‘Bunq bank account too attractive for criminals’ | Money

Last year, 123 complaints about Bunq were received on the Consumers’ Association’s online complaints platform, Klachtenkompas. A lot for a small bank with relatively few customers in the Netherlands, according to the union.

For example, 147 complaints were received about the much larger Rabobank.

Marketplace Scams

The complaints are almost all about scams, often via Marktplaats, blocked accounts and poorly accessible customer service. The Consumentenbond shared the findings with De Nederlandsche Bank and the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets.

Name check

Unlike other banks, Bunq does not use an Iban name check. So you will not receive a warning if name and bank account number do not match.

“Consumers do expect to be warned in such cases. We do not understand that the bank does not use such an obvious security measure, ”says Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumer Association.

“You will automatically receive a warning that this control is not in place,” argues Bunq founder Ali Niknam. “Moreover, this way you do not stop the most common fraud cases, because usually use is made of money mules.”

Block accounts

Bunq says he does take the fight against fraud seriously and has a team available 24 hours a day to block accounts if scams are suspected.

Molenaar: “That is nice, but it is filling the well when the calf has already drowned. We believe that Bunq should do more to prevent scams. Such as entering a name-number check. ”

Every customer also receives 25 Iban numbers as standard. According to the Consumers’ Association, this means that scammers can continue with criminal activities before it is noticed.

Niknam disputes that. “Customers are given different numbers to be able to budget, so make pots for fixed costs and travel and the like. But if there is a fraud report about one number, they will of course all be blocked immediately. ”

No blacklist

Another thing that makes Bunq attractive to fraudsters: the bank is not a member of the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) and is therefore not affiliated with the Protocol Incident Warning System Financial Institutions, or the black list for fraudsters.

However, this is about to change. Niknam: “I have been working hard for years to ensure that banks that are not members of the NVB, such as Bunq, also have access to this system, and this was successful at the end of last year. Of course we signed up for it immediately. ”

–

DFT Money

What you need to know about personal finance every week.