The National Institute on Human Rigths (NIHR) ruled on 25 July 2024 that ING discriminated in checks for terrorist financing. The bank wrongfully froze customers’ accounts and asked them extra questions about transactions solely because of their surname or the inclusion of a so-called “non-Dutch-sounding” name in the description. This particularly greatly affected people of non-Dutch origin, it said. The bank also handled customer discrimination complaints negligently. Three customers brought proceedings before the NIHR. They were supported by PILP and Discriminatie.nl.
What was this case about?
Three ING customers who were wrongly selected for a check in the context of preventing terrorist financing filed a complaint with the NIHR.
In a groundbreaking judgment, the NIHR states that in the case of two customers, the ING wrongfully discriminated on the basis of race by selecting them solely on the basis of their last name or mentioning a “non-Dutch” name in the description of a transaction. This is discrimination and therefore prohibited, the NIHR rules. The third case is still pending.
“We are very pleased with this verdict because it unambiguously confirms that ING’s approach is discriminatory. Mentioning my brother’s first name in a transaction clearly has absolutely nothing to do with terrorism. It is high time that ING realizes this and stops these unnecessary and discriminatory checks immediately. We hope this judgment will prompt ING to critically review and correct their policies.” – Jalal Et-Talabi
ING argued that it was compelled to conduct the checks because the names mentioned would match names on the national terrorism sanctions list. For example, according to ING, “Abdelhamid,” the name of the brother of one of the customers, was too similar to the name of Saddam Hussein’s former secretary, killed in 2012, named Abid Hamid Mahmud Al-Tikriti aka ‘Abdel Hamid Mahmoud’. But the NIHR does not go along with that.
“Time and again, transactions that included my husband’s name (also an ING customer) were blocked and questioned as part of anti-terrorism investigations. This was very unpleasant and this practice must stop, not only for me, but also for everyone else this happens and can happen to. We hope this verdict provides a positive change.” – Anne Busser-Mohamed
As far as the organisations are concerned, the ruling of the NIHR applies not only to ING but to all financial institutions in the Netherlands that use similar screening methods. These discriminatory screening methods must stop immediately.
Wwft checks
The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (Wwft) requires banks to investigate where their customers’ money comes from. In practice, these checks stigmatize certain groups.
Muslims and people with a “non-Dutch” sounding last name in particular suffer from the far-reaching Wwft checks of banks. They have to answer questions, cannot open an account or their account or transaction is blocked.
“Precisely because there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims and people from non-white backgrounds, as a bank you have to be extra careful with your checks,” says mr. Klaas of PILP. “Targeting customers harshly just because they mentioned the name ‘Mohamed’ or ‘Abdelhamid’ in a transfer is not only very careless, but also discriminatory and very painful.”
Complaint handling
Prior to the proceedings at the NIHR, the three customers reported discrimination by ING through Discriminatie.nl. ING did not respond to these discrimination complaints in two of the three cases. Only during the proceedings at the NIHR did the ING state that it did not intend to give its customers the feeling that they were being discriminated against.
“It is not a question of ‘intent not to discriminate’. In fact, intentions do not determine whether a conduct is discriminatory or not. What matters is the actual act and its effect.” – mr. Van Oversteeg of Discriminatie.nl
In the aforementioned judgment of 25 July 2024, the NIHR also stated that the ING had acted negligently in at least one of the two complaint settlements. The NIHR blames the ING for not providing a substantive explanation or clarification of the reason and background for the checks and blocking of transactions. Whether this also applies to the second complaint handling will be known later.
Read the full judgement here.
Report discrimination by banks
People who are being questioned by their bank and suspect that this is because of a connection to a “non-Dutch” sounding name, can report this to the national discrimination platform via www.discriminatie.nl or call for free to 0800 0880. Reporting helps address discrimination.
