ING Vysya: The fine art of finance

You might think commerce and creativity seldom go together. But the folks at ING Vysya would disagree. The private bank, formed with the merger of ING Group and Vysya Bank in 2002, has launched a unique initiative at a Mumbai branch where art meets finance, literally. The ‘art branch’, spread over 1,300 square feet in south Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade, houses an art gallery that gives established as well as budding artists a platform to display their works, in addition to providing the usual banking and financial services. A one-of-its-kind venture, the branch has been designed by Dr Art+Design, a design management studio that provides support services to developers, architects, designers etc.

“It’s a theme-based branch that aims to promote art. Every element at the branch adds to the concept — furniture, coinage art, and theme murals etc,” says Uday Sareen, country head, retail banking, ING Vysya Bank, adding that art has traditionally been regarded as an alternative asset class from an investment perspective. “Here the objective is broader — to promote and build awareness apart from enriching our customer experience,” he clarifies. To keep the art lovers happy, the gallery area will also reportedly remain open beyond the usual working hours of the bank.

Besides exhibiting works of art, there will also be workshops to involve visitors and increase their understanding of the subject. “One of our themes for an upcoming workshop is to promote traditional Indian art forms. Also, we would initiate art classrooms where senior artists will share their skills and teach aspiring artists,” informs Sareen. Some of the artists whose works have been featured so far are Ajay De, the watercolour man Samir Mondal, Charan Sharma, V Solanki, Jagannath Paul, Sanjay Kumar, Nayanna Kanodia, Prithvi Soni and Devyani Parikh among others. The bank doesn’t charge the artists to exhibit their work, but they are free to contribute the proceeds from sales if they wish to.

Subject to the popularity of this venture, the bank plans to take the initiative to other Indian cities as well. The target audience is “any bank customer who walks into our branch, be it a high-net worth individual or a salary account holder. That’s because we intend to promote not just high-end art but also upcoming artists,” confesses Sareen.

This is not the first time the Amsterdam-based ING Group has dabbled in art. A quick tour of the company website shows it has been holding exhibitions globally since 2003. Reports suggest ING has accumulated a collection of 15,000 artworks which are on display in 900 offices worldwide where it says it is viewed daily by an estimated 1.15 lakh employees and visitors.

Sareen feels India is now ready for the concept. “Indian markets have evolved over time and now people are more enthusiastic about knowing and even investing in art,” he says. “We had an astounding success since day one and we are confident this will help embed our franchise in newer markets, help serve our customers better and at the same time promote art awareness.”