Why was my account blocked?

bunq

Hey bunqers 🌈

Did you receive a message from our Compliance Team saying that your account has been closed or is under review?

At bunq, security is our top priority and make sure that all our users have a safe banking environment. Additionally, as a fully-licensed bank we’re legally required to follow regulations and legal requirements, together with the related and equivalent European legislation and law. That’s why our advanced system was designed to quickly spot any irregularities or unusual activities that may occur on your account. If so, your account will be either permanently or temporarily suspended. Keep reading to see why this might have happened.

Why do we restrict accounts?

As a bank, we're legally required to protect our users’ accounts and the integrity of our banking system. As part of our commitment to maintaining a safe and secure banking environment, we regularly review account activities. This helps us identify anything suspicious, and flag any activity that could present a problem.

Whenever we recognize suspicious or unusual activity that goes against our Terms and Conditions, we take immediate action. This helps keep your account safe, and protects your data.

Please be assured that we’ll never intentionally freeze or close an account without notification or some explanation. Although in some cases we may be limited by law to share many details, we will ensure you’re kept in the loop to the extent we can.

What happens when my account is restricted?

Sometimes bunq may temporarily restrict your bunq account(s). This may be due to an external request or because of an ongoing review that requires additional input. The restriction on your monetary account(s) may be partial or complete for outgoing payments.

Our Compliance Team might need a bit more information from you to decide the best course of action for your account - whether that's to unblock it or keep it blocked permanently. You'll always receive a notification for such blocking of your account(s).

You can find more details further in the topic or here.

Does this mean my account with bunq will be terminated?

Each case is reviewed by our dedicated team and processed in line with our policies and legal requirements. We would never terminate your account without further notification and explanation.

You can find more details in our Terms and Conditions 🙌

Can I still receive money on a blocked account?

In case of permanent account closure, all incoming payments will be returned to their sender if no legitimate claims from third parties occur in the meantime

What happens with my money once my bunq account is terminated?

In case we’ve determined that your bunq account usage differs substantially from what’s considered a regular day-to-day banking behavior, we may proceed with termination of your account taking effect immediately. In such a case, no incoming payments will be accepted on the account. This means that all transactions sent to your account will bounce back to the sender.

In the event that funds are available on your account at the time of closure, the dedicated team will decide on a case-specifics basis whether they will:

Release your funds
- Any remaining funds in your account that belong to you will be returned. In this case, you will receive an email (sent to the linked email address to your bunq account) with instructions on how to claim your funds. You’ll have 45 days to collect the funds via the bunq.to link we'll send you through in this email. If you fail to claim your funds, please reach out to our Support team for further assistance and provide your EEA IBAN details for a refund.
Keep the funds for a specific period of time
- Sometimes it'll be needed to keep the remaining funds on your account(s) for an initial period of 30 days to cover any outstanding debts and fees, payments that you may have authorized before your account was closed, or for any legitimate claims or rights of third parties. During this time, we will carry out a thorough review to ensure a fair decision. In the instance that funds remain on your account unclaimed, we will return them to you and will notify you via email.

Please keep in mind that if further input from third parties is still pending, this may take longer than 30 days.

Since our main communication channel is via in-app notifications and chat, we ask you to keep the bunq app on your device for any updates or next steps we may share.

In case we provide you with a notice period, you need to take the time to rearrange your banking and transfer all your funds yourself to another bank account before the period expires.