Bunq

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 in 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]

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]

Bunq initially operated without external funding, but the company raised equity financing in 2021 with Pollen Street Capital acquiring a 10% stake while valuing the company at $1.9 billion.^[35][36] Niknam had entirely self-funded Bunq prior to the investment.^[36]

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.^[37][38][39] 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.^[40] 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.^[41] 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.^[42]

In 2023, Bunq raised $111 million to support its expansion, including entry into the U.S. market, maintaining a valuation of €1.8 billion.^[43] It grew to become the largest neobank in Europe, serving more than 14.5 million customers worldwide.^[44][45] In 2024, it secured an additional $31 million in funding, attributed to growth in user deposits.^[46][47][48] The company offers different banking plans across EEA countries, with customer deposits protected by the Dutch Deposit Guarantee up to €100,000.^[49][50] Bunq's European user base reached 11 million by the end of 2023.^[51] It entered partnerships with Mastercard and Nvidia in June 2024.^[52][53][54] By that month, it had reached 464 employees and 12.5 million customers.^[6]

In 2024, Bunq withdrew its application for a U.S. banking license,^[55][56] after initially filing for regulatory approval.^[57]

In June 2026, Bunq applied for a banking license in Mexico. ^[58]

In April 2021, Dutch consumer platform Kassa reported that Bunq had been extensively used by criminals because the company wasn't requiring social security numbers to register bank accounts, nor was it using appropriate oversight for the creation of API keys.^[59] That same year, Bunq was fined €130,000 for failing to comply with terrorism financing regulations.^[60] De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch Central Bank, fined the company a further €2.6 million in 2025 for neglecting to implement proper anti–money laundering controls and oversight after several customers made suspicious money transfers.^[61]

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.^[62]

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.^[63] Also in May, the Dutch consumer platform Radar 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.^[64]

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".^[65]

当初、BunqはNOSとNRCが明らかにした詐欺の被害者への補償を拒否し、ニクナム氏は、詐欺師にログイン情報を提供した人は「車の鍵をあげてしまった」ようなもので、どうすることもできないと述べた。^{[ 66 ] [ 67 ]}オランダ財務省との協議の後、Bunqは被害者に対し平均85%の補償を提供することに同意したが、^{[ 66 ] [ 68 ]}少額の請求者には100%の補償が提示された一方で、高額の請求者には25%を超える提示がなかったことが明らかになり、これも疑問視された。個々の顧客が被った損失額は5,000ユーロから200,000ユーロに及んだ。^{[ 68 ]}

Bunqの元従業員は、セキュリティ機能によってアカウントへのアクセスが遅れることで顧客が不便を感じる可能性があるため、セキュリティ機能よりもアクセスの容易さを優先したとして同社を批判している。^{[ 69 ] [ 70 ]}

NRCは、Bunqの従業員が顧客データに容易にアクセスできることを報告しており、一部のBunq従業員はそれを悪用して友人、知人、同僚に関する情報を閲覧していた。同紙は、仕事上の理由ではなく個人的な理由で顧客の詳細に不正アクセスした元従業員4人に話を聞いた。1人は顧客サービスで問題を抱えている友人を助けるため、別の1人は同僚の収入を確認するため、そして他の2人は恋人を「スパイ」するためだった。 ^{[ 6 ]}

同紙によると、これらの問題がCEOのアリ・ニクナムに伝えられた際、それらは却下されるか無視されたという。これらの内部文書の1つは、セキュリティ部門が実施したリスク評価であり、プライバシー侵害の可能性のある3つの方法を概説していた。そのうちの1つは従業員が顧客データにアクセスするもので、罰金や会社に対する法的措置の可能性など、潜在的な結果も含まれていた。このリスク評価は2022年の日付であるにもかかわらず、従業員による個人情報へのアクセスに関する内部監視は実施されなかった。^{[ 6 ]}

2021年、経営陣はセキュリティ上の懸念から、特定の部署のアクセス権限を拡大し、他の部署のアクセス権限を縮小しようと試みた。ニクナム氏は当初この措置を承認したが、従業員が特定のアカウントを閲覧できないと苦情を申し立てたため、同年後半に撤回された。^{[ 6 ]}ブンク氏は、従業員に顧客データへの広範なアクセス権限を与えることは正当化されると述べた。なぜなら、従業員は通常の役割に加えて、ユーザーデータへのアクセスを必要とする顧客サービスに関する問い合わせに対応する必要があるからである。^{[ 6 ]}

2025年、顧客とメディアは、Bunqのアプリ内の機能について批判した。この機能は、株式や暗号通貨の取引に関する情報を顧客の電話連絡先リストに登録されている全員と自動的に共有するもので、さまざまな投資の詳細や取引日が明らかになる。銀行の広報担当者はこの機能を擁護し、「ユーザーフレンドリー」だと説明した。^{[ 71 ]}

2024年、Bunqは、同行をオンラインで批判し、同社のWikipediaページを編集した複数のユーザーにアプリを通じて連絡を取ったことで物議を醸した。報道によると、Bunqはユーザーに「口調を慎むように」と伝え、銀行への批判を続けるなら「関係は終わる」と告げたという。Bunqは、Wikipediaの編集者の身元を、Wikipediaの同社に関する批判的な記述を復元した顧客と結びつけ、消費者のプライバシーを侵害した。^{[ 72 ] [ 73 ]} BunqはこのWikipedia編集者の話は「事実と異なる」と主張したが、オランダの新聞Het Financieele Dagbladからの詳細な質問には一切答えなかった。^{[ 73 ]}

2025年10月、NRCは、Bunqが元従業員とされる人物が書いたRedditの否定的な投稿をサイトから削除しようとしていると報じた。 ^{[ 74 ] [ 75 ]}新聞によると、Bunqは2024年6月に公開された投稿を削除するよう、Redditのモデレーターグループに圧力をかけていた。2025年夏にウェブサイトに正式な苦情を申し立てた後、Bunqの法務責任者は9月初旬にモデレーターと話をした。モデレーターは「そうする理由がまったくない」と述べ、削除を繰り返し拒否した。^{[ 74 ]}その月の後半、銀行は投稿を削除するために法的措置を検討した。Bunqの広報担当者はこれを否定したが、後に同社が実際に「法的手段」について話し合ったと報じられた。^{[ 76 ]}

Following the article in NRC, the Reddit moderators published a statement clarifying their own stance on freedom of speech and disclosing their communications with Bunq about the offending post.^[77]