never even switched suppliers. Australian households pay an average of $5,472 per year ($456 per month) for their energy services. ING says they could save an average of $50 a year with its new service.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Cash-back offers are gaining momentum around the world, driven by alliances between various financial services players and merchants. BNPL specialist Klarna illustrated the trend in June 2020 with the launch of Vibe.

• In France, Lydia offers a similar service with PayLead, as does AuMax and some major French banks such as Crédit Agricole and Société Générale.

• Orange, for its part, is showing some originality on the theme. Like ING Australia, Orange Bank offers to give rewards to its customers for paying some of their bills. But Orange limits itself to the bills issued by its own group, and more specifically, by its operator. Thus, only holders of the Orange Bank Premium card can have 5% of their Orange bills (Internet and mobile) paid from their Orange Bank account reimbursed up to a limit of 3 euros per month.