bunq is reportedly preparing to pursue a UK banking licence 

The Dutch FinTech previously re-entered the UK market through an electronic money institution licence and is now considering a full banking licence that would enable it to offer a broader range of banking services.

Sources familiar with the matter said Bunq – Europe’s second largest digital bank – is now mulling an official UK licence that would allow it to bring its fully-fledged banking services to the market, according to CityAM. They added that plans remained subject to change with no formal application having yet been made. 

Bunq – which reached 20 million users in just a decade – is understood to be eyeing deeper penetration of the UK market with a full-fat permit, in a move that could end a year-long drought in applications for the licence in Britain. 

In 2024, the $2bn Dutch fintech made a play for an electronic money institution (EMI) permit, that allows non-bank fintech companies to issue money, hold customer funds, and process digital payments.

Prior to Brexit, it had operated in the UK under a European banking licence and stopped offering new accounts at the end of 2020 due to the red-tape associated with the country leaving the European Union.