ING Direct is making progress in its strategy of becoming the main financial institution for more of its customers, according to chief executive Vaughn Richtor.For most of its history in Australia the bank has relied on its high-interest online savings accounts and mortgage products to attract business. But a few years ago it started expanding its product range, launching a transaction account and superannuation fund."We are transitioning into a primary bank for our customers and focusing on building that relationship with customers, not simply growing assets," Richtor said.Richtor did not say how the bank defined a "primary bank relationship" but he said a good indicator of the bank's progress was that 200,000 of its 1.5 million customers now had ING Direct Orange Everyday transaction accounts - up 34 per cent in 2013.He said another indicator was the rise in the bank's net promoter score.ING Direct released its 2013 financial report yesterday. Profit was down 1.9 per cent in the year to December. The bank made a net profit of A$271.5 million for the year, compared with a net profit of $276.9 million in 2012.According to Australian Prudential Regulation Authority data, the value of ING Direct's mortgage portfolio fell by 0.3 per cent last year. Net interest income was flat as a result.However, the bank's mortgage book started to pick up in the second half of the year and grew in line with system in the six months to December. Richtor said ING Direct had made changes to its mortgage distribution as part of its primary bank strategy. It "de-emphasised" its relationships with mortgage originators selling ING Direct loans under white label arrangements and put more effort into selling through brokers and direct sales, which gave the brand more prominence.Customer deposit grew by nine per cent. The bank's deposit-to-loan ratio increased from 69.9 per cent to 76.4 per cent. Richtor said he would like to see this ratio a little higher.The bank's cost to income ratio was 35.1 per cent at the end of December.The bank launched a mobile app in August and now 50 per cent of customer interaction is via mobile. Richtor said the bank was looking at new products and had "a couple of irons in the fire".