Online bank Bunq is relocating to the United Kingdom. The bank previously left the country due to Brexit, but is now returning. CEO Ali Nighnum calls London a ‘hotspot for tech companies’. FD journalist Matthijs Rotteveel said the bank mainly focuses on digital nomads, who often settle in the British capital.
Online bank Bunq returns to the UK
This is one of the reasons why the bank is opening a branch in London again. ‘Digital nomads do almost everything online and Bunq wants to serve that group. To do that, they want to be in a hotspot for tech companies,” Rottewell explains. ‘Because as a bank you want to serve your customers, it’s also useful to be in a specific country.’
Bonus rule
According to the FD journalist, it is quite coincidental that many rules, including the bonus rule, were recently abolished in the United Kingdom. This means it’s easy to pay variable rewards. This is very attractive for a neobank like Bunq, which competes not only with other banks but also with various fintech companies.
The United Kingdom has scrapped those rules to attract fund managers to London.
The United Kingdom has scrapped those rules to attract fund managers to London. Many tech companies pay out stock packages to promising employees. “CEO Ali Nighnum sees it as beneficial for the company to offer such diverse rewards,” Rottewell explains.
Profit
Nignum did not provide a clear answer to the question of whether the repeal of those regulations would actually play a role in the return of online banking to London. The CEO expects Bunq to close this year with a profit. According to Rotteveel, the main reason for this is that interest rates are still high. ‘But most of those interest rate hikes are already over, so there’s no telling yet whether Bunq will be able to sustain them.’
