Hey bunqers 🌈 ,
To give you the freedom to use your account on your terms, we ensure that you can't fall into debt by not offering loans, credit or overdraft. This way you can freely use your money without the burden of debt.
However, there are few occasions when you might have a negative balance on your bunq account. You can check them below.
Most common reasons
- Invoice fee: the membership fee is deducted from the billing account but the balance is insufficient.
- Card payment: the payment amount was adjusted due to ZeroFX or because the merchant collected a higher amount than initially authorised.
- Instant Bank Transfer: With Instant Bank Transfer, you can instantly top up your bunq account from your account at another bank. Learn more here.
Which payment caused my negative balance?
You can easily check the latest payments by going to Home and then tapping on Total to understand which payment caused the negative balance exactly.
Why was I automatically switched to bunq Free?
If your account balance goes negative because you don’t have enough balance to cover your plan invoice, you’ll receive notifications via in-app reminders and email. If the balance stays negative for 14 days, your account will be automatically downgraded to the bunq Free plan. This means that all but the 3 oldest Bank Accounts will be closed, with any remaining balance transferred to the oldest account, and all cards, except the oldest Virtual Card, will be frozen.
If your account is ineligible for bunq Free and your balance stays negative for 30 days, we'll temporarily freeze it until you top up your account. Once the balance is fixed, your account will be reactivated immediately.
Once you resolve the negative balance, you can easily upgrade your plan by following these steps:
- Go to 👤 Profile
- Tap on Plans
- Select Switch plan
For more details on your account's eligibility for the bunq Free plan, check this topic.
How do I resolve my negative balance to reactivate my bunq account?
- You can transfer money to your IBAN from one of your other accounts that has enough balance.
- You can also use one of the other top-up methods to add money to your bunq account.
❗️As soon as you resolve your negative balance, your bunq account will be reactivated right away and you will be able to use it normally again.
Related topics
Want to learn more? Explore more bunq knowledge here ✨
