ING wants to give young adults a responsible first step towards a financially healthy future

Turning 18 is a milestone. It is the moment young adults gain new freedoms, new responsibilities and make more financial decisions on their own. Yet many enter adulthood without feeling fully prepared. Almost half worry about money, while only 27% rate their financial knowledge highly. That challenge extends to investing. For ING, this is first and foremost a financial health challenge. Young adults have one financial advantage that no investor can ever recover later in life: time. The earlier someone starts understanding concepts such as saving, investing, risk and diversification, the more opportunity they have to make informed decisions and benefit from long-term thinking and the power of compounded growth. ING believes young adults should not have to wait until later in life to start understanding investing.

Turning financial education into experience by receiving four ING Group shares

To help address that challenge, ING may give eligible customers turning 18 in 2026 four ING Group shares. Participants first follow a financial education journey covering saving, investing, risk and diversification. Once they have completed the programme and fulfilled all applicable conditions, they can receive four ING Group shares on an eligible ING Self Invest investment account.

The objective is not to encourage young adults to invest in a specific share. It is to help them understand how investing works through a real-life experience and build confidence in navigating financial decisions throughout their lives.

The shares form part of the educational experience. They allow participants to follow a company they recognise, observe how share prices evolve and gain a practical understanding of shareholding, market movements and investment risk. As with any investment in shares, the value of the ING Group shares may rise or fall over time and participants may experience gains or losses.

They do not only learn what ownership means. They become shareholders.

“Financial health is becoming increasingly important, yet too many young adults enter adulthood without feeling confident about financial decisions. We believe they deserve the opportunity to understand how saving and investing work before those decisions become critical. The four shares are not the goal. They are a way to make learning tangible and help young adults understand ownership, investing and risk before they ever invested their own money,” says Peter Adams, CEO ING Belgium.

Part of ING Belgium's commitment to financial literacy

ING believes financial education can help remove that barrier and give young adults the confidence to make informed financial decisions throughout their lives. Because better financial decisions contribute to stronger financial health over the long term.

For that reason, improving financial literacy has long been part of ING Belgium's broader commitment to financial health. Through initiatives such as What the Finance?, employee volunteering programmes and digital tools in the ING Banking app that help customers better understand and manage their finances, ING already supports financial literacy across different generations.

This new initiative is a natural extension of those efforts, focused specifically on helping young adults take their first steps with greater knowledge, understanding and confidence.

About the initiative

The 2026 edition will initially be open to 10,000 eligible participants. ING Belgium intends this to be the first edition of a longer-term initiative to support financial literacy among young adults. Eligible ING Belgium customers who turned 18 in 2026 can voluntarily participate and receive four ING Group shares after:

Opening an ING Self Invest investment account is free of charge and no custody fees apply to the ING Group shares. Standard transaction fees and applicable taxes apply if participants decide to sell their shares. There is no minimum holding period, and participants are not required to add money or make further investments.

More information on the initiative

Daphne Poets

Spokeswoman & Media Relations Manager, ING Belgium

• pressoffice@ing.be
• +32 478 66 21 58

Legal mentions

The educational content is provided solely for general financial literacy, educational and informational purposes. It is generic, does not take account of any participant’s personal circumstances, financial situation, knowledge and experience, investment objectives, risk tolerance or ability to bear losses, and must not be understood as a personal recommendation to acquire, hold or sell ING Group shares or any other financial instrument. Participants remain responsible for their own financial decisions and should seek independent professional advice where appropriate.

The educational knowledge questionnaire is used only to check understanding of the educational content and completion of the learning journey. The questions and results do not assess whether any investment product or service is suitable or appropriate for a participant, do not constitute an appropriateness or suitability assessment, client profiling or investment advice, and must not be interpreted as ING approving, recommending or validating any investment decision or the participant’s ability or readiness to invest.

General terms and conditions of the ING campaign

The ING Banking app is available to all Home'Bank, Business'Bank or ING Banking subscription holders (subject to acceptance by ING and mutual agreement). All relevant information, such as the Home'Bank, Business'Bank, (annexed to ING’s General Regulations), the General Terms and Conditions of the ING Banking app, transaction fees, is available on www.ing.be, at your ING branch and by telephone on +32 2 464 60 04.

¹https://febelfin.be/fr/presse/banque-et-societe/une-etude-montre-l-importance-des-connaissances-financieres-pres-de-la-moitie-des-jeunes-sont-inquiets-a-propos-de-l-argent

About ING

ING Belgium is a universal bank that provides financial services for private individuals, businesses and institutional customers. ING Belgium S.A./N.V. is a subsidiary of ING Group N.V. via ING Bank N.V. (www.ing.com).

ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING is: empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING’s more than 60,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 100 countries.

ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).

ING aims to put sustainability at the heart of what we do. Our policies and actions are assessed by independent research and ratings providers, which give updates on them annually. ING’s ESG rating by MSCI has been upgraded from ‘AA’ to ‘AAA’ in October 2025. As of June 2025, in Sustainalytics’ view, ING’s management of ESG material risk is ‘Strong’ with an ESG risk rating of 18.0 (low risk). ING Group shares are included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers. Here are some examples: Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell.