It appears all major banks will try to axe unnecessary features and services before 2022 is over. ING is pulling the final plugs on Yolt, its consumer-facing smart money solution. The news doesn’t come as too big of a surprise, although it will still affect several dozen employees.
Yolt Is Coming To An End
ING had high expectations for the smart money application when it was first introduced. At the time, it seemed like a valuable service for ING customers looking to get a better grip on their finances. Unfortunately, the service never gained major traction, and an initial shutdown began in late 2021. While some people held out hope this would be a temporary measure, ING decided to pull the complete plug earlier this week.
Due to that decision, Yolt will shut down its B2B open banking operations completely. Unfortunately, that also means the 48 employees working on this solution will be out of a job unless they fulfill other functions within the ING network. The phase-out will be gradual and is expected to conclude in April 2023.
ING issued a statement to add:
“ING and its businesses continuously evaluate activities, including assessing whether they are likely to achieve the preferred scale in their market within a reasonable time frame. In this context, the evaluation has led to the decision to phase out Yolt.”
Unfortunately, ING sees no future marker opportunities due “rapidly changing market conditions”. Whether that means the overall interest in this application dwindled, or it simply didn’t generate enough revenue remains subject to speculation. The pivot from consumer-facing solutions to B2B operations seems to have sped up the ultimate demise of this project.