bunq Bank Review: How this Unique Mobile Banking Experience is Helping You Save the Planet

  • Post last modified:Updated on
  • byPost author:Michael Smulian
the iconic rainbow bunq bank card placed next to a black mobile device and both placed on top of a silver laptop which is lying next to a maroon passport
An honest review of bunq mobile bank.

If you want to reduce CO2 and help save the environment while enjoying an awesome mobile banking experience, this bunq bank review is for you.

If you’ve never heard of bunq mobile bank or as they call it, ‘the bank of the free’, you’ve come to the right place. Our bunq mobile bank review covers everything you need to know about bunq’s mobile banking experience and why they truly are one of a kind.

So maybe you’re an expat living in Europe looking to open a bank account? Or perhaps you’re curious to know more about bunq’s mobile banking experience? Whatever your reason may be for being here, our bunq bank review will answer all your questions about the mobile bank and how using it makes a positive impact on the planet.

But before we jump straight into the nitty-gritty of their mobile bank app and bank account plans, let’s look at what bunq is all about. And what makes them different from all the other mobile banks out there.

Disclosure: This review is sponsored by bunq. But whether a guide is sponsored or not, we always share our honest opinion.

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What is bunq and How Does the Mobile Bank App Save the Planet

So what’s all the fuss about bunq and their mobile bank? And can you really reduce CO2, help save the environment and get an amazing mobile banking experience at the same time? The answer is “the bank of the free”, yes, yes and YES! Here’s everything you need to know about bunq bank.

a mobile device displaying the bunq mobile banking app placed in front of a partially shown iconic rainbow bunq bank card
Become CO2 free with bunq mobile bank.

bunq: The Bank of the Free

On the surface, bunq appears to be just like any other mobile bank. So if you’re thinking N26, Revolut or Monese, then you’re on the right track.

In short, bunq is a Dutch bank that offers mobile banking solutions via the bunq app. So there aren’t any physical branches you can walk into.

They offer personal and business accounts, but we’ll get into all of that in a bit. So if you’re looking for mobile bank that lets you conveniently manage all your finances on your phone, then bunq is just another option in what appears to be an endless list of mobile banks.

But bunq is more than just any other mobile bank! By using bunq mobile bank, you can literally save the planet. We don’t mean any offence to all the vegans out there, but bunq is probably the closest thing you’ll get to a vegan mobile bank. Vegans, we come in peace! ✌ Read on to understand why our “vegan” analogy just might make sense.

Is your money safe with bunq? bunq is a fully licensed Dutch bank that offers mobile banking solutions in Europe. Which means that your money is fully insured up to €100,000 by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) in the Netherlands. And if you activate bunq +1 (a joint account), this insurance doubles as each person is protected.

How Does bunq Help You Reduce CO2?

Everyone needs a bank account. So why not open one that helps you reduce your carbon footprint and impact on planet earth? bunq is probably the only mobile bank out there that is actively taking measures to help their clients become more environmentally conscious.

You see, bunq’s commitment to make the world greener by planting a tree every time you spend 100 Euros is the GAME CHANGER. bunq doesn’t only offer you a mobile banking solution, but they also help you reduce CO2.

two people kneeling outside on dried golden veld while each cupping a handful of brown rich soil that contains a sprouting green plant and in the process of planting it in an open hole on the ground
Plant a tree with every €100 spend.

bunq’s promise to plant a tree for every €100 YOU spend, gives YOU the power to do something positive for the environment. So maybe our “vegan mobile bank” analogy is starting to make sense now, right? 🤔

bunq’s easyGreen plan unlocks this benefit and lets you become CO2 free in less than 2 years. So if you add up every payment on every card you’ve activated on your bunq mobile bank account, divide that number by 100 to find out how many trees you’ve planted, you should become CO2 neutral within the first two years. And that’s how you use the bunq mobile bank to save the planet!

So now that you know what bunq is all about, let’s jump into all the benefits and features that come with their Free and Premium mobile bank accounts.

Want to become CO2 free? Of course you do! Just invite your friends to join bunq, and you’ll each get 10 extra trees planted in your name. Remember to use your unique invite link, so you both get those 10 extra trees.

bunq Bank Plans Review: Free vs Premium Accounts

Like all the other mobile banks out there, bunq offers both free and premium bank accounts. But what’s really nice is that you can open either a personal or business account from just ONE app.

bunq’s three mobile bank account plans include the easyTravel free bank account, and the easyMoney and easyGreen premium bank accounts. And you’re free to pick either a personal or business account from these three different plans.

a person holding a black mobile device with one hand while tapping it's reflective white lit screen with the other hand
bunq Bank Plans: easyTravel, easyMoney & easyGreen

bunq’s most basic plan is the easyTravel free account followed by the two premium accounts. Remember, you can only become CO2 neutral with the easyGreen account plan.

How to Open a bunq Bank Account?

  • Visit the bunq website.
  • Enter your mobile number to receive your unique invite link.
  • Use the invite link to download the bunq app on your phone.
  • Sign up by entering your name, gender and date of birth.
  • Follow the in-app instructions to verify your identity.
  • And you’re done, in less than 5 minutes.

So if you live anywhere in the European Economic Area, all you need is a phone number to open a bunq bank account. Sign-up only takes 5 minutes and there’s no paperwork, no branch visits and no waiting.

Here’s what you can expect to get on bunq’s mobile banking plans:

a free bunq mobile bank travel MasterCard bank card received when you open an account
Your Free bunq Travel Card

bunq easyTravel Plan (Free Account)

If you’re a globetrotter like us, then bunq easyTravel would be the perfect bank account for you. Not only is there no monthly fee on the personal account, but you also get the real exchange (real time Mastercard exchange rate) on all foreign currency payments.

So if you’re a world traveller looking for a card that let’s you spend abroad and pay for flights, car rental, hotel reservations and even offline terminals in airplanes, then bunq’s easyTravel mobile bank account is the way to go.

Here are some of the features and benefits you get with the bunq easyTravel mobile bank plans:

easyTravel PersonaleasyTravel Business
No Monthly Fee€2.99 per month
Free Virtual CardsFree Virtual Cards
€9.99 per Travel Card€9.99 per Travel Card
Free Top Up with iDEAL, SOFORT, BancontactFree Top Up with iDEAL, SOFORT, Bancontact
0.5% Card Top Up Fee0.5% Card Top Up Fee
€0.99 Withdrawal Fee€0.99 Withdrawal Fee

bunq easyMoney Plan

If you’re looking for an alternative to your current or cheque account, the bunq easyMoney mobile bank account ticks every box. And for a monthly fee of €7.99 on the personal account, you’re getting a whole lot more features and benefits compared to the easyTravel plan.

One of our favourite features is the virtual card, and you get up to 5 with bunq easyMoney. With the bunq mobile banking app, you can activate and use a virtual card to safely shop online. And when you’re done, you can simply freeze your card to keep your money safe and stop any unauthorised payments.

It also comes in handy as a safety net when you sign up for free trials that auto-renew in 7 or 30 days. No more surprise subscriptions if you forget to cancel!

Save Me For Later

a pinnable image of bunq's mobile banking experience review containing the rainbow bunq bank debit card placed onto of a black mobile phone, which is placed on top of a maroon passport, which is placed on top of silver laptop
Pin me on Pinterest to read later!

If you’re an expat living abroad, you’ll be happy to know that the first €500 top-up with credit or debit card is free. And receiving money from abroad (via Swift) only costs €5 for payments up to €10,000.

Here are some of the features and benefits you get with the bunq easyMoney mobile bank plans:

easyMoney PersonaleasyMoney Business
€7.99 per month€9.99 per month
25 Sub-accounts Included25 Sub-accounts Included
Metal Card with 24 Month Fee PrepaymentMetal Card with 24 Month Fee Prepayment
bunq +1 Joint Account for €2.99 per monthbunq +1 Joint Account for €2.99 per month
Free Top Up with iDEAL, SOFORT, Bancontact€0.10 per Top Up with iDEAL, SOFORT, Bancontact
No Fee on First €500 Card Top UpNo Fee on First €500 Card Top Up
Receive Swift Payments from €5Receive Swift Payments from €5
10 Free Withdrawals10 Free Withdrawals
Free Direct DebitsFree Direct Debits

bunq easyGreen Plan

The bunq easyGreen mobile bank account plan includes almost everything the easyMoney plans offers. But there’s one main difference. The reason you probably decided to read this bunq mobile bank review in the first place. You can save the planet!

That’s right! You can become carbon neutral in just 2 years with the bunq easyGreen plan. How? bunq has committed to plant a tree with every €100 you spend. So you’ll contribute to reducing CO2 and your impact on the planet.

a skyward view of the blue sky whilst in and amongst a forest crowded with a multitude of green trees
Become CO2 neutral with bunq easyGreen.

And there you have it! For €16.99 per month, you can invest in making the world a little more greener. And if you pay 12 months upfront, you’ll even get a bunq green Metal Card that lasts 50% longer than plastic (6 years in total).

With bunq’s easyGreen plan, you get all the features and benefits from the bunq easyMoney mobile bank plans. You also get the following:

easyGreen PersonaleasyGreen Business
€16.99 per month€19.99 per month
Become CO2 Free in 2 YearsBecome CO2 Free in 2 Years
Metal Card with 12 Month PrepaymentMetal Card with 12 Month Prepayment

bunq Mobile Bank Plan Comparison

Here’s a quick summary of the bunq mobile bank plans including the easyTravel, easyMoney and easyGreen bank accounts. And don’t forget, only the easyGreen plans let you become carbon neutral in just 2 short years.

bunq Mobile Bank AccountsPersonalBusiness
easyTravelNo Monthly Fee€2.99 per month
easyMoney€7.99 per month€9.99 per month
easyGreen€16.99 per month€19.99 per month

Who Can Open a bunq Bank Account

bunq bank is available in the whole European Economic Area (EEA). So if you’re a resident in any of these countries, you can sign up for bunq. You can open an account in 5 minutes via the bunq app, and there’s no paperwork required.

You can open a bunq mobile bank account if you live in any of the following countries:

  • Germany
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Republic of Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden

bunq Bank Fees: For full pricing information on bunq mobile bank account plans, check out the bunq bank full pricing PDF on their benefits page (scroll to the bottom of the page).

How Does bunq Compare to the Best Mobile Banks

If you know us well enough, you’ll know that no one knows more about mobile banks than us. (Said with a Trump accent with both hands gesturing wildly from side to side.)

Jokes aside, we’ve tried almost every single mobile banking experience under the sun. And that includes N26 when we arrived as expats in Germany, Revolut during our travels around the world, and even Monese, Wise, Starling and Monzo just for curiosity sake.

So if there were someone you’d trust to write an in-depth, unbiased bunq bank review, it would certainly be us. So how does bunq compare to other mobile banks? Judge for yourself! Here are the standout features and benefits that may just make you fall in love with bunq.

How does bunq calculate their exchange rate? bunq mobile bank uses the real time Mastercard exchange rate for all foreign currency payments, without adding any additional fees. This rate can be 0.05% to 0.3% different from those at the European Central Bank (ECB) on any given day.

Signing Up for bunq

Nowadays, we all want things delivered faster and without delay. So you’ll be pleased to know that you can sign up for the bunq mobile banking experience in just 5 minutes. That’s right! Faster than it takes you to read this bunq bank review.

And once your card arrives in the post about 10 days later, you can open sub-accounts in just seconds. No paperwork, no branch visits, no waiting.

a person standing in a forest full of trees with their arms wrapped around a trunk of a tree while making a shape of a heart with their hands and fingers
Make the world a little more greener with bunq bank.

bunq Mobile Banking Support

bunq mobile banking services are offered in 7 languages (English, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese). This probably makes bunq the most unique compared to other mobile banks who only offer support in English.

What’s even more cool is that their team consists of people from over 30 different countries. So if you happen to be chatting with a bunq representative from your own country, they may just be able to help you in your own language. That’s quite impressive considering how interconnected the world has become.

Investing on bunq Mobile Bank App

bunq bank doesn’t only invest in the future by planting a tree every time you spend €100 on your bunq card. The “Freedom of Choice” feature in the bunq app lets you decide exactly how your money is invested.

You’re always in control of how much you want to invest, and you can even choose Green EU companies that actively adopt principles and practices that protect both people and the planet.

a plant sprouting out of the brown rich soil with 3 green leaves and 2 water droplets shimmering in the rays of the sunlight shinning through from the blurred distance behind
Invite your friends and you’ll each plant 10 extra trees.

bunq Mobile Bank App User Experience

We’re quite fussy when it comes to user experience (UX). After all, if you don’t enjoy using something, you’re not likely to return or want to use it ever again, right?

We’ll admit that bunq wasn’t the most intuitive app to use when we signed up. It took time to figure out and get used to, and we weren’t completely sold on the default dark mode.

But bunq recognises that in order to build the best mobile banking experience, they need to constantly introduce new features. And that’s what they’ve done! We discovered that the bunq app now has an Experimental Light Mode which we’re absolutely loving. And we love having options.

Actually, bunq bank has made several improvements to their UX over the last year. The most noticeable one is the “Menu” label they added to the bunq button, which really helps improve navigation.

How to contact bunq? If you have your very own suggestion on how to improve the bunq mobile banking experience, just head over to the bunq forum dedicated to new ideas to share it with the bunq bank team.

Budgeting with Sub-Accounts on bunq

bunq bank makes it really easy for you to manage your money with sub-accounts. So if you need to budget for everyday expenses such as groceries, online shopping or even upcoming holidays, you can open a sub account for each of these to keep track of your spending.

You get 25 sub accounts with bunq’s easyMoney and easyGreen mobile banking plans. So now you have no excuse not to manage your money better with the bunq app.

And if you want to save with zero effort, simply enable AutoSave to automatically round up all your payments and transfer the difference to another sub-account. Easy-peasy!

a bunq debit MasterCard bank card received when you open a bunq +1 joint account for a family member or friend
Share an Account with bunq +1

bunq +1 Joint Bank Account

If you’re a wife, boyfriend, sibling or friend and you’re tired of transferring money backwards and forwards or doing silly little grocery bill recons, guess what? bunq mobile bank has you covered too.

bunq +1 makes it really easy to share a bank account with whomever you want. And with a tap of a button, you can open a joint account right
on the bunq app. No branch visits, no paperwork, no waiting lines.

So after you create a joint account, they’ll get full access to a shared sub-account of your choosing and their very own card so they can pay directly from your shared account. bunq also throws in one free ATM withdrawal every month for them to use, which comes in handy in case you use up all 10 of yours.

Our Verdict on the bunq Mobile Banking Experience

Are we sold on the bunq mobile banking experience? Absolutely! The bunq mobile bank app is packed with features and benefits that will give even the best mobile bank a run for their money. But what really seals the deal for us is that you can achieve carbon neutrality in two years.

partial view of planet earth emerging from dark space glowing from the radiation of the sun against the backdrop of millions upon millions of star constellations
Save the Planet with bunq Mobile Bank

We live in a world where our actions today will have an impact on future generations. And these actions TODAY are critically important, more so than ever before. By giving you the power to do something meaningful for our planet, bunq bank is breaking free from the status quo of what banking is all about.

By being part of this movement to reduce CO2, bunq has found a way to put an amazing mobile banking experience in your hands in the most sustainable way possible. So next time you spend €100 on your bunq card, remember that bunq mobile bank will plant a tree in your name. And the future will remember you for it, because you’ll be leaving your positive mark on the world.

We hope our bunq bank review has helped answer all your questions about the bunq mobile bank app. If you have any questions about the bunq mobile banking experience, feel free to reach out. You can also check out the bunq website for more information.

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