• bunq on KLM embargo list

I've requested a refund for a KLM ticket. This refund is approved. My only bank account is with bunq, so I filled out this bank account number on the KLM refund form. KLM now responds with the following statement:

"The payment for the refund has been rejected due to Bunq B.V. bank is on Embargo list. Please provide us a different bank account number. Thank you."

I've forwarded the e-mail message to 'Meldpunt IBAN discriminatie', but for the refund I'm stuck. What to do in a situation like this, other than asking a friend to 'borrow' their bank account number?

    @Emile-Pink-Puma#134378 Whoah that sounds weird... I wonder why KLM has bunq on an Embargo list?

    Maybe you should contact Support Chat for this matter, since I think other customers here won’t be able to help you. Maybe bunq can?

    Good luck and maybe let us know what happens?

      @Ambiebambi#134380 Thanks Amber! I've posted the question on the support chat as well. I will post the outcome here.

      I've asked KLM to have a look at the DNB-article about IBAN-discrimination. Their answer: it only applies to payments, not to refunds.

        @Emile-Pink-Puma#134386 Great! Thanks 😊

        That sounds like a stupid loophole, if that truly is the case... I hope it will be fixed.

          Hi 👋 @Emile-Pink-Puma#134386

          Very annoying to hear you're running into such childish behavior from KLM. I've messaged DNB to ask if this is allowed and if not what can be done to stop this madness. 😊

            @Emile-Pink-Puma#134378 Dus ze hebben de betaling wel geaccepteerd vanaf je bunq bankrekening en willen nu geen geld terugstorten? Dat is pas onbeschoft.

              @JeroenE#134394 De betaling heb ik inderdaad wel gewoon kunnen uitvoeren middels iDeal en bunq. Ik vind het ook een erg vreemde gang van zaken.

                This sounds all very strange. Especially because they do accept payments made from a bunq account... 🤷🏼‍♂️

                I have asked KLM on Twitter to clear things up, Tim also send it also to DNB and Betaalvereniging NL.

                  @Emile-Pink-Puma#134386 I see KLM responded on Twitter saying they replied to your DM. What did they say to explain the situation?

                    @Ambiebambi#134422 They asked me for an alternative IBAN (non-bunq) and explained that for them it's impossible to refund on a bunq-account. Their reaction in Dutch:

                    "Daar zijn we weer, Emile. We zien inderdaad dat de embargo voor betaling aan Bunq aan onze kant ligt. Kun je ons een alternatief IBAN geven? Graag ontvangen we een IBAN en de bijbehorende accounthoudersnaam van een retailbank, in andere woorden een reguliere consumentenbank zoals ABN Amro, ING, etc. Dan sturen wij dit banknummer door onze restitutieafdeling. Excuses voor het ongemak."

                    They act as if bunq is a non-existing bank. I chose for bunq because I truly believe in creating an online bank. That an airline takes such an attitude towards a loyal customer is terribly frustrating.

                    I responded that I don't have an alternative IBAN. What followed:

                    "Helaas is het voor ons enkel mogelijk het bedrag te restitueren op een ander rekeningnummer. Zonder een alternatief IBAN kunnen we het bedrag niet restitueren. We hopen op je begrip."

                      @Emile-Pink-Puma#134427 Wow, I’m speechless. They act as if bunq isn’t a real bank or something? This should not be allowed, should it?

                      They’re not even going to fix this issue? They’re just going to continue this weird course of action?

                      And they have no problem receiving money from bunq? I really don’t believe what I’m reading here 🙈

                        @Emile-Pink-Puma#134427

                        Could it perhaps be that they are running outdated systems which convert the IBAN into a 9 digit account to process the payment? As bunq has a 10 digit account number this would bring some errors into their systems but it's getting more common nowadays. In that case they simply can't be bothered to upgrade their ancient systems. But to be honest, their attitude leaves me speechless.

                          @Tim#134430 Entering the bank account number was not the issue. And whenever I open the form again, I see the same bank account number. Furthermore, I received a refund on my bunq account in June this year of a different flight ticket. It thus seems as a policy they introduced recently.

                            By the way how did you pay? Using the bunq Travel Card? If so, you can always do a chargeback... Maybe reply to them one last time that you only have this account and you will ask the money back to bunq / MasterCard directly if they don't refund you in X days.

                            It happened to me before (not KLM, but Deutsche Bahn and using N26) some time ago. Same story, that they did not support N26 for transfers. After 2 or 3 emails they finally sent me the money.

                              I just received a response from De Nederlandsche Bank in which they inform me that they will write a letter to KLM. I'm not sure if they can force KLM to transfer to bunq-accounts. At least it's good to see that they act upon KLM's behaviour.

                                @igoramadas#134434 Not using my travel card, I used iDeal. I can thus not perform a chargeback.

                                  @Emile-Pink-Puma#134436 Nice to see DNB is acting so fast! Let's await the outcome..

                                    @Emile-Pink-Puma#134386 I've asked KLM to have a look at the DNB-article about IBAN-discrimination. Their answer: it only applies to payments, not to refunds.

                                    Small note: A refund is a "payment" just as well. And legislation against IBAN discrimination applies whether you pay to KLM or KLM in reverse to you. Though in this case it might not be explicitly covered by the EU regulation, as the discrimination seems not to be on the basic of country but rather bank.

                                    I guess someone in KLM customer support slipped up by disclosing this "Embargo list". I can not imagine them being authorized to tell you verbatim.

                                    Sad truth is, being a retail bank that is...
                                    1. a new upstart
                                    2. pan-European focused (as opposed to banks solely focusing on the domestic market) and
                                    3. allowing account opening remotely
                                    ...bunq seems to be perceived as a higher-risk bank and less trusted than competitors. We've seen this with SEPA Instant discrimination by German banks before.

                                    Glad that you complained to the supervising authority in the Netherlands!