ING employees are allowed to talk to Frisian customers in Frisian | Good news

At the beginning of this year, there was outrage about this in Friesland and within Frisian politics. According to Deputy Folkerts, Frisian customers were annoyed that they were not allowed to speak Frisian with Frisian-speaking employees.

Folkerts is pleased that the bank has adjusted its policy after “a good discussion”. “In that conversation we explained what the status of Frisian is and what the language means. That is now one of the reasons that they are adjusting the policy.”

An ING spokesperson says that the bank has listened to the feedback from Frisian customers and understands the responses. “ING would like to show its human side and show respect for the second national language in the Netherlands.”

The spokesperson emphasizes that this does not mean that Frisian customers can always speak Frisian on the telephone, because not all employees speak Frisian.

ING has a large office in Leeuwarden, where many Frisian-speaking people also work. Previously, a customer whose first language was Frisian could call an employee whose first language was also Frisian, but the employee still had to speak Dutch.

The main reason that speaking Frisian was previously not possible is that the conversations must be able to be listened to and assessed and that not all assessors speak Frisian. It has now been agreed that those who do speak Frisian will assess the Frisian conversations.

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