Dutch digital financial institution Bunq is plotting re-entry into the U.K. to tap into a “massive and underserved” industry of some 2.8 million British “electronic nomads.”
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PARIS — Dutch electronic financial institution Bunq is hoping it will regulate to protected a banking license from U.K. economical regulators later on this yr or early following 12 months, the firm’s CEO and founder Ali Niknam explained to CNBC.
“I hope we are going to get someplace by the close of the year, maybe early future yr, simply because the U.K.’s processes might be a bit distinct to Europe mainly because it’s a distinctive regulatory space,” Niknam reported in an interview final week at the Viva Tech convention in Paris.
“I will not know when they’re likely to say certainly, but so much I have small explanation to believe that we is not going to be productive.”
Bunq, identified for its rainbow-coloured playing cards and a aim on so-known as “electronic nomads” not sure by any just one place or site, to begin with introduced in the U.K. in 2019. But the lender was pressured to exit the nation in late 2020 mainly because of Brexit.
The passage of Brexit into regulation intended that EU-centered money institutions couldn’t rely on their possess region authorizations to run in the U.K. current market. At present, Bunq only retains a banking license with the Dutch central lender.
Problems of reentering United kingdom market
Now, Bunq is plotting a reentry into the U.K. industry. The business very last yr submitted an software with the Financial Perform Authority for an digital funds establishment license. It says a U.K. start would permit it to faucet into a “massive and underserved” industry of some 2.8 million British electronic nomads.
That will confirm hard, though. Rival European fintech Revolut, which is based mostly in Britain and presently has an electronic income institution license, has been attempting for some yrs to protected its U.K. banking license.
To be confident, a banking license is different from an e-dollars license. The vital difference is that a banking license gives firms authorization to offer loans. Monzo and Starling are amongst the couple of U.K. consumer fintech platforms that hold their personal lender licenses.
“We are doing work as tough as we can, the U.K. regulator has been extremely responsive, dialogue is ongoing, I don’t know how long it truly is going to acquire, but matters appear to be relocating,” Niknam told CNBC.
Established in 2012 in Amsterdam by Dutch tech entrepreneur Ali Niknam, Bunq has since grown to become a single of Europe’s most significant neobanks all round, with 12.5 million customers throughout Europe and deposits of 8 billion euros ($8.6 billion). It was previous privately valued by traders at 1.65 billion euros.
Earlier this year, Bunq documented its 1st total calendar year of profitability, producing 53.1 million euros in web earnings in 2023. Bunq is also pursuing growth in the United States, having previously submitted for a U.S. federal lender constitution in April 2023.
