Dutch neobank Bunq is set to grow its workforce by 70% before the end of the year — and expand to the US and the UK, even as it awaits regulatory nods from financial watchdogs.
The Amsterdam-based bank, which counts 12.5m users across Europe and employs 680 people globally, reported its first full-year of profitability in January, boasting a net profit of €53.1m for the year 2023.
“Given how well Bunq has been doing in terms of growth, user count and profit, we felt that we were strong enough and the timing was right for us to really go for the UK,” says CEO Ali Niknam in an interview with Sifted.
Deja vu
It isn't the first time Bunq has tried to conquer the UK; the neobank previously operated in the country, but pulled out in 2020, citing regulatory complications as a result of Brexit.
For attempt number two, last year Bunq applied for an e-money licence; a regulatory authorisation that allows companies to operate as payment service providers.
If successful, it would enter a more mature market than it did in 2020: the UK’s largest consumer neobanks — Starling, Revolut and Monzo — all reported profitability in 2024 and have a combined user count of over 50m.
Niknam isn’t perturbed by the strength of the competition, saying that Bunq plans to continue its focus on the so-called “digital nomad” niche to attract customers in the UK. One way Bunq currently does this is by providing local international bank account numbers (IBANs), enabling its customers to pay bills in the European countries it’s operating in.
While Niknam says that Bunq has a fair chance of replicating its continental success in the UK — he claims that 70% of its users use Bunq as their primary account — he’s expecting customer acquisition to start slowly. Bunq will prioritise having a high net promoter score (a metric used to measure customer loyalty) over rapid user growth, he says.
“In the first year, that’s far more important than absolute growth numbers.”
Bunq currently has a team of six in the UK led by its deputy CFO Parvinder Bhatia.
US plans
Alongside its UK ambitions, Bunq is also aiming to obtain a US banking licence — a feat that its rivals such as Revolut have struggled with. While Monzo restarted its US operations at the tail end of last year, it chose to partner with a local US bank rather than make a second attempt at obtaining a banking licence.
And it’s not exactly been plain sailing for Bunq either.
It withdrew its application for a US banking permit in February, citing issues between its Dutch regulator and US regulatory agencies. Bunq tells Sifted that it's working on re-applying for a US licence but that it’s yet to file another application.
Still, Niknam says the digital bank is determined to succeed where other European neobanks have failed — even though he admits there are a lot of moving parts to be ironed out in the process.
“In the US, the election might have some influence on the licensing process,” he says. “We like to do our homework well at Bunq and while it’s a lot of work, I’m very optimistic that we’ll get it past the line.”
