Fortis Commercial Bank of the Year in the Netherlands

Joint survey by Het Financieele Dagblad, Vallstein and Erasmus University Rotterdam

Utrecht / Brussels, 7 August 2006, Fortis has been named Commercial Bank of the Year for 2006. That is the outcome of the survey on the quality of banking services that Het Financieele Dagblad, the Vallstein consultancy firm and Erasmus University Rotterdam carry out among bank customers each year. Fortis came top in 2004 also. The survey questioned 5000 companies in the Netherlands with turnover of EUR 10m or more. Fortis was rated particularly highly on aspects like complaints handling, lending and accessibility.

Fortis scored a total of 7.8, beating Rabobank (7.3), ING Bank (6.8) and ABN AMRO (6.3). It is notable that the CEOs, CFOs and other senior financial officers awarded Fortis appreciably more points than they did when Fortis was declared winner in 2004. Fortis was runner-up in 2005 with 7.3 points.

Willem Ledeboer, General Manager of Fortis Commercial Banking and in charge of services to medium-sized enterprises expressed his great delight with the result: ‘Naturally, we are exceptionally proud that our clients rate us the best commercial bank. It sets the seal on all the effort we put into continuously improving our customer services. And ultimately, it is they who decide whether we do so successfully As far as that goes, the outcome of the survey speaks for itself. It encourages us to continue further in the same direction in future.’

Fortis offers internationally operating companies integrated financial solutions via its current network of 118 Business Centres in all the main economic centres of Europe and Asia. New Business Centres have been opened in Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Zurich over the past year. For more information on business banking, please visit www.fortisbusiness.com

Fortis is an international financial services provider engaged in banking and insurance. We offer our personal, business and institutional customers a comprehensive package of products and services through our own channels, in collaboration with intermediaries and through other distribution partners. With a market capitalisation of EUR 36,2 billion (31/07/2006), Fortis ranks among the twenty largest financial institutions in Europe. Our sound solvency position, our presence in 50 countries and our dedicated, professional workforce of 58,000 enable us to combine global strength with local flexibility and provide our clients with optimum support. More information is available on www.fortis.com

Contact Information

Press Contact

Fortis

Contact via E-mail