First time user here! I just signed up (from Germany) as I need a way to pay via iDEAL and had a very, very confusing onboarding. I have a few questions and also some feedback.

• The signup process is super confusing. It's very difficult to open an account, there is virtually no onboarding. You get to choose between "Explore" and "I already have an account", and with Explore you are left on your own. It took a lot of guesswork, adding my number and email address in one spot and tapping around in multiple other areas of the app before I was actually asked to do the KYC process.

• I also got confusing error messages during my search, such as "Error: cannot determine legal names for this user".

This could have been prevented with a decent step-by-step onboarding right from the start, or a really obvious "start here" button on the home screen once the user has had a look around. I have a few bank accounts and so far all of them have been much, much easier to sign up for, especially the fintechs.

There is also quite a bit of mixed messaging:

• Sub-accounts are only for paid accounts, according to the website, yet a sub-account is the only way to have money on bunq. This app forces you to create one before you can top up. I have one I called "Main". I only need one account but I have no idea if this counts as something that needs to be paid for and if there is a real parent account hidden somewhere in the app that I should really be using instead of this one. Or does only apply once you try to add a second one?

• Apple Pay is available for free accounts, but the terms and conditions while activating Apple Pay state that you need a paid account for the virtual card that is created to enable Apple Pay. In my "Main" sub-account I now have two cards. Is there going to be a surprise charge some time in the next weeks? This is the legal copy: “We will automatically add a virtual bunq card to your bunq account if you are a Premium or Business user with an eligible device. You can add this card to your Mobile Wallet via the bunq app.”

• Apparently I was signed up for a Premium trial without my consent. I am very certain that I did not opt into it myself knowingly because I never do something like that casually, as a rule of thumb. What happens if I cancel the trial? Where does my money go (which is on that "Main" sub-account) and what happens to Apple Pay (which is powered by a paid-only feature, apparently).

• Am I going to get a physical card in the mail? Do I have to order one? Is it free or will I be charged? I'm left in the dark on this completely as this information is never offered up as part of the onboarding. There is a mention of a 9,99€ fee in the price table but I don't know if that will be applied at some point without my explicit permission? Update: I just noticed there is the option to order a card somewhere but I already forgot where it is because it is hidden within the app somewhere. It was accessible via a map of countries where you can enable the account for different countries. Update 2: oh, it's in an area called bunq Travel Assistant. Update 3: oh wow, apparently the lightning button does different things on different screens and you can order cards that way. Seriously guys, that's so confusing and not at all intuitive.

• I logged in to the account via a desktop web browser and there is a "travel card" that has the option to be unfrozen. What is this card? Does that have anything to do with a physical card that may or may not be sent? Do I need to unfreeze it?

• How do I access my account via Outbank with a free account? Apparently I need an API key that is only available for paid accounts. Is bunq somehow exempt from PSD2 or is this an implementation issue on Outbank's side?

So yeah that was my first experience within the first hour of being a bunq customer. Not great. I'd really appreciate if any of those questions could be answered. Thanks for reading this far!

Hey Jakob, thanks, I really appreciate the super fast response.

@Jakob-Y#188800 The KYC process is optional, and only needed when a user exceeds the limits of the e-money account that is initially created. It gets triggered automatically then, or you can start it manually earlier, as you already found out. So it's by design, and depending on how you're using bunq you're not required to go through KYC. Of course, errors shouldn't happen.

Ok, gotcha. I didn't realize that's optional, so I'll put that down as too many assumptions on my part.

@Jakob-Y#188800 Real bank accounts are only for paid accounts. But on the Travel membership you still have one account where you can see your balance. It only allows for card payments.

I'm not sure I understand this. It sounds to me like bunq then more or less just functions as a payment service like PayPal where each transaction will be billed to my real bank account? Or does the Travel membership still enable me to have a balance on it (e.g. the smaller e-money account you mention), which itself only supports card payments. And is iDEAL included in that? I don't need an IBAN and all that stuff. The reason I signed up is that I need a way to pay 0,01€ a year to OV-fiets and they only do iDEAL – it's been a lot of hoops to jump through just to be able to borrow a bicycle for a few rides a month. But I'm sure it will come in handy in other circumstances as I am in NL regularly.

@Jakob-Y#188800 Apple Pay also works with the free Travel card (Mastercard Credit) that is included in the Travel membership. If you want to use it with a virtual / online card, you'd indeed need a Premium membership, as these cards are not included in the Travel membership. Apple Pay is not a paid feature, but can only be used with cards that are available to you in your membership.

@Jakob-Y#188800 Unfortunate that this wasn't made clear by the GUI. But I would say, the Premium trial is actually a good thing, as it allows you to order the Travel Card (Mastercard Credit) for free. You can then downgrade to the Travel membership and keep it, so you don't have to pay the 9,99 Euros for card production as used to be the case for Travel members.

Ok, cool. So the best way to use it would be to order a free Travel Card (Mastercard Credit), then downgrade, and then I use that physical card for Apple Pay. Thanks for highlighting that option.

@Jakob-Y#188800 You should be able to see the same cards in the web and in the app, but maybe the onboarding process is not perfect in that regard yet. It's probably your Travel Card (Mastercard Credit) from when you started to use bunq.

Ok, I checked again and that second card that was created for Apple Pay is in the web interface too, now, so you're definitely right. The two cards in the app have a cloud icon, I assume that this means they are virtual cards which will disappear once I downgrade.

@Jakob-Y#188800 PSD2 is free for all users. But there is also a regular bunq API, which can only be used with Premium account. It depends on Outbank which one they use to integrate.

Alright, I'll ask them if they have any plans to use PSD2 instead of the API, then. Cheers!