• Ben.nl does not accept bunq account for subscription

@Max-Teal-Hummingbird#216808 Hi 👋🏼 Max,

That is strange and not even allowed by law. Excluding a specific bank isn’t allowed, not in a store and not online.

I asked Ben yesterday repeatedly but got mixed answers. At the end the state that is was possible to use bunq and if someone ran into an issue they should call đź“ž 0800-2462468 (sales department).

If they keep refusing you, let me know. Also take a look here: https://together.bunq.com/d/23003-experiencing-iban-discrimination-here-s-what-you-should-do

Have a great day

    @JohnDo#216839 Thank you! I called the number you mentioned, unfortunately people there had to clue about how to approach the issue, even after "asking the boss", I was told to solve the issue only per email communication. They told me that the they know they have to accept all Dutch banks (actually they should accept all SEPA banks ... but I guess bc if iDeal), but they could not do anything about my case. I will see if they answer to my email, next step then is mentioning EU regulation No 260/2012 ... I find this very ridiculous to be honest.

      Update: I have called the Customer Care Department at Ben, and they have explicitly confirmed their policy of not accepting bunq accounts for subscriptions, but could not answer my questions about the reasons, especially after I pointed out the legal situation. Apparently this question is dealt with by the financial department, which is not reachable by phone, but will receive emails that are sent through a support case that deal with such an issue. I have pointed out to them the legal situation regarding EU Reg. 260/2012 and the possibility of them being reporting by me or bunq. Let's see what comes out of that, I am somehow afraid of that they will just ignore my message.

        @Max-Teal-Hummingbird#216867 hmmm strange case Max. From another case I know that filling a complaint at the DNB works. In that particular case the DNB even contacted the company. Within a short period is was fixed.

        Ben is unfortunately not the first telecom company that has these policies. And of course I can somewhat understand them, but there a plenty of ways to verify a user. And in the end it simply isn’t allowed.

        let me know how things work out. I’m more then happy to report it to DNB. I also made bunq aware about this so they can contact them too!

          10 days later

          @JohnDo#216876 So after 1.5 weeks I still haven't received an answer, I think there won't be coming one either. So I guess the next step is complaining at DNB. What is to take into account for that? I have saved the email communication into a pdf to attach. Thank you for your suggestion that you can make the complaint! I can send you the document if you would still be up for that. I will also continue the support issue I have with bunq regarding this topic to update them on the situation, so maybe they can become active too.
          Please let me know what you think is best to do, thank you!

            6 days later

            Update on this issue: I tried also T-Mobile and Tele2 (as Ben also belongs to T-mobile) and all refuse a subscription with the bunq IBAN. Tele2's support confirmed to me that this sort of checks whether to accept a new customer happens on T-mobile's side, so it seems to be a T-mobile policy to not allow bunq. I wonder how many people are actually affected by this ...

              a month later

              This is some serious bullshit... I tried to take a subscription for SIM-only from T-mobile as well, and it rejected me giving this message:
              "Helaas is jouw aanvraag voor een abonnement niet goedgekeurd. Hiervoor kunnen verschillende redenen zijn." which gives further instructions how to get more information why that is. So I actually filled the form they ask to fill, and they replied that I am in some sort of database of a company "Preventel" which collects information on people who don't pay telecom companies. Say what?! T-mobile is the only company which I have subscription for in the Netherlands - I have been their internet customer for almost 2 years - and also I have no outstanding invoices! I did actually contact Preventel, and even they replied that I am NOT in their database. So T-mobile must be straight up lying?

              Oh, and by the way I tried ordering this SIM-only the with my ABN card and it works just fine.

                3 months later
                8 months later

                I have the same issue. How did reporting at dnb work out?

                  9 months later

                  I went to a T-Mobile store in 2020 and have a subscription with my bunq account with them since then. I now have monthly paid loan from them for a phone. Never had problem from them about the bank account. Maybe try visiting a store and sign up there?

                  Sorry to hear that bunq account is discriminated against.

                    10 months later

                    I had the same issue, I needed to reach out to customer service and after many back and forth emails they (Ben.nl) allowed my SIM- only subscription. Terrible experience, in my opinion Bunq should do something about it, maybe legally.

                      4 months later