ING boss gets personal online

Let’s face it – business videos and podcasts on the Web are a real turn-off.  

The medium itself has plenty of potential – and at Finextra we’ll be looking to produce more audio/video content over the coming months – but the application of the technology in the business space is all wrong. How many times have you tuned into a Webcast only to tune out again three minutes later as a succession of besuited business-types stun you with a slow-mo relay of the latest tech jargon. 

So, it’s refreshing to come across this video from Arkadi Kuhlmann, the US president and CEO of ING Direct, espousing the virtues of simple transaction banking. Coming in at 2 minutes and 53 seconds, Kuhlman cuts the chase as he explains how financial transaction banking can be “as easy as buying a cup of coffee”. 

Check it out. It’s nothing earth-shattering, and I’m not likely to run off an open an ING account on this message alone, but it demonstrates how a combination of video technology and some smart editing can be used to convey a simple sales pitch and re-inject the personal touch to banking online.