European challenger bank bunq has reached €1 billion in user deposits. The amount of money deposited in bunq by their users has more than doubled for the second year in a row – in 2019, user deposits grew from €211M to over $433M. This has shown the importance of easy-to-understand, user-centric banking available online 24/7 during a volatile year that challenged traditional institutions.
With the rapid growth of user numbers, bunq is expanding its operations into Germany by opening a brand new office in Cologne and introducing local IBAN (International Bank Account Numbers) for German members to enjoy all of the features of their bank accounts to the fullest.
From now on, bunqers living in Germany can receive a German IBAN. This empowers them to use their bunq account for all payments, direct debits, receiving their salaries, and Payment Sorter – all hassle-free and without worrying about IBAN discrimination.
All IBANs for Euro-denominated bank accounts within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) should be treated equally and accepted universally, but in practice, discriminating against foreign IBANs in SEPA countries is commonplace. In addition to launching local IBANs for German users, bunq has joined the acceptmyiban.org initiative, which allows users who experienced IBAN discrimination to easily and securely report it to the correct authorities.
Ali Niknam, CEO and founder of bunq, said: “We’re so happy that our users trust us with their daily lives and keep on using the features that make their lives easy. With a local account number, our German members can get the full bunq experience!”
Germany is just the beginning – bunq’s future plans include offering local IBANs in other countries based on reports and feedback gathered from members.
