ClearBIZZ - News - ING Bank obtains full ownership of Billington

ING Bank obtains full ownership of Billington

10-11-2008

ING has increased its existing share in e-billing specialist Billington from 50 to 100 percent. This means that ING (ING Bank NV) fully owns Billington, which was established as a joint venture between ING and Getronics at the end of 2006. The acquisition of Getronics by KPN created the opportunity for ING to fully acquire Billington.

Billington's activities from now on belong to the responsibility of ING Wholesale Banking. illington offers support for the full breadth of electronic invoicing for the business (B2B) and consumer (B2C) range. The main services of Billington are the Digital Note to B2C invoicing and INGIS and custom solutions for B2B invoicing. The Digital Note is an electronic invoice directly received by consumers in their own internet banking environment. INGIS is an e-invoicing portal, a platform for business users on which suppliers can place bills, which can be seen by the customer in a closed environment.

Robert Heisterborg, Global Head Payments and Cash Management at ING Wholesale Banking: "The full takeover of Billington endorses the view of ING Bank on commercial payment systems: digital billing and payments are the future. Within five years the majority of the companies are billing digitally, resulting in cost savings, higher efficiency and faster payments. With Billington, ING is even better positioned to obtain a large piece of that market growth in order to broaden and strengthen their role in the overall financial chain."
Job van Luyken, Managing Director of Billington: "Since its creation in the end of 2006, Billington has achieved a great deal. In a short time, we have become a party in which organisations such as (care) insurance companies, municipalities and businesses have shown their confidence in. They have hired us to take care of a very crucial part of the order-to-cash process: the sending and validation of a digital invoice. This partly is a result of the good cooperation between ING Bank and Getronics, which has created a strong foundation."

The sale of Billington shares to ING completely suits the Getronics business strategy announced in the beginning of this year. This strategy is characterized by focus. The ICT service provider now concentrates entirely on workplace services, data & hosting services and consulting services in the wholesale market.