Bunq

Dutch online bank Bunq has entered Ireland, establishing a local presence in the country as KBC and Ulster bank withdraw from the market.

A new challenger bank is launching in Ireland today in a bid to scoop up customers from Ulster Bank and KBC's shuttering Irish businesses.

Bunq offers personal “easy bank” accounts from €2.99 a month while a savings account is free to use. One feature which sets it apart is the ability to create sub accounts with their own IBANs, according to Wired. Its new Irish offering comes with one major advantage over rivals Revolut and N26 – it’s the first “challenger” bank to offer Irish IBANs.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, Bunq is offering Irish IBAN accounts to customers in Ireland as traditional banking ebbs. With Ulster Bank and KBC Bank, two of Ireland's pillar banks, set to leave the Irish market this year, more than a million people are ...

Revolut, the UK-based fintech that has more than 1m subscribers in Ireland, counts the country as one of its most active markets. Other European banks, such as Berlin-based N26, have also been sinking their teeth into the Irish market in recent years. And sweeping in to fill this void are a host of European neobanks, hoping to change the way Irish people do their banking forever. Bunq is now hoping to take on Revolut and N26 as the neobanks eye customers of Ulster and KBC Ireland. But while it is not as well-known as the latter two, Bunq has an edge as the first in Ireland to provide local IBANs. This came just a month after the Irish Times reported that Synch Payments raised €5m in funding with substantial shares bought up by AIB and Bank of Ireland, on top of an initial capital raise of €5.9m that was reported earlier that year. Now, Bunq customers in Ireland will be able to provide Irish IBANs to their employers and receive salaries through the neobank – a first in Ireland. Available through the app, the service will greatly enhance a customer’s control over their finances, including ease of making payments.