Challenger bank bunq launches in UK and 21 other European countries
The latest European challenger bank to launch in the UK, bunq, has landed in all European Union countries, as well as European Economic Area (EEA) countries Norway and Iceland.
bunq jumps into EU and EEA market
Following official launches in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium, bunq is now live in an additional 22 markets.
bunq claims to be the first bank to let users decide where their funds should be stored and how they’re used. It also tries to set itself apart by saving customers “up to 3%” when travelling outside of the eurozone with its travel card.
The 2012-founded challenger sees itself on a par with Monzo, N26 and Revolut.
Read more: Revolut to deploy BearingPoint regulatory reporting system
“We’re very excited to launch in the United Kingdom,” says bunq’s founder and CEO Ali Niknam. “In true startup spirit we’re keen to learn how to make life easy for our British users.”
bunq is now active in 30 European markets.
€10 for the Bunq card. 0.5%-2% per load of the card. €1 per withdrawal on the card. This is probably the most expensive “free” card that exists on the UK market. I think Niknam’s confidence that he can make it against N26 (card free to issue and load, and no withdrawal fees), Monese (card free to issue and load, and no withdrawal fees), and Revolut (card £4.99 (but free if you use certain links), free to load, and no withdrawal fees) is somewhat misplaced. The markets he is “successful” in have a long tradition of charging for banking services – the UK does not. Aside from the attractive colour scheme, there isn’t a whole lot going for it that isn’t available elsewhere, and it gets some pretty terrible reviews on Trustpilot, mainly because it seems to randomly freeze accounts for no reason and then fail to communicate (or pay out even when closed).
Haha