CURIOUSLITTLE LEOASKS THE BEST QUESTIONIN THE HISTORY OF ALLQUESTIONS EVER ASKED

© 2013 ING BANK N.V.

This publication was realised by:

Concept: ENERGIZE+ Amsterdam, Wenka Booij (ING Bank)

Authors: Jesse Ridder, Jurriaan van Bokhoven & all the contributors of the

Next Generation Banking challenge

Editor: Mariska Hammerstein

Illustrations: Rhonald Blommestijn (Artbox)

Art direction: Jurriaan van Bokhoven, Jesse Ridder

Lay-out: Jurriaan van Bokhoven, Martijn de Vries (Studio Doen)

Production: Annemarie Neef, Paul Koole

Printed by: Studio Doen

First print.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy or any

storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Dear reader, young or old,

This book is the result of a unique collaboration between future bankers and

future clients. We hope that it may inspire you to always stay curious.

Enjoy.

Koos Timmermans

Vice-chairman of ING Bank

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Leo is 9 years old. He is a very creative boy who loves

to draw. One day Leo got a great idea. “I’m going

to make my own money!” he said. So he grabbed his

best coloured pencils and started drawing the most

precious banknote ever made. It was green, yellow,

and pink. Leo used only two numbers: the 1 and the 0.

He started with the one and then covered the whole

paper with zeroes. Now his banknote was worth one

hundred billion million gazillion euros, and Leo could buy

anything he wanted. To keep this valuable money safe,

he decided to go to Mr Bank.

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“Who are you? What are you doing here?” asked Mr Bank. His voice

sounded like a hundred voices put together. And with the sound of a thousand

buzzing bees, all of Mr Bank’s cameras suddenly turned towards Leo!

“I’m Leo, and I have very precious money I want to keep safe!” said Leo. He stuck out his tongue and made funny faces at Mr Bank’s cameras.

Mr Bank smiled, even though he didn’t have a mouth. “I’m afraid I can’t

accept that money, little Leo. Nobody will be able to pay with money you’ve

created yourself.”

Not only was Leo very creative, he was also quite curious.

He looked up at Mr Bank and he asked him a question.

A good question. The best question.

The best question in the history of all questions ever asked:

“Open your vault, Mr Bank!” called Leo.

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Mr Bank stayed quiet for a while. And a while longer. And after having

thought about Leo’s question very long and hard, he finally answered:

“Well, little Leo, you simply can’t pay with money you’ve created yourself.

But if someone really likes it, he may want to buy it from you. But then, it

wouldn’t be called money. It would be called a piece of art. And a piece of

art is worth whatever someone wants to pay for it. You could say it’s worth

ten euros. And someone else could say it’s worth ten cents. People pay with

real money, because everybody knows what that money is worth. That’s

because money is a very, very good agreement. An agreement everybody

promised to keep.”

“That’s great!” said Leo. “I hereby promise that my money is worth more than all the money in the world! So everybody can buy everything with it!”

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And in return for their gold, I gave them a piece of paper. So everybody

started using my pieces of paper to pay for things. Because those pieces of

paper had value that was related to gold. Those pieces of paper we now call

money. Everybody trusts this money because people know it has real value.”

“So is this what we need banks for?” asked Leo. “To create money?”

“No, I don’t create paper money anymore, Leo. These days money is

created by one very special bank, that only works for the government,”

Mr Bank explained. “What I do now is fix puzzles. The puzzle of people

who have money and people who need money. When people bring me their

money, I keep it safe for them in my big vault. But instead of letting all that

money just sit, I lend some of it to people who really need it. Because

sometimes people have a dream and they need money to make that dream

come true.”

Mr Bank shook his head. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, Leo.

Money has to be something of real value. Let me explain…”

“A long time ago, people didn’t use money. They just traded things. Four

loaves of bread for a chicken. A cow for some land. Or ten tomatoes for

twenty potatoes. But that got confusing. People weren’t always happy with

what they got in return. And taking your cow to the store wasn’t very handy.

So people started using pieces of gold to pay for things. Because gold is

very beautiful and shiny and most of all… very precious. It’s precious

because there isn’t all that much gold in the world. And the less we have of

something, the more it’s worth.”

“Then my parents are very rich!” yelled Leo. “Because our dog Max is a real Golden Retriever!”

Mr Bank smiled. “Well, I don’t think Max would

like to live in my big vault. There’s only gold in there.

The gold that people brought to me, to keep it safe.

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Mr Bank sat down and cleared his throat. He had noticed that his voice

sounded like a hundred voices put together. That is not a very pleasant

storytelling voice. So after clearing his throat, he said in a single voice:

“Imagine you really like birds. You want to make special birdhouses

and sell them. Not just to your parents, but also to your grandparents,

neighbours, and teachers. Then what do you need? You need a hammer,

a saw, wood and some nails. But you don’t have any of those things yet.

So you’ll need money to buy them. That’s where I can help! Because I have

a lot of money in my vault that I can lend you. So you can start making

your birdhouses.”

“Then, after a couple of days of hard work, your birdhouses are ready.

You can start selling them to your parents, grandparents, neighbours, and

teachers. And guess what Leo, you just made some real money! And with all

the money you just earned, you can pay back what you borrowed from me.”

“Great!” said Leo. “But I don’t really want to make birdhouses. Could you just lend me one hundred billion million gazillion euros, so I can buy whatever I want for the rest of my life? Let’s see, I’m going to buy a brand new bicycle….. a giant TV…. a game console… a house full of cookies….”

Mr Bank interrupted him. “Wait a second, Leo. Lending money isn’t free.

It actually costs you money. Not only do you have to pay me back, you also

have to pay me something extra.”

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“It’s like a thank-you,” Mr Bank explained. “Let’s say your mother wants to make

cookies one day. She’s got all the ingredients she needs, except for sugar. So she

borrows a cup of sugar from the neighbours. She promises to return the cup of

sugar later. And when the cookies are ready, she gives them a cup of sugar and

some of the cookies. In other words, she borrowed something, and she gave it

back with something extra. That’s what we call ‘interest’. Pretty interesting, isn’t it?”

Mr Bank started shaking with laughter. “Funny joke, if I may say so myself.”

When Mr Bank noticed that Leo didn’t understand his joke he got serious again.

“Interest is the money I earn for lending you money. And do you remember that all

this money actually belonged to other people? The people who put it into my vault?

Well, I also pay them a part of that interest. This way, everybody earns money!”

“Why isn’t it enough that I just pay you back?” asked Leo.

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“You mean to tell me that if I put money into your vault, I would also get something extra?”

“That’s right, Leo! That’s what happens when people bring me their

money,” said Mr Bank. Leo wanted to make sure he understood.

“You are saying that there are people that bring you money. And there are people that borrow money, so they can do things to make money themselves. Then why are there still poor countries?” he asked. “You said you would fix the puzzle of people who have money, and people who need money. And by fixing that puzzle, everybody earns more money. So why don’t you do that for the poor countries as well?”

You see, a lot of people already give to poor countries. They give things

like food, medicine and money. But there’s an old saying that goes:

‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and

you feed him for a lifetime.’ So it would be a lot better if the people in

these countries learned how to earn money themselves. I do my best

to help groups who lend small amounts of money to the people there,

so they can start their own small businesses. And sometimes I also give

money to help children in these countries.

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This gave Leo a wonderful idea:

“You know what I’m going to do, Mr Bank? I’m going to start a business myself! I’m going to draw lots of paper money. And then I’m going to sell those drawings to my parents, grandparents, neighbours, and my teachers. And then, when I have earned enough money, I’m going to travel to the poor countries. I’ll teach the people how to make money for themselves!”

Mr Bank was very proud of what he just heard. “You inspire me, Mr Leo. You

have wonderful ideas. So let me help you. Will you sell me that banknote

you created yourself? It would be an honour to be your first customer.” Leo

happily sold Mr Bank his homemade money and said goodbye. And what

did he do with the real money he just earned?

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He bought himself a beautiful new colouring set!

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Thanks Noah, Nia, Bobby, LouLou and

Lane for your inspiring questions.

And to all the contributors for your

inspiring answers!

scan this QR code to see the video

Adrian Alexe

Adrian Pop

AE Rehman

Agnieszka Piasecka

Aizaz Jabbar

Alin Labau

Alina Axenciuc

Amr Hefny

Ana Maria Ghica

Ana-Maria Simona Wogh

Anca Mitroi

András Szabó

Andreea Elena Galbinasul

Andrei Bogdan

Andrei Risto

Andrés González Córdoba

Anke van Os

Anne Mariel Cabale

Anton Miklowicz

Antonio Alagna

Antonio Giannino

Anum Ali

Arif Shaik

Assya-Beatrice Ivanova

Bernardo Santos Betley

Bobby Mirauta

Bright King Chukwu

Bruno Gorga

Carmen Alboi-Sandru

Cata Sima

Catalin Zabava

Chitan Adrian

Christina Pinzari

Constantin Mârza

Cornelis Valentijn

Cris Huertas

Cristian Stefan

Dan Catalin Dumitrescu

Dancho Barriento

Daniel Debie

Danny Jasperse

David Panamá

Eduard Botes

Ela Carabella

Elisa Cabutto

Eric Lai

Eskor John

Estée Hak

Ezra Hortensius

Fabian Alber

Faruk Yasa

Filip Coenen

Florin Visa

Francesco Morino

Francesco S. Coronas

Freemarket Freedomfighter

Funmilayo Mide-Ajala

Gabriela Vasilescu

Gellert Lapka

Gregory Moulinet

Himanshu Yadav

Iulian Stefan Turtaru

Jan Kazmierczak

Joao Assis

Jolanta Hosecka

Joris Berckmans

Jose Arregui

José Nicodemos Maia Neto

Joseph Pyunghua

Kevin Tosh

Kristof Beckers

Krzysiek Dudzic

Loes van Gemert

Loganathan Anandan

Lu Ke

Luis Almenar Pizcueta

Maciej Wujciów

Maciek Ziolkowski

Mahmoud Abduo

Margaret Wanjiru Maina

Maria Alexandra

Maria Assey

Marigona Gashi

Markaveli Shakur

Marton Bod

Massimiliano Serraiotto

Mauro Alexis Battellini

May XI

Michał Chełmowski

Miguel Voigt

Miklos Norbert

Milanko Kuna

Muntean Norbert

Nambasa Joyce

Natasa Jevtovic

Nati Velasquez Lo

Nicolas Sadeck

Nicu Dorobantu

Nina Cheng

Oana-Maria Budu

Olivier Hubert

Paweł Budrewicz

Petre Lazar

Prashant Nayak

Ricardo Azevedo

Ricardo Dijkhof

Rj ALee

Rob Schepens

Sami Kantaoui Jegham

Sandu Lungu

Sarah Peters

Saskia van den Berg

Sebastian Sanchez Deuer

Sergi Fernández

Serhej Turiashvili

Shoaib Khaleeli

Silvan Banu

Ssempiira Jacob

Stefan Buitrago

Stefan Hudici

Stefan-Radu Alexe

Stéphane Rolland

Sulayman Hussain

Tayfun Ursavas

Teo Dumitrescu

Tomasz Szlazak

Tommaso Sorchiotti

Tudor Ion

Ulfie KareBear

Umang Rathi

Uroš Vuckovic

Vadim Mura

Ville Wallenius

Yasmin Yunes

Yasser Al Romany Yunis

Many thanks for your inspiring contributions:

If you contributed to the project but don’t see your name here, we truly apologize. Your submission is still very much appreciated.

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Many thanks for your insightful articles:

Lucy KellawayFinancial Times

Read article: http://tinyurl.com/cn26a5l

Dr. Kara Tan BhalaSeven Pillars Institute for Global Finance and Ethics

Read article: http://tinyurl.com/bs9sx7s

Many thanks for your support:

AIESEC Andreas Sung Unstad

Check: http://www.facebook.com/AIESECglobal

More information:

www.ing.jobs

Stay connected:

facebook.com/INGcareers

@INGTalents

Stay curious!

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