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Bunq

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Bunq B.V.
Company typeBesloten vennootschap B.V.
IndustryFinancial technology
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
FounderAli Niknam
Headquarters
Amsterdam
,
Netherlands
Area served
European Economic Area[1]
ProductsCurrent accounts, Savings accounts, Debit cards, Mortgages
Number of employees
201–500 (2024)[2]
Websitewww.bunq.com

Bunq B.V. (English: /bʌŋk/,[3] Dutch: [bʏŋk];[4] stylized in all lowercase), is a fintech and neobank licensed in the Netherlands and operating within 30 European countries. It is headquartered in Amsterdam.

The company was founded in 2012 by the Dutch-Canadian entrepreneur Ali Niknam, the founder of the web hosting provider TransIP and Team.Blue. Bunq's subscription services offer multiple currencies, allows multiple International Bank Account Numbers, provides both personal and business bank accounts, and has a public API. In 2021, the company secured the largest Series A round for a European fintech company to date, giving it unicorn status. In 2022, it purchased Belgium-based fintech organisation Tricount, making it the second largest neobank in the European Union.

History

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Early history (2012–2015)

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Bunq was founded by Ali Niknam in Amsterdam in 2012 as a fintech company.[5][6][7] Niknam previously founded web hosting provider TransIP and Team.Blue.[8][9][10] Much of Bunq's early efforts went toward obtaining a European banking license from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands, which it received n 2014.[11] The company then launched its app, becoming the first fully mobile Dutch bank.[12][13]

Niknam has stated in interviews that "Bunq is the only bank built by coders".[14] This seems to have resonated in Bunq's early public perception, as the bank was frequently labeled "an IT company with a banking license".[15][16][17] At its launch in 2015, Bunq was coined "WhatsApp for Banking" by Dutch newspaper NRC,[18] further underscoring its product and technology-focused model as opposed to traditional banks.[19][20]

International expansion (2015–present)

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As of 2019, Bunq had been offering mobile financial services in 30 European countries.[21] In the early 2020s, Bunq began offering multiple currencies and International Bank Account Numbers (IBAN) on a single subscription, regardless of the account holder's location or residency.[22] According to Bunq, in 2021, user deposits surpassed €1.2 billion,[23][24] increasing to €4.5 billion by early 2024.[25]

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.[26][27][28] By 2021, Bunq became the first digital bank in Europe to offer mortgages.[29][30][31] As a licensed bank, Bunq account holders fall under the Deposit Guarantee Scheme of the European Central Bank.[32][33][34]

Niknam was Bunq's sole benefactor until 2021, having invested over €120 million into the company.[35] In 2021, Bunq secured the largest Series A round for a European fintech company to date, bringing its valuation to €1.6 billion and granting it unicorn status.[35][36][37] Later that year, it was valued at $2 billion in an investment deal.[38]

Bunq's CEO announced the creation of a special fund in March 2022, aiming to help refugees from Ukraine displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine to come to the Netherlands by providing them with free Bunq accounts.[39][40][41] 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.[42] In October 2022, Bunq won a court case against the DNB. Bunq had taken the DNB to court over the central bank's anti-money laundering (AML) policies after the DNB alleged Bunq's transaction monitoring process did not comply with anti-money laundering laws.[43] The court ruled in favor of Bunq using a learning system based on artificial intelligence as opposed to the rule-based system imposed by DNB.[44]

Bunq's European user base reached 11 million at the end of 2023.[45]

Bunq entered partnerships with Mastercard and Nvidia in June 2024.[46][47][48][49] By that month, it had reached 464 employees and 12.5 million customers.[6]

Controversies

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Usage of Bunq by criminals

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In April 2021, Dutch consumer platform Kassa reported that Bunq has seen extensive use by criminals, due to Bunq not requiring a social security number to register a bank account and the ease of creating an API key.[50]

Helpdesk fraud

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In April 2024, Dutch consumer platform Kassa reported that customers who were scammed due to spoofing, phishing or bank helpdesk fraud could not get in touch with Bunq quickly. Kassa also reported that, due to Bunq's broader options for transferring money, it was far easier to lose large sums of money to fraud; a savings account with Bunq can be converted to bank account with a single tap, making it easier to transfer money away from a savings account. The Dutch Consumers' Association placed a safety warning on its savings account comparator website.[51]

In May 2024, Dutch broadcasting company NOS and NRC, a Dutch newspaper, revealed that scammers had targeted Bunq customers more often when compared to other banks due to the fact that security measures used by other banks were not present at Bunq.[52] Also in May, the Dutch consumer platform Radar  [nl] reported a case where someone had lost €58,000 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 account and their money. Bunq responded by saying that they would reimburse a large part of the damages out of goodwill, however they also mentioned that they were not directly responsible for the damages.[53]

Following these reports, Bunq said that it would be introducing a 24-hour wait period for transactions deemed to be suspicious, including "changes to your daily limit, logging in on a new device, accepting an invite to a joint or shared account, making a payment to a new counterparty for the first time, or if the payment otherwise raised our suspicion and we’re taking the necessary steps to verify its legitimacy".[54]

Initially, Bunq refused to compensate victims of the scams revealed by NOS and NRC, with Niknam stating that those who provided scammers with their login details had "giv[en] away their car keys," and that nothing could be done about it.[55] Following talks with the Dutch Ministry of Finance, Bunq agreed to provide an average of 85% compensation to those affected,[55][56] however this was also called into question when it was revealed that those with small claims had been offered 100% compensation, while those with large claims had not received an offer higher than 25%; the amount of lost funds suffered by individual customers ranged from €5,000 to €200,000.[56]

Former employees of Bunq have criticized the company for prioritizing ease of access over safety features, as security features may annoy customers with delays in accessing accounts.[57][58]

Privacy concerns

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NRC reported that Bunq employees have easy access to customer data, which has been abused by some Bunq employees to view information related to their friends, acquaintances and colleagues. The newspaper spoke to four former employees that had wrongly accessed customer details for personal, rather than professional, reasons; one had done so to help their friends who had had troubles with customer service, another to see how much her colleagues earned, and two others to "spy" on their lovers.[6]

The newspaper writes that when these issues were brought to the CEO, Ali Niknam, they were either dismissed or ignored. One of these internal documents was a risk assessment performed by the security department, which outlined three possible methods of privacy being breached, one of which was employees accessing customer data and the potential consequences, including fines and possible legal action against the company. Despite this risk assessment being dated in 2022, no internal monitoring of employee access to private information was implemented.[6]

Managers attempted in 2021 to give certain departments greater access rights, while lessening the access rights of other departments due to security concerns. Although Niknam initially approved this measure, later that year it was reverted when employees complained that they couldn't view certain accounts.[6] Bunq said that providing employees with broad access to customer data was justified because in addition to their normal roles, they require most employees to handle customer service inquiries which requires access to user data.[6]

In 2024, Bunq faced controversy for contacting several users through their app after they criticized the bank online and made edits to the company's Wikipedia page. Bunq reportedly told the users to "moderate their tone", and that if they continued to criticize the bank, their "relationship would end."[59]

References

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  1. ^ "About bunq". bunq. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  2. ^ "bunq News, Hiring, Layoffs, Competitors, CEO, Fundraising Insights". RivalSense. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  3. ^ "We are bunq, bank of the free" – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Bunq - groepsrekening" – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Imprint". bunq.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bronzwaer, Stijn; Rengers, Merijn (26 June 2024). "Bunq-werknemers keken stiekem in klantrekeningen: 'Het was te verleidelijk'". NRC (in Dutch). Mediahuis. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  7. ^ "bunq.com". drimble.nl. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Ali Niknam". www.denkproducties.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  9. ^ Kolstee, Door Pieter (6 September 2019). "Ali Niknam: 'Na deze overname zijn we de twee na grootste ter wereld'". Quote (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  10. ^ "AI in Finance: bunq Launches Chatbot for Handling User Queries". Financial and Business News | Finance Magnates. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Dutch mobile bank bunq moves into Germany and releases open API". Finextra Research. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Bunq eerste nieuwe bank sinds DSB" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Bunq: eerste indruk | Consumentenbond". www.consumentenbond.nl. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  14. ^ "bunq: A bank built by coders". FinTech Futures. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Dev Summit - Ali Niknam: Juist programmeurs kunnen de bankensector veranderen". Tweakers (in Dutch). DPG Media. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  16. ^ Overgoor, Ronnie (10 October 2017). "Ali Niknam (oprichter bunq): "Ik ben gewoon een nerd die de wereld beter wil maken"". Marketingfacts. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  17. ^ "BUNQ, een IT-bedrijf met een banklicentie". FINANCELAB (in Dutch). 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  18. ^ Noort, Wouter van (25 November 2015). "Bunq: 'WhatsApp voor banken'". NRC (in Dutch). Mediahuis. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  19. ^ "Ali Niknam (Oprichter Bunq bank): 'Ik ben gewoon een nerd die de wereld beter wil maken'". www.7dtv.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  20. ^ Hoeks, Door Guy (26 October 2017). "Bunq-oprichter Ali Niknam breekt lans voor nerds bij banken". Quote (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Challenger bank Bunq expands to all EU countries". TechCrunch. October 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.[permanent dead link‍]
  22. ^ "Bunq brings local currencies to Europe with rollout of multi-IBAN accounts". AltFi. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  23. ^ "Bunq Reaches €1 Billion in User Deposits, Becomes the First Neobank Outside of Germany to Offer German IBANs". Fintech Finance. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Ali Niknam, de miljardair die grootbanken een hak wil zetten".
  25. ^ McKenzie, Ian. "bunq: In-depth Review (2024)". Fintech Compass. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  26. ^ "bunq PSD2 | Nordigen". nordigen.com. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  27. ^ "The PSD2 Sandbox From Banking API Provider bunq". API Evangelist. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  28. ^ "bunq introduceert een API marktplaats". ICT Magazine (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  29. ^ "bunq to become the first digital bank in Europe to offer mortgages". www.efma.com. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  30. ^ "New bank Bunq pledges to be WhatsApp for financial services". NL Times. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  31. ^ "Mobiele bank Bunq zet ook stap in hypotheken". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Mediahuis. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  32. ^ "bunq BV (Netherlands) - Deposit Guarantee". thebanks.eu. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  33. ^ McKenzie, Ian (2 June 2022). "bunq Review for personal banking". fintechcompass.net. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  34. ^ "Bunq Business Banking: 2022 Reviews, Fees & Charges". 15 November 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  35. ^ a b Burke, Elaine (8 July 2021). "Newly anointed Dutch unicorn acquires Irish company Capitalflow". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  36. ^ 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 18 February 2022.
  37. ^ McKenzie, Ian (16 May 2023). "Review: bunq bank accounts". fintechcompass.net (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  38. ^ "Dutch challenger bank Bunq valued at $2 billion in investment deal". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  39. ^ "bunq verstrekt gratis bankrekening en simkaart aan gevluchte Oekraïners" (in Dutch). De Ondernemer. DPG Media. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  40. ^ "Bunq CEO launches foundation to help people escape Ukraine and Russia". Finextra Research. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  41. ^ "Fund raising, protests and calls for action: efforts in NL to support Ukraine". DutchNews.nl. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  42. ^ "Dutch challenger Bunq becomes EU's second largest neobank with Tricount acquisition". Fintech Futures. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  43. ^ "Bunq wins AML case against Dutch Central Bank". Finextra Research. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  44. ^ "Neobank Bunq wins case against Dutch Central Bank over artificial intelligence use - AltFi". altfi.com. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  45. ^ Pascoe, Robin (30 January 2024). "Bunq posts first full-year net profit, plans to expand to UK". DutchNews.nl. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  46. ^ Jackson, Amber (5 June 2024). "bunq: Mastercard Partnership to Power AI-led Open Banking". fintechmagazine.com. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  47. ^ "Bunq partners with Mastercard to leverage AI in Open Banking". thepaypers.com. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  48. ^ Towner, Lauren (20 June 2024). "EXCLUSIVE: "Moving With the Times" - Bianca Zwart, bunq in 'The Fintech Magazine'". FF News | Fintech Finance. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  49. ^ "Bunq is embracing AI and giving the UK another go". www.thebanker.com. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  50. ^ "Criminelen gebruiken software Bunq voor misbruik - Kassa - BNNVARA". Kassa (in Dutch). 4 March 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  51. ^ "Ton kwijt zonder contact met bank: alarm over bankhelpdeskfraude bij Bunq - Kassa - BNNVARA". Kassa (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  52. ^ "Phishing-aanvallers opvallend succesvol bij Bunq: 'Veiligheid geen thema'" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  53. ^ Radar (10 May 2024). "Rekening geplunderd, maar Bunq onbereikbaar". Radar [nl] (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  54. ^ "Online bank Bunq steps up security after scam claims". DutchNews.nl. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  55. ^ a b "Bunq to compensate fraud victims after all". nltimes.nl. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  56. ^ a b "Bunq again in controversy". Ziptone. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  57. ^ Bronzwaer, Stijn (24 May 2024). "101.410 euro kwijt in 39 minuten: het sms'je bleek toch niet van bunq te zijn". NRC (in Dutch). Mediahuis. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  58. ^ Schellevis, Joost (24 May 2024). "Phishing-aanvallers opvallend succesvol bij Bunq: 'Veiligheid geen thema'" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  59. ^ "Bunq ondervraagt klant via bankapp na onlinekritiek". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-12-19.
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