bunq Review

Introduction

bunq is an Amsterdam-based, international mobile bank, founded in 2015 by Ali Niknam, the original founder of the IT company TransIP.

Being officially permitted and insured by the Dutch Central Bank, bunq, however, is a totally independent borderless European bank, without any branches, queues, or paperwork whatsoever. The bank is a mobile app itself.

bunq is fully international with the app and website being available in 6 languages for both operation and customer support. By opening a bunq account, one get access to 25 bank accounts (multicurrency), up to 3 physical cards (Mastercard / Maestro) and up to 5 virtual Debit Mastercards.

Debit Card

Languages

• NL
• DE
• IT
• ES
• FR

Plans

• Free Account
• Plans from €7.99/m

TrustPilot

Banking Features

Multiple bank accounts

Open a bank account for any need, straight from the bunq app. Whether it’s for groceries, your holiday or going out with friends, you can open bank accounts in seconds, each with a unique IBAN.

Up to 25 bank accounts

Open a subaccount for any need, straight from the bunq app in seconds, each with a unique IBAN.

Transfers Abroad

Send money to 39 supported currencies with TransferWise with the mid-market exchange rate, and no hidden fees.

Credit card

Unlike most online banks’ cards, bunq Travel Card is a credit, not a debit card, so it is accepted everywhere, including car rentals and hotel deposits.

Personal payment links

bunq.me link is the easiest way to get your money back or split your bills with friends. It works with any European bank client, and you can set it up in seconds. They don’t need to be bunq users, or even install the app).

iDEAL integration

No hassle with e-readers or plastic cards, since bunq mobile bank has iDEAL integration.

Online Cards

You can create up to 5 Online Cards on top of your 3 physical cards, and use them immediately. No extra charge required.

Apple Pay and Google Pay

Add your bunq card to your Apple Pay or Google account and enable contactless in-store payments as well as instant, secure online payments with a higher level of security (Touch ID, Face ID).

Instant Switch

As a collaboration between Dutch banks, the Dutch Switch Service lets one instantly switch account from another bank to bunq, and automatically forward all payments and direct debits to your bunq account.

In-app card control:

Enable foreign payments, activate paying online, set CVC codes to change, create virtual cards, block/unblock cards.

Fingerprint login:

A choice of preferred login method: a password or a fingerprint.

Savings Goals:

Helps saving up for your next dream purchase, or experience, with a current status of your progress. Savings Goals are shareable with friends, family or partners.

Auto Save:

Achieve your goals faster by setting your bunq app to save automatically on every payment, and round up your spendings to €1, €2, or €5.

Interest rate:

At 0.27%, bunq claims to provide customers with an interest rate 9x higher than traditional banks, and on all accounts, not just savings accounts.

bunq Accounts and Fees

It costs nothing to open the bunq travel account However, the free option is pretty limited as you can’t use a card. To be able to do that, you need the “Premium” option, priced at €7.99 per month. Another account type is the Premium SuperGreen account, that for every €100 that you spend, bunq will plant a tree in your name.

Personal account types

Travel Card

Price per month

Free

Card Fee

€9.99 one-time

25 sub-accounts included

Free ATM withdrawals (EUR)

€0.99 per withdrawal

Free payments (EUR)

Currency Conversion

Google Pay & Apple Pay

Selected countries

Receiving money outside SEPA (EUR)

Top up with iDEAL, Sofort or Bank Transfer

Free

Top up with credit or debit card

0.5%

International Transfers

bunq ZeroFX

Premium

Price per month

€7.99

Cards included

3 cards

Card Fee

€9.00 + €3.00/month

25 sub-accounts included

Free ATM withdrawals (EUR)

10 withdrawals/month

Free payments (EUR)

Currency Conversion

Real exchange rate via TransferWise

Google Pay & Apple Pay

Selected countries

Receiving money outside SEPA (EUR)

Top up with iDEAL, Sofort or Bank Transfer

Free

Top up with credit or debit card

Up to €500/month free. Then 0.5%

International Transfers

TransferWise

Premium SuperGreen

Price per month

€16.99

Cards included

4 cards

Card Fee

€9.00 + €3.00/month

25 sub-accounts included

Free ATM withdrawals (EUR)

10 withdrawals/month

Free payments (EUR)

Currency Conversion

Real exchange rate via TransferWise

Google Pay & Apple Pay

Selected countries

Receiving money outside SEPA (EUR)

Top up with iDEAL, Sofort or Bank Transfer

Free

Top up with credit or debit card

Up to €500/month free. Then 0.5%

International Transfers

TransferWise

Business accounts

• The direct connection between bunq and bookkeeping software
• The VAT set aside and transfer to a designated VAT sub-account automatically
• All receipts in one place
• Own IBAN for each sub-account
• Realtime API
• Employee access

Business

Price per month

€9.99

25 sub-accounts included

Cards included

3 cards

Card Fee

€9.00 + €2.99/month

Free ATM withdrawals (EUR)

10 withdrawals/month

Currency Conversion

€0.10 per payment+ the real exchange rate

Google Pay & Apple Pay

Selected countries

Receiving money outside SEPA (EUR)

Per Swift inbound up to €25.00

Top up with iDEAL, Sofort or Bank Transfer

€0.10

Free top up with credit or debit card

Up to €500/month

Bulk Payments

Paying a direct debit

€0.10

Scanning and paying invoices

€0.20 per scan + €0.10 per payment

Automate all your finances with Zapie

Business SuperGreen

Price per month

€19.99

25 sub-accounts included

Cards included

Metal card included

Card Fee

€9.00 + €2.99/month

Free ATM withdrawals (EUR)

10 withdrawals/month

Currency Conversion

€0.10 per payment+ the real exchange rate

Google Pay & Apple Pay

Selected countries

Receiving money outside SEPA (EUR)

Per Swift inbound up to €25.00

Top up with iDEAL, Sofort or Bank Transfer

€0.10

Free top up with credit or debit card

Up to €500/month

Bulk Payments

Paying a direct debit

€0.10

Scanning and paying invoices

€0.20 per scan + €0.10 per payment

Automate all your finances with Zapie

Free

Security

Create virtual cards, block and unblock current cards if lost or stolen, view and change your PIN directly from your phone — total control over the cards and account in general, quickly from the app.
bunq has a full banking license issued by the Holland Central Bank, so the customers’ funds are protected and refundable up to €100k.

Card settings on-the-go

Changing your PIN, setting card limits, (de-)activating or blocking a card, all that in real-time, just from your mobile.

bunq’s patent-pending Dual PIN technology enables using 1 card for 2 accounts.

Mastercard rotating CVC code:

An extra safety layer making the CVC code refresh automatically every few minutes in the app, or letting users update it manually.

Using the bunq App Abroad

bunq charges no foreign transaction fees on purchases outside the Eurozone, apart from the official mastercard exchange rate, plus offers 10 free ATM withdrawals globally.

Unlike most online bank’s cards, the dedicated bunq’s travel card works like a credit card (both physical card and virtual), thus letting the owner use it as a security deposit card for rentals, and hotels, while traveling. At the same time, it doesn’t have an overdraft, and won’t let you go in credit, you can only use the money actually present on your balance. To get one, users don’t need a credit check, and they get only a fixed €0.99 fee to withdraw cash from any ATM in the world.

Another popular use for bunq is paying your domestic bills in Euros while traveling around Europe for an extended period of time.bunq is also compatible with Apple Pay, Google Pay, iDEAL, and Sofort, which means you can add the card and pay using your phone anywhere it’s possible.

bunq Support

bunq offers standard means of contact: a built-in-app chat and Email.

Instead of a basic FAQ section on the website, bunq offers the clients a proprietary community platform “Together”, where users can ask for help, find answers, or just share experiences, and get ranked and promoted, for doing so. By sharing knowledge, the users earn points and can get a higher ranking.

Unfortunately, bunq doesn’t provide telephone support.

1/

5/5

By Paul

I am using bunq now for a year and I like it very much due to the direct control you have over your own money and accounts. Eg. my previous bank made it my problem to check my automatic direct debits. Also the ZeroFX is very welcome when you travel and I think the APP is great.

5/5

By Adam

Fantastic app! First time I manage to stick to my budget thanks to the easy to set up and easy to manage accounts. Recently the app has started crashing more often. That is something that is not acceptable as I am using bunq as my only bank. Will give 5 stars once that is resolved.

5/5

By Gieksosz

I have been using Bunq as my primary bank for about one and a half year and I will just say: the best bank app I have used/seen so far! Very good customer support as well.

Conclusion

Opening a bunq account is fast and very easy, and even before the card arrives, you could use it with the card details in the app. Once opened a personal account, you can also have a joint account shared with someone else.

Among the best features that we enjoy are the 25 sub-accounts, a few virtual cards included, joint accounts and a lot of integrations, which help to organize your money quickly, whether it is saving towards a goal or keeping a vacation budget set aside. That, plus a dedicated travel card make bunq a solid choice for traveling around Europe, but pretty costly to use as a current domestic account.

The travelers from outside Europe also have to look for other options, however, since the service is currently available for the European Economic Area permanent residents permit holders only.