ING Belgium has announced plans to give four free shares in its parent company to young adults turning 18 in 2026, as part of a financial education initiative that has already drawn criticism from campaigners.
The bank said on Tuesday that the initiative is to help young people understand saving, investing, and financial risks before they embark on investing their own money.
Eligible ING customers will first have to complete a financial education programme covering savings, investment, risk, and diversification.
Once they have completed the training and met the necessary conditions, they will receive four ING Group shares in an ING investment account.
Initially, 10,000 eligible participants will be able to participate. The bank said recipients would not be required to keep the shares for a minimum period, deposit additional money or make further investments.
With ING Group shares trading at just over €29 on Tuesday morning, the four shares would be worth approximately €116.
Financial education
According to CEO Peter Adams, the goal is to make financial education a practical thing. “These four shares are not an end in themselves,” Adams said, explaining the intention is to familiarise young adults with share ownership, investment and financial risk.
However, Belgian financial advocacy group Financité has criticised the initiative as "advertising disguised as financial education." The organisation accused ING of using the scheme as a marketing exercise to encourage young people to become shareholders in a bank it considers insufficiently inclusive and heavily involved in financing fossil fuels.
Financité argued that financial education should remain independent of the commercial interests of banks.
The group also questioned the significance of ING's compulsory training and knowledge test.
It pointed out that the EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive already requires banks to assess customers' knowledge before offering certain financial products.
According to Financité, ING is therefore presenting an existing regulatory obligation as an additional educational effort.
The bank maintains that the initiative is designed to give young adults practical experience of investing without requiring them to risk their own savings.
