More than three years after landing in Spain, the Dutch financial institution Bunq wants to accelerate. From the beginning of 2024, Spanish users of the second largest neobank in Europe have grown 215% and deposits have increased by 320%. A pace that the entity intends to increase in 2025. “I think we will achieve it. But for us the priority is to create a product that people like to use. Growth is a consequence,” said Ali Niknam, founder of Bunq, this Tuesday. , in an interview with elEconomista.es.
The neobank currently has 14.5 million users worldwide, although it does not break down figures by country. He does assure that Spain occupies a central position in his roadmap for next year. “It will be one of our focus markets, along with Italy and Ireland,” detailed Niknam, who pointed to the Netherlands, Germany and France as the geographic areas in which it has the most clients.
“Now that our main markets are gaining ground, we can focus on developing the business in Spain, where we have 12 employees and we are laying the foundations to ensure that the products fit the needs of Spanish users,” he added.
Among the new features presented by the bank, the simultaneous voice-to-speech translation in real time thanks to the implementation of artificial intelligence. “Finn, Bunq’s AI assistant, already simultaneously translates calls that users make to the support team within the app. It is capable of instantly translating both the user’s speech and the agent’s responses in real time, guaranteeing fluid conversation without the need for external translation applications,” the entity has stated.
Four subscription models
With the aim of facilitating money management for its users, with a special focus on people with an international lifestyle and who need a banking experience without borders, Bunq has reformulated its offer in Spain, reducing subscription models from five to four.
The free one provides for the first time a standard bank account, a novelty that the bank introduced due to high demand from users, since the previous free models did not offer that possibility. The other three plans have a monthly cost of up to 19 euros and offer a maximum of 25 bank accounts and travel insurance, among other functions.
In its recruitment strategy, Bunq has also just launched a new loyalty program with points. Users with a paid subscription will get one point for every euro spent—Elite members, who sign up for the most expensive plan, will receive double the points—which they can then redeem for rewards within the bank’s own app or for travel discounts. , food or fashion in exclusive partners. Additionally, points are earned for actions such as inviting friends, making Bunq your primary bank, or celebrating birthdays and anniversaries.
Niknam believes that the key to success of Bunq’s alternative business, based on subscription models like Netflix or Spotify, is transparency. “There is a mistaken belief in banking. People think that they have a free account, but it is not true. In Spain, all banks like Santander and BBVA earn billions and billions every quarter, but something cannot be free and a bank earn money at the same time. We are transparent with the costs and we do it through a simple monthly subscription. You know what you receive and you know what you pay for. There is nothing hidden anywhere,” he explained.
Last month, Bunq introduced in Spain a stock and ETF trading servicefree of charge for the first three months. “We realized that many people would like to invest in stocks, but often step back because it is too complicated, scary or requires too much money. Clients now get excited and start first with a very small amount to understand how works and then they escalate,” he concluded.
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