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Insider Q&A: ING's US Chief
Insider Q&A: ING's US Chief Thomas McInerney Wants Orange Ball to Cover More Bases
December 06, 2007: 05:35 PM EST

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Thomas McInerney runs the U.S. business of ING Group. The Dutch banking giant is best known in this country for a bouncing orange ball, the trademark for its no-minimum, high-yield ING Direct savings accounts.

McInerney, an American, is trying to bring that same no-frills sensibility into new markets. ING in this country offers savings accounts and mortgages for the masses.

What follows are edited excerpts from a recent Associated Press interview with McInerney.

Q. Will we see ING health insurance?

A. We have certainly talked to a number of health insurers. In the U.S., anyway, it's a complicated system. To partner with health insurers _to provide a combination of health insurance, long-term care and the health savings accounts, or other accounts to fund the cost of the insurance _ I think is something we'd be very interested in. And I think you probably will see us at some point partner with some health insurers.

Q. The ING Direct savings account yields 4.2 percent today, more than a Treasury bond. How can you afford that?

A. We actually disclose our interest margin, the difference between what we earn and what we pay. It's a positive margin.

Q. You oversee ING's retirement plan business in this country. What's your focus?

A. Our focus in the 401(k) business is companies with 500 or fewer employees. Less than a third of employers in that category have 401(k) plans. It's a big opportunity.

Q. Why so few?

A. For many small employers, particularly as you get to the smaller end of the universe _ fewer than 100 (employees) _ just so far haven't always wanted to put up with the administrative hassles. That's something we do for employers.

Q. Smaller businesses are also far less likely to match employee contributions.

A. Smaller employers don't have money and resources sometimes to provide a match. But the government could. Programs like that, I think, would go a long way. You could target it toward the most needy groups. We have had a number of discussions, I and others at ING, with politicians about that.

Q. You recently sponsored a 14-city concert tour with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. Why?

A. It's a great return on investment. The Hispanic population in the U.S. is very large, very fastgrowing. And the wealth creation, or wealth accumulation, is growing at a much faster pace than for the U.S. overall.

Q. Some banks are targeting their marketing to undocumented workers, which is controversial.

A. Ultimately, we will have to rely to some degree on immigration to replace the number of retiring workers over the next 20 to 25 years. Obviously there are a lot of political challenges around that. I'll leave that to the politicians to sort that out.

Q. You're a global bank with hundreds of billions of dollars in assets. In this country, though, you're best known for a little orange dot and a no-minimum savings account. Does that irk you?

Some people would say big, global financial services companies tend to be bureaucratic. I think we really do have an entrepreneurial set of values and really try to push that down throughout the organization.

Q. I see you're not wearing any orange today.

A. I actually do have orange ties. I wear them a lot. I can't wear them every day.