Dutch digital bank Bunq is planning to re-enter the UK to tap into the “large and underserved” market of around 2.8 million British “digital nomads”.
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PARIS – Dutch digital bank Bunq hopes to obtain a banking license from Britain’s financial regulator later this year or early next year, CEO and founder Ali Niknam told CNBC.
“I hope we can make progress by the end of this year or early next year because the process in the UK may be slightly different than in Europe because it is a different regulatory area,” Nicknan said in an interview last week at the Viva Tech conference in Paris. .
“I don’t know when they will say yes, but so far I have no reason to believe we won’t be successful.”
Bunq, known for its rainbow-colored cards and focus on so-called “digital nomads” who are not bound by any country or region, originally launched in the UK in 2019. Europe.
Brexit becoming law means that EU financial institutions cannot rely on their national authorizations to operate in the UK market. Currently, Bunq only holds a banking license from the Dutch Central Bank.
Challenges of re-entering the UK market
Now Bunq is planning to re-enter the UK market. The company submitted an application for an electronic money institution license to the Financial Conduct Authority last year. The company said launching in the UK would give it access to a “large and underserved” market of around 2.8 million British digital nomads.
However, this will prove difficult. Rival European fintech company Revolut, headquartered in the UK, currently holds an electronic money institution license and has been trying to obtain a British banking license for years.
To be sure, a banking license is different from an electronic money license. The main difference is that the banking license allows the company to provide loans. Monzo and Starling are among the few UK consumer fintech platforms with their own banking licenses.
“We are doing our best, the British regulators have been very responsive, conversations are ongoing, I don’t know how long it will take, but things seem to be changing,” Nicknan told CNBC.
Founded in Amsterdam in 2012 by Dutch tech entrepreneur Ali Niknam, Bunq has grown to become one of Europe’s largest neobanks, with 12.5 million users and €8 billion ($8.6 billion) in deposits across Europe. Investors last privately valued the company at 1.65 billion euros.
Earlier this year, Bunq reported its first full-year profit, with a net profit of 53.1 million euros in 2023.
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