ING Appoints Brunon Bartkiewicz As ING Bank's Chief Innovation Officer

(RTTNews) - Dutch lender ING Groep N.V. (ING) Monday announced that Brunon Bartkiewicz will become ING Bank's Chief Innovation Officer, effective July 1. He will report directly to Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group.

Bartkiewicz, as announced at ING Bank's Strategy update on March 31, will be responsible for driving ING's strategic innovation agenda, developing and promoting innovative ideas and solutions, applying new technologies and delivering speed-to-market of successful ideas, the company said.

He is currently CEO Rest of Europe, responsible for ING's operations in France, Italy, Spain as well as Poland, Romania and Turkey.

He started his career in banking with ING Bank Slaski in 1991, and was appointed Board member and acting CEO in 1992.

From 2000 through 2004, he was general manager of ING Direct. Bartkiewicz holds more than 20 years of experience in banking, and is one of the architects of the ING Direct business model.

In 2004, Bartkiewicz returned to Poland as CEO of ING Bank Slaski, and was there till the end of 2009.

Hamers said, "Brunon is one of the architects of the ING Direct banking model and has a track record in building and transforming banks. I am convinced he will drive our strategic innovation agenda and think beyond traditional banking to serve changing customer needs."

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, ING stock is losing $0.16 or 1.12 percent, and trading at $14.18.