Dutch banking group ABN Amro is selling its Belgian online savings subsidiary Moneyou to Belgian market leader Keytrade Bank.

‘Given the current climate of low interest rates, we don’t see enough opportunity to further grow our savings portfolio and generate sufficient scale in Belgium,’ Moneyou chief exective Bas Boelhouwers said in a statement.

‘Keytrade Bank is the market leader in Belgium when it comes to online banking and investments. They serve clients with a similar concept. Our clients will be in good hands with them.’

Moneyou will start transferring its Belgian clients to Keytrade Bank in November. Earlier this year the company withdrew from the Austrian market and is now only active in the Netherlands and Germany.

Ambitions

The Financieele Dagblad says the shrinking of Moneyou’s ambitions are a ‘stark contrast’ to the growth plans ABN Amro had a short while ago.

Moneyou started life in 2001 as an ABN Amro mortgage label and became an arms-length subsidiary in 2008, with a focus on online savings products.

The aim was to roll out Moneyou’s digital banking services across Europe and the bank was given a large capital injection by its parent company in 2017 to make the ambitions come true.

The sale is expected to have only a very slight impact on ABN Amro’s results, the company statement said.