Bunq enters ireland

Bunq is again raising prices with all paid plans getting 1€ more expensive.

Also Zero FX is gone for nearly all plans with them now charging 0.5% network access fee and 1.5% transaction fee (so 2%) for non € transactions.

This is quite a departure from no fees over 0.5% network access to now 2% total.

Best value is always down to individual requirements and spending pattern.

Revolut paid plans are great if you spend loads of foreign currency, but so might be wise.

If you just use € and occasional foreign currency than Bunq still might be cheaper than you Irish Bank, especially as you get a good savings option.

It's always best to look at your spending pattern and than compare Revolut, Bunq, N26, Wise and Irish banks against it and choose the option that makes best sense.

Also wises for example pays 2.28% on € balances in the main account (minus 30% belgium DIRT).

Curious what sort of money have people deposited into their accounts? Have a decent 5 figure sum to put away somewhere and toying with the idea of depositing it into Bunq, anything I need to be aware of or concerned about?

@Sono

Had a lot of trouble getting set-up, the SMS they are supposed to send as part of the set-up to validate your phone number frequently doesn't work with Irish mobile numbers. Took approx 3 weeks to get this sorted.

Generally the platform works OK, the layout of the app is a bit muddled

Transfers-in and out are quite timely, I haven't experienced any delays

Had €100k with them for six months, moved a lot of it out as they were very slow to increase the rates payable to Irish customers (compared to NL) and found better homes for it. Have approx €35k there now.

Support is absolutely woeful and incredibly frustrating.

They lowered the interest to 2.16% not worth it anymore...

This is crazy.

Not only are they introducing higher rates for new customers (3.36%) and lowering the rate for existing customers to 2.16% with a complex formula to get some funds the 3.36% but Ireland is excluded for 3 months from the new high interest for new accounts in the small print!

New MassInterest rate for all EEA residents

• If you’ve signed up on/after July 1, 2024, the interest rate for your Personal Savings Accounts will be 3.36%
• If you signed up before July 1, 2024 you’ll receive:
  • 2.16% on your highest Personal Savings Account balance until June 30, 2024
  • 3.36% for every extra euro you add to your Personal Savings Account balance up to €100,000 until December 31, 2024

If you’re a 🇳🇱 Dutch, 🇮🇪 Irish or 🇪🇸 Spanish resident, you will continue to receive 2.46% for your first 3 months. Once your promotional period is over, your rates will change to the ones mentioned above.

Source:

https://together.bunq.com/d/60114-new-massinterest-eea-residents-now-earn-up-to-336-interest-on-savings

BUNQ have form in paying different rates in different markets within the single market. There was a thread on AAM about this earlier last year, including details of a formal complaint and the response form BUNQ and KIFID. From memory they gave a variety of reasons for this, including some nonsense about different tax regimes.

All this messing around with interest rates has left a sour taste in my mouth, I might switch back to N26