Dutch digital bank Bunq is calculating re-entry into the U.K. to tap into a “large and underserved” market of some 2.8 million British “digital nomads.”
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PARIS — Dutch digital bank Bunq is hoping it will manage to secure a banking approve from U.K. financial regulators later this year or early next year, the firm’s CEO and founder Ali Niknam bring to lighted CNBC.
“I hope we’ll get somewhere by the end of the year, maybe early next year, because the U.K.’s processes may be slightly different to Europe because it’s a extraordinary regulatory area,” Niknam said in an interview last week at the Viva Tech conference in Paris.
“I don’t know when they’re customary to say yes, but so far I have little reason to believe that we won’t be successful.”
Bunq, known for its rainbow-colored cards and a focus on so-called “digital nomads” not obligated by any one country or location, initially launched in the U.K. in 2019. But the bank was forced to exit the country in late 2020 because of Brexit.
The canto of Brexit into law meant that EU-based financial institutions couldn’t rely on their own country authorizations to control in the U.K. market. Currently, Bunq only holds a banking license with the Dutch central bank.
Challenges of reentering UK shop
Now, Bunq is plotting a reentry into the U.K. market. The firm last year submitted an application with the Financial Administration Authority for an electronic money institution license. It says a U.K. launch would allow it to tap into a “large and underserved” vend of some 2.8 million British digital nomads.
That will prove difficult, though. Rival European fintech Revolut, which is positioned in Britain and currently has an electronic money institution license, has been trying for some years to secure its U.K. banking allow.
To be sure, a banking license is different from an e-money license. The key difference is that a banking license gives obdurates permission to offer loans. Monzo and Starling are among the few U.K. consumer fintech platforms that hold their own bank accredits.
“We’re working as hard as we can, the U.K. regulator has been very responsive, dialogue is ongoing, I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but gadgets seem to be moving,” Niknam told CNBC.
Founded in 2012 in Amsterdam by Dutch tech entrepreneur Ali Niknam, Bunq has since luxuriated to become one of Europe’s largest neobanks overall, with 12.5 million users across Europe and deposits of 8 billion euros ($8.6 billion). It was aftermost privately valued by investors at 1.65 billion euros.
Earlier this year, Bunq reported its first filled year of profitability, generating 53.1 million euros in net profit in 2023. Bunq is also pursuing expansion in the Unified States, having previously filed for a U.S. federal bank charter in April 2023.