ING plans to cut about 1,250 jobs worldwide this year as part of a cost-saving programme that includes greater use of artificial intelligence, the bank said in a presentation to institutional investors in London.

Some of the cuts are expected to fall in the Netherlands. The presentation suggested that part of the reduction will be in anti-money-laundering checks, a division with about 6,000 staff.

Banks are legally required to carry out these checks, which largely involve reviewing customer transactions according to fixed procedures. ING said new technology, including AI, should make it possible to automate more of this work.

ING is not the first to announce cuts. ABN Amro said earlier it wants to replace 35% of staff in its anti-money-laundering division with AI, while ASN Bank plans to cut about 900 jobs and Triodos more than 250.

ING said the job losses are part of a wider global savings programme aimed at reducing costs by €350 million by 2026. The bank said it expects technology to allow output to grow without a similar rise in spending.

The big Dutch banks employ 13,000 people — roughly a fifth of the sector’s staff — full time in money laundering departments, costing the industry €1.4 billion a year, according to Dutch banking association figures.

In March, the national audit office said Dutch banks are spending huge amounts of money on anti-money laundering checks that have major consequences for customers, but it is unclear whether the system is actually effective.

An estimated €15 billion to €20 billion is laundered in the Netherlands every year, the audit office said, yet the current system of strict controls does not always lead to useful investigations.

Banks are required by law to report unusual transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), while the sector is closely supervised by the central bank. In recent years regulators have imposed large fines on several banks because their checks were not in order.

At the same time, the checks can have serious consequences for ordinary people, who may be asked detailed questions about their finances or even refused a bank account – particularly if they have Middle Eastern or eastern European name, the audit office said.