Hello everyone,
As a user who is fully transferred to bunq for the fully mobile banking service they offer, I was surprised about the happening that went on yesterday. I feel that there are a few things that I must state about this.
For a start
First of all. I realize that bunq wants to make the pricing scheme easier and more clear for everyone. With the pricing scheme that bunq had before yesterday, there probably were a lot of uncertainties from many users, hence the change. Though, the implementation had left something to be desired.
The mail
What we saw is that bunq had implemented all changes in the morning prior to messaging every single user about the changes. People with a Joint account were already transferred to Premium, the same goes bunq Free and bunq More users. After a while, mails started to flow into the inboxes of the users, with any misunderstanding. The misunderstandings were big. And I feel that in this case, it's not accountable to the users. The mail was cryptic and not clear about the changes. I really understand that there were a lot of questions an concerns about the plan change that bunq decided to make. I also have realized that not every single bunq user has received an e-mail about the recent changes to their plans, and I have numerous instances.
The poll
The poll that was used as an argument for this change, was debatable. bunq stated that 81% of us wanted this. Only, I guess that this number is based on wrong information. The questions were formed in such as way that everyone was pushed towards one of the answers. Yes, in this way, I can also achieve a 81% that would want this change. Did the poll also inform users about the way that these changes would be implemented? No. As a man of science, I can say that the poll is not transparant and even biased. I guess this 81% doesn't say so much at all.
bunq Promo
bunq Promo users, who were promised a Premium experience with a 250 euro cap on their account were also promised that their account would not expire. Unfortunately, bunq decided that their account had to expire, and that day was yesterday. Why say one thing, but do the other? This is in no way a good way to earn any trust in (potentially new) users.
bunq More
Moreover, bunq More users were told that their legacy membership would be extended and that their membership would expire when their card would expire. For many early adopters their card would still be active for many months. Although this promise was made, their subscription was also ended as of yesterday. This is the second promise that is broken on the same day. I understand that bunq can't support old memberships for too long, and in their defense, bunq More is already supported for a longer period of time, 2 years+. But, bunq had an agreement with them, and they had arranged a solution. bunq More would expire when the card would expire. And now, they just change this all of a sudden.
bunq Joint
I understand that bunq Joint was a very, very messy and unclear membership type. If you really knew it well, it was a nice offer for a lot of people, but it also created a lot of confusing for people. The problem? The name. It was called Joint. Yes, the exact same name as the Joint monetary account, even though they have nothing to do with each other. On Together, bunq Joint users have created many topics with questions about this membership, many regarding the Joint monetary account. It was confusing. I understand that bunq wanted to get rid of this problem, because it was probably not convenient. bunq's solution was to stop this membership, and transfer all bunq Joint users to bunq Premium (for 5 euro per person per month for 3 months). In my opinion, this was a wrong solution to the problem. The best solution you could have done here, is probably change the name of the membership. bunq Family or bunq Friends, anything else than bunq Joint would have complied. But no, bunq decided to stop it all the way, to the dismay of many people. And I understand that. After all the negativity, bunq released a statement that bunq Joint would return in a new form, but in about 2 months. Why was this not communicated earlier? Why do you move memberships if their new form is not yet ready?
Together
Yesterday was a big mess on Together. I feel that many topics were closed without good reason. Also, many messages from bunq were posted on topics but these messages did not answer any of the questions asked. Even some of our own messages was taken down, and it fully complied with the Community Guidelines that we handle on Together. Many mistakes were made unfortunately, and I feel very let down right now. Yes, the amount of complaints on Together was enormous yesterday, but did bunq think of the reason? I think (a lack of) communication was the reason here. And this could have been prevented. And this is not the first time.
On a last note
I feel that bunq really does listen to us as a community. Please do not forget that bunq implements many things that we desire. Many features were user-ideas and this is what made (and still makes) bunq great. The community. But, from bunq's side, mistakes were made yesterday, and I feel very bad about that. I hope bunq will clarify everything and at least admit its mistakes. Then we can move on. Many people feel let down, and have lost trust in bunq, and I can't blame them. My trust in them as a bank has got a dent too. I think a lot has to happen before this trust is back on the same level. One of those things is transparency.
I would like to end with: stay safe in these times.
Disclaimer: I am a community moderator who voluntarily moderates on this forum. I'm not a bunq employee.