ING Group NV is weighing a sale of its Australian online banking unit, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
ING has canvassed interest from lenders including Standard Chartered PLC, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks were private.
The 12-year-old ING Direct unit in Australia, which offers banking services over the Internet and telephone, has about 1.4 million customers, according to its website.
The bank and insurer, among European firms that needed bailouts during the financial crisis, plans to reduce its balance sheet by about 45% by 2014 from 2008 levels. ING has agreed to sell insurance and U.S. online banking divisions as a condition for European Union approval of its bailout.
