ING DIRECT Wins Seven Ipsos Best Banking Awards

TORONTO, Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - ING DIRECT has been awarded top honours in the 2013 Ipsos Best Banking Awards in seven categories among all financial institutions. In addition to taking four solo awards, including Online Banking Excellence, this is the fifth year in a row that Canadian consumers have named ING DIRECT their top choice for Products & Services Excellence.

The Ipsos annual awards program honours service excellence in key customer experience benchmarks. The Best Banking Awards recognize service excellence in personal banking among Canadian financial institutions based on survey results in 13 different categories, including three new ones this year. ING DIRECT was recognized by Canadians as a leader in the following areas:

• Value For Money
• Recommended to Family or Friends
• Interest Rates & Service Charges
• Products & Services Excellence
• ATM Banking Excellence
• Online Banking Excellence
• Live Agent Telephone Banking Excellence *new award

"Simple, easy-to-use products and services have been a cornerstone of our organization. The entire ING DIRECT team goes above and beyond every day to provide the best in client experience, from the types of products and features we offer to our interaction with clients," said Peter Aceto, president and CEO at ING DIRECT. "We are honoured to be recognized in several Best Banking categories. It tells us we're doing a good job."

Ipsos 2013 Best Banking Awards are based on quarterly Customer Service Index (CSI) survey results. The sample source for CSI is from online data collection of 45,875 Canadians, yielding 69,268 financial institution ratings across the country.

"We are honoured that the Canadian financial services sector continues to use these customer service metrics as one of the key measures of their success," says Ray Kong, Executive Vice President and Global Financial Services Practice Leader at Ipsos Reid.  "Ongoing meaningful commitment to customer service, along with continued fiscal responsibility are key reasons why Canada's financial services sector has been a model of success for the whole world."

About Ipsos
Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. In October 2011 Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.

With offices in 85 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1,789 billion (2.300 billion USD) in 2012.

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos' offerings and capabilities.

About ING DIRECT
ING Bank of Canada, operating under the trade name of ING DIRECT, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of Nova Scotia. ING DIRECT is Canada's leading direct bank with over 1.8 million Clients and close to $40 billion in total assets. ING DIRECT is a bright way forward in everyday banking for Canadians, offering value added, simple products such as high interest savings accounts, including TFSAs, GICs and RSPs with no fees or service charges, mutual funds, low rates on mortgages and a no-fee, daily chequing account that actually pays interest. ING DIRECT has been operating in Canada since 1997, and has paid nearly $6 billion in interest to Clients. ING DIRECT is open for banking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at ingdirect.ca, on mobile devices at m.ingdirect.ca or by calling 1-800 ING DIRECT (1-800-464-3473).

ING Bank of Canada and its subsidiaries have been acquired by The Bank of Nova Scotia and are no longer affiliated with ING Groep N.V. The trademarks ING, ING DIRECT, ING Lion, the ING Lion logo and any derivation, variation, translation or adaptation thereof are trademarks of ING Groep N.V. and are used under license.

Get social with ING DIRECT: Facebook.com/SuperStarSaver; Twitter.com/SuperStarSaver; YouTube.com/SuperStarSaver

SOURCE ING DIRECT