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bunq Becomes First Challenger Bank to Offer Instant Payments Across Europe

bunq is the first challenger bank to join the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service, a system developed by the European Central Bank.

This cooperation gives bunq users instant payments with participating banks in its home country of the Netherlands, as well as the rest of Europe.

bunq has already offered instant payments through the EPC Instant Payment System (RT1) between participating European banks. By joining TIPS all payments sent by bunq users to any participating European bank will arrive instantly to save time and let users manage their money hassle-free. It works both ways – bunq users should expect the same speeds when someone pays them from another European bank too.

Ali Niknam, CEO and founder of bunq, says: “We’re proud to be the first challenger bank to enable instant payments across Europe. Simply experience this amazing time saver with your next payment!”

Not the only first it has to its name, bunq was also the first digital bank to offer Google Pay to its customers in the Netherlands and Portugal, announced at the end of 2020. 

Google Pay is a safe and easy way to pay contactless with your NFC-equipped Android phone in physical retail locations or online. It creates encrypted virtual cards that are securely stored on your device – you can just pick up your phone and pay with a few taps, and it’s available across all bunq plans.

Ali Niknam, CEO and founder of bunq, says: “We’re always challenging the status quo to make life easy for our users, and this is a logical next step. Nowadays paying has to be quick, easy, and safe, so I’m very happy that we’re bringing Google Pay to bunqers in the Netherlands and Portugal!”

bunq was founded in 2012 by Ali Niknam and received the first European banking permit in over 35 years. Nikham set out to radically change the traditional banking industry and, as its sole investor, invested €73.8M in bunq. bunq’s latest publicly available number of user deposits is €654,619,033 based on the deposits in July 2020. Throughout 2019, the total amount of user deposits doubled and is increasing every day, and bunq is currently available in 30 European markets.

Author

  • Polly is a journalist, content creator and general opinion holder from North Wales. She has written for a number of publications, usually hovering around the topics of fintech, tech, lifestyle and body positivity.

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