Claudia Polivanov

Walk us through your career path in ING (from your first role to the current one)

I joined ING Bank in July, 2006, as a member of the Operations team. Now as a Head of Lending Administration, I coordinate the back office teams responsible for lending to individuals and small businesses. A job in Operations has given me a lot of satisfaction and the opportunity to develop. Also, my work is not limited to the operational part, as I am always connected with many other departments, starting with internal clients, our front office colleagues, and continuing with IT, legal, risk, compliance and audit.

How is Life @ ING? (especially from a learning experience point of view)

A project that had an important contribution to my development was the launch of NPS to clients. I remember how (in an inter-departmental team) we were analyzing ideas/suggestions from our clients. Being connected to clients and their feedback and ideas is a must in our business. We all have the desire to understand what they want, to find solutions and adjust processes, to be better.  It's the kind of job interaction that creates a great learning experience. At the same time, you can come up with ideas in connex areas to the one in which you actually work.

How would you explain your role as a Head of Lending Administration @ING Bank to a 7-year-old?

I would tell him to think about his favorite toy and imagine how it was created. The story is that somebody, unknown to him, creates it and makes sure it meets his expectations. That's what we do in the back office, we do not create dolls or cars, but a different kind of product that his parents or businesses need. In our department loans are created, on “fast-forward” (“pe repede-nainte”), like in the TV commercial. 

If you were to recommend ING to a friend, what would you say about the organization?

We’re clearly different from our competition. At ING we are all ambassadors of Orange Code, our manifesto for how we stay true to our purpose and our tradition of reinvention and empowerment -We take responsibility and make it happen, we help others reach their goals and we strive to be a step ahead, in life and in business.

If you were to save the world with an app…

I'm thinking of an application that works on our thoughts: whenever you have a fear that holds you in turning a dream into reality, get the phone close to your head and it will reset your mind. The app knows how to read thoughts and emotions, translate them into concrete events, search similar successes on the internet and send them as a positive energy boost to you.

Let’s say you wrote your first SF book. What would you call it?

Youth without age and the meaning of life