Bunq enters ireland

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119084615#Comment_119084615

That's the one I'm using. Trying to use it with three, the IBAN is accepted, bit it says the BIC is invalid. Completely daft because the IBAN identifies that bank, so no need of a BIC.

Citrus_8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119084846#Comment_119084846

A correct BIC should be BUNQIE22 (without XXX) - this could cause issues to some.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119086450#Comment_119086450

I tried with and without the xxx

awec

Does anyone else have issues with the main screen of the app not showing updated data unless you log out and in again or close and open the app?

Eg a new sub account won’t show, or balance won’t change when you move money around?

MickH503

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119088401#Comment_119088401

I haven't noticed that problem

kevanwm

That’s another Irish company unable to accept bunq IBAN. My list of problems using bunq as a day to day bank is growing I’m afraid.

So far, BoI Insurance and Imagine are unable to accept bunq IBAN - with no timescale on when they will be able to accept it.

Not great for the Irish consumer when a new entrant into the banking sector is hamstrung by lack of progress in it’s adoption by other companies

Schorpio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119088908#Comment_119088908

That's IBAN Discrimination, and it's illegal. The Central Bank have a page all about it here.

Please, please do follow-up with the steps suggested by the Central Bank. The sooner more businesses cop themselves on, the sooner we can have proper competition in the Irish banking market.

awec

Also having problems topping up with my AIB debit card.

Bunq keeps giving me an error saying my other bank cancelled the transaction, but I'm not even getting prompted by AIB to approve anything and usually they will alert me via SMS immediately when they block something. I suspect the visa verification isn't working.

A few issues so far that are concerning me, just giving this a trial at the moment but not yet convinced about using it as a main bank.

Yggr of Asgard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119088999#Comment_119088999

Not really IBAN Discrimination in this case, as it's an Irish IBAN.

It's simply a case of their systems not understanding that there is a new bank with a new identifier in town. Still a central bank issue but not IBAN discrimination but rather Irish Companies not being able to cope quickly with changes to anything (beside raising prices).

Also a BIC should not be needed for Direct Debit, so that is another one of these where companies are just not up to date.

Yggr of Asgard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119089042#Comment_119089042

That's what the trial is for.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119089579#Comment_119089579

Am I right in thinking you've used Bunq for quite a while now?

Are issues common?

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119089635#Comment_119089635

I've been using them for years, and I can't remember having a problem (apart from using the old verification method many years ago).

Yggr of Asgard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119089635#Comment_119089635

Not usually, the app is solid for core transactions and only seldom is there an issue with availability or function.

The main beef I have is the social features and the consistent changes of terms over the past years.

But I have never had issues loading my travel card, transactions to and from are processed very quickly (if not SEPA instant) and small features like the direct debit announcement etc. are very useful.

I think once Irish Companies and Banks have updated their systems with the new IBAN/BIC combination it should be easier to get direct debits running. I think it's just a matter of time and not really Bunq's issue.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119089936#Comment_119089936

And you don't have the issue with the app not updating immediately when you make a purchase?

I just had to close and open it again to see the new balance. I could see the transaction inside the account, but the balance at the top was wrong, and the main screen was wrong too. Pulling down from the top to refresh didn't fix it. Both updated once I closed and opened again.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119088908#Comment_119088908

You can complain to the central bank about BoI. They're much more effective than the CCPC

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119089042#Comment_119089042

Why don't you just do a transfer like you would with any other bank?

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119090373#Comment_119090373

Takes a day. Card top up is instant.

On Revolut I used to top up with apple pay, Bunq don't seem to allow this for some reason.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119090338#Comment_119090338

Never had that happen.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119090379#Comment_119090379

A day? What's going wrong there? The only traditional bank I've transferred to bunq from is KBC and they'd usually take a few hours. Other banks and revolut are instant.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119090393#Comment_119090393

This must be during working hours, right?

I did a transfer last night with AIB and it only hit my Bunq at 7am.

Bob24

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119089564#Comment_119089564

I could be incorrect, but I have a suspicion it could be a deeper issue than just updating their systems with a new bank code.

Some organisations have been refusing non-Irish IBANs because they never actually fully migrated to SEPA and have been converting Irish IBANs to old Irish sort codes and account numbers to process payments through legacy systems (which obviously can't be done with non-Irish IBANs). Hopefully there are very few of them left, but I seem to remember this is the reason the NTA wouldn't allow auto top-ups from foreign accounts for a couple of years until some of us raised the issue with the European Commission which eventually forced them to upgrade their systems in order to be SEPA-compliant (if I remember correctly you were also part of this).

*If* that is the the issue, bunq Irish IBANs could be as problematic as non-Irish IBANs, as I am assuming they don't have any matching legacy sort code and account number combination to be converted to (since the bunq Irish branch didn't exists then).

Just a guess and I hope I am wrong, but something to keep in mind.

Bob24

OK so I have decided to trial bunq as my main bank (including a joint account and a foreign currency deposit account) a their service seems good to me (although I came across a nasty bug with the account opening process which they took a while to address - and my partner is now actually have the exact same issue).

Now, here come my tax questions :-)

My understanding is that we are supposed to notify Revenue anytime we open a bank account outside Ireland (I know many people won't care but I want to make sure my tax affairs are fully in order): https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/foreign-property/opening-a-foreign-bank-account.aspx

I have 2 questions about this:

1. From what I understand, bunq is operating as a Dutch bank which has approval from the CBI to run an Irish branch (which is how they are getting access to Irish IBANS). Does anyone have a view on whether this makes bunq account with Irish IBANs domestic of foreign accounts? (I tend to think they are still foreign since the actual banking licence is Dutch)
2. Does anyone know how to report foreign accounts to Revenue as a regular PAYE taxpayer. The link I shared explains how to doe it for ROS users, but most individual employees wouldn't be in that category and would be using myAccount instead.
3. Assuming bunq won't collect DIRT automatically, am I the only one thinking I am better-off disabling the "MassInterest" option? (the name of this feature seems quite ironic to me :-D) I see they are paying 0.09% up to a balance of 10000 euros, meaning 9 euros per year at most. If I have to bother reporting this to Revenue each year to end up with circa 5 euros in my pocket after tax - I am thinking it is not worth my while.
4. Also, not really a question, but I noticed that the foreign currency account I opened has a British IBAN belonging to another financial institution than bunq (I assume they have a partner for managing currency accounts); so this is clearly a foreign account.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119090433#Comment_119090433

I've just done a transfer from revolut to bunq and it came through instantly. It's currently after midnight.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119100453#Comment_119100453

Did a transfer from AIB to Bunq at ~3pm on Friday, money only arrived this morning.

Pretty sure all the traditional banks would be the same.

Yggr of Asgard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119100453#Comment_119100453

Both Revolut and Bunq are doing SEPA instant in both directions so it will always be real time unless the payment is getting flagged for something.

Yggr of Asgard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119100914#Comment_119100914

Well, none of the traditional banks in Ireland do SEPA instant so it will always take at least one day.

awec

Having a new issue now, all my cards have disappeared in the app, support says I've found a bug. 😕

Yggr of Asgard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119094128#Comment_119094128

That point about converting to account/sort code is actually a very good point, let's hope that there will be a shift in attitude by companies now that the old excuse of "paper based mandate" is not applicable for Bunq.

clacks

Doing my best to embrace Bunq but they are slowly killing me. Signed up for the €2.99 per month plan, as I planned to replace my joint KBC account with it. I set up a bunq account a few years back but never used.

I have a tap & pay maestro digital card which can't be added to Apple Pay. I then created a digicard which I could add to Apple Pay. Then the digicard just vanished from the Bunq app. Now when i try to create a new one it tells me i need to sign up to some €8.99 per month plan.

More teething issues in 1 day than I've had with Revolut in years.

I need a joint account with an Irish IBAN but preferably a neo bank. Hoping Revolut or N26 step up to the plate.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119106549#Comment_119106549

Yes my cards have all vanished from the app too.

How did you add a digicard to Apple Pay? I thought that didn't work?