Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
💎 Access the Market Tools Trusted by Thousands of Investors Get Started
Dutch online bank Bunq applies for U.S. banking licence
Published Apr 03, 2023 11:07PM ET
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Bunq Bank is seen on a mobile phone in this illustration taken March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/Illustration/File Photo
By Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Bunq BV, a prominent European online banking start-up, formally filed for a banking licence with U.S. regulators on Tuesday, the company's CEO told Reuters in an interview.
Ali Niknam, the Canadian-Dutch entrepreneur who founded Bunq in 2012, said his bank is attracting depositors in Europe despite jitters following the collapse last month of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S.
"When things are bad, that's the best time for us," he said. "That's when people reconsider their choices, which is precisely the moment we need to get a foot in the door."
An expansion to the U.S. would help Bunq, which turned a 2.3 million euro ($2.50 million) profit for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2022, grow more quickly after years of investing in its software and operations.
Bunq raised $228 million at a $1.9 billion valuation in 2021.
Niknam said the bank's U.S. target group will be the 5 million European expatriates and European businesses operating in the U.S.
"Speaking from personal experience, getting a bank account in the U.S. as a European citizen is a headache," he said.
Bunq, which competes with Britain's Revolut and Germany's N26, said that as of March 14, it had deposits of around 2.3 billion euros, up 27% from 1.8 billion euros at the end of 2023.
Revolut is also seeking a U.S. licence, while N26 of Germany gave up trying to get into the U.S. market in 2021.
Niknam said the influx of depositors was mostly because Bunq offered better interest on deposits than traditional banks, but also beause people are opening additional accounts at Bunq to ensure they fall within European deposit insurance limits of up to 100,000 euros.
Bunq offers savers in its native Netherlands 1.56% interest on deposits, a percentage point above rates offered by the three big banks that dominate Dutch banking, ING, ABN Amro and Rabobank.
Bunq makes some mortgage loans but keeps more than half of its reserves at the European Central Bank's deposit facility, which Niknam said should reassure depositors.
The company's business model resembles that of "freemium" software, offering users a free savings account with limited features, and more advanced features with a monthly subscription costing from 3 to 18 euros per month.
($1 = 0.9199 euros)
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.