Rainer Sion

After completing his Banking and Insurance training, Rainer worked for several years at Westland-Utrecht Hypotheekbank ­– which was then part of ING. He had spells in the pricing departments of V&D and G-Star and then returned to ING by way of a temporary job. “I find business services more interesting than retail. The direct customer contact appeals to me more too.”

Once back at ING, he was soon given a permanent contract. “That was very welcome and I enjoyed working here again right from the start. I started in the Construction Deposits department, and after a while I indicated that I was willing and able to do more. That ambition was appreciated: I had the opportunity to move to the department I’m working in now, where we deal with all kinds of questions from consumers about mortgages.”

Keeping knowledge up to scratch

“We get questions about things like interest rate changes, whether to make repayments, borrowing more for a renovation, converting to a different type of mortgage – all kinds of issues come up.” That also means Rainer and his colleagues need to keep their knowledge up to scratch. “Under the Financial Supervision Act, you need to gain your mortgage credit diploma before you’re allowed to talk to customers. That’s quite a challenge, as it’s a degree-level qualification. You also learn a lot from your experienced colleagues, of course, and we have regular training sessions.”

Complex questions

“What I enjoy most is getting my teeth into complex questions. For example, is it wise to switch to a different interest rate? What will it mean for the monthly costs and the final debt? What other issues should you consider? You can have a good discussion with the customer in that case. A mortgage is such a big and important thing in a person’s life, so you shouldn’t make such decisions lightly. Although I don’t actually give mortgage advice, I can help customers think smarter about their mortgage.”

Talking to rappers and footballers

“What are the best aspects of my work? They’re the unusual questions you get, and the unusual people, such as a customer who wants to suspend his mortgage because he’s in prison, or the complex issues involved in a divorce, for example. You sometimes find yourself talking to famous rappers or footballers. Discretion is a very important quality in this work, as are flexibility and empathy. And, of course, you have to be very good with figures.”

“In our team we can always count on each other and we really do build on each other’s strengths. We know our objectives, we work out how to achieve them and how to divide the work. Who handles the online chat, who takes the phone calls? We sort it out together. It’s great that we’re given that trust. And I like the fact that there’s always room for improvement and growth – both for our team and for myself.”