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bunq

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bunq
Company typeBesloten vennootschap B.V.
IndustryFinancial technology
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
FounderAli Niknam
Headquarters
Amsterdam
,
Netherlands
ProductsCurrent accounts, Savings accounts, Debit cards, Mortgages
Number of employees
201-500 (2024)[1]
Websitewww.bunq.com

bunq (English: /bʌŋk/,[2] Dutch: [bʏŋk];[3] stylized in all lowercase), is a Dutch fintech and neobank licensed in the Netherlands within the European Union and operating in 30 European countries.[4][5][6][7] It was founded in Amsterdam where its headquarters are located.[8]

The company was founded in 2012 by Dutch-Canadian entrepreneur Ali Niknam,[9] who previously founded web hosting provider TransIP and Team.Blue.[10][11][12]

History

Early history (2012-2015)

Much of bunq's early history is documented in the book BreakThrough Banking[13] by Dutch author Siebe Huizinga.[14]

According to BreakThrough Banking, much of bunq's early efforts went toward obtaining a European banking license from ‘De Nederlandsche Bank’, the central bank of the Netherlands. In 2014, bunq received a banking license from the Dutch central bank,[15] after which the company launched its bunq app and became the first fully mobile Dutch bank.[16][17]

Niknam has stated in interviews that “bunq is the only bank built by coders”.[18] This seems to have resonated in bunq's early public perception, as the bank was frequently labeled “an IT company with a banking license”.[19][20][21] At its launch in 2015, bunq was coined “WhatsApp for Banking” by Dutch newspaper NRC,[22] further underscoring its product and technology-focused banking model as an alternative to traditional ones.[23][24]

International expansion (2015-present)

As of 2019, bunq had been offering mobile financial services in 30 European countries.[25] In the early 2020s, bunq began offering multiple currencies and IBANs on a single subscription, regardless of the account holder’s location or residency.[26] Unlike other European neobanks, bunq has not disclosed how many people have an account with the company.[27] In 2021, user deposits surpassed 1.2 billion euros.[28][29] This figure increased to €4.5 billion by early 2024, as reported by bunq.[30]

Bunq offers personal and business bank accounts and a public API that allows software developers to access their bank accounts programmatically and build their apps.[31][32][33] By 2021, bunq became the first digital bank to offer mortgages.[34][35][36] As a licensed bank, bunq account holders fall under the Deposit Guarantee Scheme of the European Central Bank.[37][38][39]

Founder Ali Niknam was bunq’s sole benefactor until 2021, having invested over 120 million euros into the company.[40] In 2021, bunq secured the largest Series A round for a European fintech company to date, bringing its valuation to 1.6 billion euros and granting it unicorn status.[40][41][42] Later that year, it was valued at $2 billion in an investment deal.[43]

In March 2022, bunq's CEO announced a creation of a special fund aimed to help refugees from Ukraine (resulted after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022) to come to the Netherlands. Bunq also stated that it would provide Ukrainian refugees with free bunq bank accounts.[44][45][46]

In May 2022, bunq announced that they had acquired the Belgium-based fintech organisation Tricount. This acquisition saw bunq become the second largest neobank in the European Union.[47]

In October 2022, bunq won a landmark court case against the Dutch Central Bank. bunq had taken the DNB to court over the central bank’s anti-money laundering (AML) policies. The court ruled in favor of bunq using a learning system based on Artificial Intelligence, rather than a rule-based system imposed by DNB. The ruling made it possible for other banks to modernize their own AML strategies as well.[48][49]

Bunq’s European user base reached 11 million at the end of 2023. Bunq has faced some concerns regarding security and customer support.[50][51] Reports from Dutch consumer platforms like Kassa and NOS highlighted that bunq’s ease of account setup and innovative features can sometimes attract fraud attempts. While bunq offers in-app chat support instead of phone lines to prevent phishing, some customers have experienced delays in getting assistance during urgent fraud cases. In response to specific incidents, bunq has taken steps to improve security and even compensated certain victims as a gesture of goodwill, though it emphasizes the importance of customer responsibility in preventing fraud.[52] In June 2024, Bunq enters partnerships with Mastercard and Nvidia. This collaboration leverages Mastercard’s Open Banking platform, enabling users to integrate accounts from various banks into the bunq app.[53][54][55][56]

Controversies

Usage of bunq by criminals[57]

In April 2021, Dutch consumer platform Kassa reported that bunq is getting used extensively by criminals, due to bunq not requiring a social security number to register a bank account and the ease of creating an API key.

Sub-par customer service and security[58]

In April 2024, Dutch consumer platform Kassa reported that customers who were scammed due to e.g. bank helpdesk fraud could not get in touch with bunq quickly. Victims received automated answers through the in-app live chat, the only way to get in touch with bunq, even when trying their hardest to get in touch with real humans.

bunq does not offer phone support. In a response to Kassa asking why, Ali Niknam said this was to prevent phishing.

Additionally, Kassa also reported that, due to bunq's broader options for transferring moneys, it was way easier to lose a lot of money in the event of a bank helpdesk fraud. bunq includes features such as converting savings accounts to a bank account with a single tap, making it easier to transfer money away from a (previously) savings account.

The Dutch Consumers' Association placed a safety warning on its Savings Account comparator website.

Poor post-victim communication[59]

In May 2024, the Dutch consumer platform Radar reported a case where someone lost 58,000 euros after falling victim to helpdesk fraud. The scammers requested over 80 debit cards without triggering any alarms within bunq's system, resulting in the victim losing access to their bunq app account as well as losing the 58,000 euros. bunq responded by saying they would reimburse a large part of the damages out of goodwill. However, they also mentioned that they weren't directly responsible for the damages.

Helpdesk fraud[60][61]

In May 2024, Dutch broadcasting company NOS as well as NRC, a Dutch newspaper revealed scammers more often target bunq customers over other bank customers, because security measures other banks have aren't present at bunq.

bunq does not offer features such as a cooling-off period after increasing a daily limit.

Whereas other banks usually compensate customers, bunq usually doesn't do so. CEO Ali Niknam reportedly said "It's like giving someone your car keys outside on the street, then your car is gone" to one of the victims. Half of the victims reported by the NOS and NRC lost more than 50,000 euros.

An old employee of bunq mentioned data safety is not a topic that drives CEO Ali, he wants to offer the best possible product, which safety features do not fall under as those features may annoy the customer.

References

  1. ^ "bunq News, Hiring, Layoffs, Competitors, CEO, Fundraising Insights". RivalSense. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  2. ^ "We are bunq, bank of the free". YouTube.
  3. ^ "Bunq - groepsrekening". YouTube.
  4. ^ McKenzie, Ian (2023-05-16). "Review: bunq bank accounts". fintechcompass.net. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  5. ^ Tucker, Charlotte (2020-04-23). ""We keep our business model flexible": Interview with bunq's founder Ali". EU-Startups. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  6. ^ "What is bunq? The Dutch mobile challenger bank with a social conscience". NS Banking. 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  7. ^ gastblogger (2015-12-14). "Bunq, de nieuwkomer! Een eerste indruk". [finno] (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  8. ^ "Imprint". bunq.
  9. ^ drimble.nl. "bunq.com". drimble.nl. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
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  11. ^ Kolstee, Door Pieter (2019-09-06). "Ali Niknam: 'Na deze overname zijn we de twee na grootste ter wereld'". Quote (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  12. ^ "AI in Finance: bunq Launches Chatbot for Handling User Queries". Financial and Business News | Finance Magnates. 2023-12-20. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  13. ^ "Break Through Banking. The trials and tribulations of bunq" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  14. ^ "Breken met banken – Siebe Huizinga" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  15. ^ "Dutch mobile bank bunq moves into Germany and releases open API". Finextra Research. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
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  22. ^ Noort, Wouter van (25 November 2015). "Bunq: 'WhatsApp voor banken'". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-02-18.
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  24. ^ Hoeks, Door Guy (2017-10-26). "Bunq-oprichter Ali Niknam breekt lans voor nerds bij banken". Quote (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  25. ^ "Challenger bank Bunq expands to all EU countries". TechCrunch. October 2019. Retrieved 2022-02-18.[permanent dead link‍]
  26. ^ "Bunq brings local currencies to Europe with rollout of multi-IBAN accounts". AltFi. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  27. ^ Herendy, Csilla (June 22, 2021). "Innovative UX solutions from Bunq neobank | Ergomania UX and product design agency". ergomania.eu.
  28. ^ "Bunq Reaches €1 Billion in User Deposits, Becomes the First Neobank Outside of Germany to Offer German IBANs". Fintech Finance. 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  29. ^ "Ali Niknam, de miljardair die grootbanken een hak wil zetten".
  30. ^ Ian McKenzie. "bunq: In-depth Review (2024)". Fintech Compass. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  31. ^ "bunq PSD2 | Nordigen". nordigen.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  32. ^ "The PSD2 Sandbox From Banking API Provider bunq". API Evangelist. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  33. ^ "bunq introduceert een API marktplaats". ICT Magazine (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  34. ^ "bunq to become the first digital bank in Europe to offer mortgages". www.efma.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  35. ^ "New bank Bunq pledges to be WhatsApp for financial services". NL Times. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  36. ^ "Mobiele bank Bunq zet ook stap in hypotheken". Telegraaf (in Dutch). 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
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  38. ^ McKenzie, Ian (2022-06-02). "bunq Review for personal banking". fintechcompass.net. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  39. ^ "Bunq Business Banking: 2022 Reviews, Fees & Charges". 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  40. ^ a b Burke, Elaine (2021-07-08). "Newly anointed Dutch unicorn acquires Irish company Capitalflow". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  41. ^ White, John K. (2021-12-03). "De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) approves deal valuing Amsterdam's fintech unicorn Bunq at €1.6B". LendIt Fintech News. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  42. ^ McKenzie, Ian (2023-05-16). "Review: bunq bank accounts". fintechcompass.net (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  43. ^ "Dutch challenger bank Bunq valued at $2 billion in investment deal". Reuters. 2021-06-17. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
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  49. ^ "Neobank Bunq wins case against Dutch Central Bank over artificial intelligence use". AltFi. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  50. ^ Pascoe, Robin (2024-01-30). "Bunq posts first full-year net profit, plans to expand to UK". DutchNews.nl. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  51. ^ Kirrane, Helen (2024-05-24). "Bunq Bank looks to relaunch in Britain - can it compete?". This is Money. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  52. ^ "Ton kwijt zonder contact met bank: alarm over bankhelpdeskfraude bij Bunq - Kassa - BNNVARA". Kassa (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  53. ^ Jackson, Amber (2024-06-05). "bunq: Mastercard Partnership to Power AI-led Open Banking". fintechmagazine.com. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  54. ^ "Bunq partners with Mastercard to leverage AI in Open Banking". thepaypers.com. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  55. ^ Towner, Lauren (2024-06-10). "EXCLUSIVE: "Moving With the Times" - Bianca Zwart, bunq in 'The Fintech Magazine'". FF News | Fintech Finance. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
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  57. ^ "Criminelen gebruiken software Bunq voor misbruik - Kassa - BNNVARA". Kassa (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  58. ^ "Ton kwijt zonder contact met bank: alarm over bankhelpdeskfraude bij Bunq - Kassa - BNNVARA". Kassa (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  59. ^ Radar (2024-05-10). "Rekening geplunderd, maar Bunq onbereikbaar". Radar (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  60. ^ Bronzwaer, Stijn (2024-05-24). "101.410 euro kwijt in 39 minuten: het sms'je bleek toch niet van bunq te zijn". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  61. ^ "Phishing-aanvallers opvallend succesvol bij Bunq: 'Veiligheid geen thema'". nos.nl (in Dutch). 2024-05-24. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
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