Frank Furfaro joined ING after university and hit the ground running as a customer care specialist. Within a year he seized the opportunity to put his programming skills to use in a Business Analyst role and was awarded one of ING’s coveted retail awards for his contribution and creativity. Fast forward to his current role as Customer Insights Analyst for Strategy where Frank helps teams make sense of data to better understand customers, so we can help them do their thing. This is his story in his own words.

Empowered to do what moves you

As a Customer Insights Analyst, a lot of what I do involves pulling together raw data from databases, and turning it into something which provides meaningful insights to stakeholders, to show how customers use the products and features we offer. Those insights enable us to better understand how we can help them with their banking needs.

I have a lot of random ideas on how we can improve things, so it’s great to be in a team with leaders who empower you to be creative and think outside the box. As well as providing dashboards and insights, I’ve also been able to automate key processes which has meant certain reporting tasks that used to take hours, now take minutes. It means there’s more time to think strategically about how we can add value.

Personal growth and challenging work

At ING there's a tremendous amount of opportunity to learn and grow. I currently sit in a strategy role, but I’ve had the chance to work with a number of areas such as mortgages, wealth, daily banking and marketing.

Each area is totally different, with their own challenges, and you get to meet and work with so many different stakeholders, which helps to build your network and better understand how all the parts work together across the bank. It also means more people know who you are, which is useful when opportunities come up.

Leadership prospects

I’ve had the chance to gain leadership experience in my role, stepping in while my manager was on leave. Being able to support others in the team, particularly those who are in the position I was a couple of years ago, was really fulfilling as I was able to pay it forward and share my knowledge.

When I look back at the last three and a half years, I can’t imagine having the same opportunities to develop my career as quickly if I worked somewhere else. The ING culture plays a big part. If you have a question, you can just ask. Everyone wants to help you succeed and do well.

I’m thankful to everyone who has supported me, and I’m excited about what the future holds.