bunq press

bunq continues its rapid growth as it enters the French market. The European challenger bank already successfully expanded to Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain. Starting today, the people of France can enjoy the advantages of bunq too.

According to research published by EY, young French consumers are getting increasingly dissatisfied with the current banking landscape*. With the expansion to France, bunq meets the growing demand in France for a completely mobile banking service. Being the only bank that supports Maestro and Mastercards for Apple Pay, (find the official press release Apple Pay attached) the néobanque offers French users the ability to pay everywhere with their mobile phone.

“It is our mission to remove borders and barriers in traditional banking. In just 5 minutes, French users can set up Apple Pay and pay with their mobile phone wherever they go. This way Bank of The Free brings liberté to the French market”, says founder and CEO Ali Niknam.

bunq celebrates the launch with marketing events in French hubs such as Paris, Toulouse, Lille and Bordeaux.

bunq is the first Dutch bank to partner up with TransferWise, allowing users to send money in 15 currencies straight from their bunq app. Tonight at bunq Update #9 the bank also introduces Zero FX®

bunq & TransferWise: sending money abroad at the real exchange rate

Independent research has shown that by partnering with TransferWise, bunq will become up to 8 times cheaper overnight than its biggest competitors. bunq users will be told upfront how much they’re charged to send money abroad. The two companies are committed to introducing transparency in an industry where hidden fees are commonplace.

“Our mission is to free our users from borders and barriers in traditional banking, such as hidden fees. We think TransferWise is a valuable addition to solidify that mission. This is the next big step in bringing freedom to the traditional banking industry”, said founder and CEO Ali Niknam.

ZeroFX®: no foreign transaction fees on purchases outside the Eurozone

bunq is the first bank to not charge any foreign transaction fees (FX fees) on purchases outside the Eurozone. Where other financial institutions charge FX fees on card transactions in foreign currencies, bunq will only charge the final exchange rate to their users.

Invoice scanning: simply scan & pay invoices

Tonight bunq introduces Invoice scanning. bunq users can now simply scan and pay invoices without filling out payment details manually. Where other banks automatically generate a payment or limit their service to accept giros invoices, bunq lets you scan any type of invoice and automatically generates a payment in the app.

bunq announces a first in financial services: the freedom to let customers choose where their deposits are held, and how they are used. Starting today, users can choose whether they would like their funds deposited with the European Central Bank (ECB) or be used for different purposes. This launch is the result of a growing demand within bunq's online community to do something with retained user funds.

“Freedom of choice is very important to us and we’re on a mission to change the relationship that people have with their money. No other bank in the world lets you choose what happens with your money. This makes bunq a world’s first!” says founder and CEO Ali Niknam.

Until now bunq held almost all of its customers’ funds at the European Central Bank. From now on there will be a list menu in the bunq app with which users can indicate whether they are receptive to other banking products like for example mortgages or loans. In all situations, deposited funds are insured by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, as is the case with every other bank, up to €100.000,-.

“In what shape or form we’ll offer a new product, hasn’t been determined yet. I look forward to all the ideas that will arise from our community. For us it’s most important that freedom of choice for our users remains at the center of it all,” says Niknam.

Mobile only bank bunq introduced their new bunq.me service during tonight’s bunq Update #8 event. This service grants any client of any European bank use of a personal payment link without the need to install an app. The company also became the first Dutch bank to implement OAuth and focused attention on improving the user experience.

bunq.me - get your own, personal payment link, without an app

In just a few seconds, users can now create a personal payment link on bunq.me, without having to download an app. This link lets them ask for money back easily, from friends, family and partners. Comparable services require people to create a new link for each and every payment request, whereas bunq lets everyone create a link that doesn’t expire. The service is now available to all clients of any European bank.

“Two years ago we were the first bank to implement payment requests. By now others have followed. Because we do things differently, we looked at how we could further simplify the user experience. bunq.me now gives the user a great user experience without an app. No strings attached!” founder and CEO Ali Niknam says.

OAuth - bunq spearheads PSD2 implementation once more

bunq previously took the lead in implementing the European PSD2 regulations by launching its public API. Now OAuth - or Open Authorization - is added as a security measure. This allows developers to build new applications by establishing a safe connection with the bunq app. Other parties get easy and safe access to specific data without having to exchange user names and passwords. During Update #8 bunq presented an example of such an application: MONYCA. This app categorizes payments, giving users easy insights in their spending patterns.

Mastercard rotating CVC code: choose your own safety option

The bunq Mastercard already came with a unique safety layer: a CVC code that automatically refreshes every few minutes in the app. The new update lets users decide whether the CVC code refreshes automatically or manually.

TransferWise partners with Dutch challenger bank bunq. This is the next big step in bringing freedom to the traditional banking industry.

Ali Niknam and president Obama speak at the Forward Thinking Leadership Conference at AFAS Live.

Néobanque bunq launches in France. Its founder, Ali Niknam, advocates user happiness above all.

bunq launches Apple Pay in Germany and is the only bank that offers support for Maestro as well as Mastercard, so German users can pay anywhere with their Apple device.

bunq is the first bank to open up its public API and takes the lead on the introduction of the European open payment standard psd2.