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  • German IBAN offering excludes non German nationals

Happy to see Bunq offering German IBANs!

But the choice to use IDnow as your identification provider is a real shame.

IDnow can only verify EU documents, thus completely excluding all non EU nationals that live in Germany.

As a non EU citizen living and working in Germany this is a constant issue that tech companies are happy to ignore.. there are certain services that are completely unusable for me or like this case features that sit behind a "nationality wall".

Does failing the IDnow check lock me out of my account?
Are the other identification options? (phisical identification at the post office perhaps?)

I would love to hear from Bunq on how they intend to solve this issue

    @Matan-Navy-Starfish#221519 Hi Matan, take a look at this article: https://together.bunq.com/d/43670-what-can-i-use-to-verify-my-identity-as-a-german-user

    At least on paper IDnow is supposed to support a huge range of non-EU passports. For users with a nationality that is not supported (for example India), you should still be able to use your "elektronisches Aufenthaltstitel" (eAT) card and similar residence permits from other EU countries. Does that not work?

      @Jakob-Y#221520 TBH I stopped my "get a German IBAN" process the moment I noticed it's using IDnow

      I would rather not have a German IBAN than lose access to my finances in Bunq

      If failing the IDnow check does not lock me out of my existing NL accounts I'd be happy to give it a shot

        @Matan-Navy-Starfish#221522 If failing the IDnow check does not lock me out of my existing NL accounts I'd be happy to give it a shot

        Even if you fail, you will still have access to your NL accounts (just with a message that you haven't finished your verification for switching to DE). If you don't intend or can't finish the switch to DE, then you can contact Support so that they remove the message in case it bothers you.

        By the way, also the partner used for identity verification in other countries (Onfido) has a limited acceptance of international passports, the list just slightly differs from IDnow. See here for the Onfido accepted documents: https://together.bunq.com/d/3355-what-id-documents-are-accepted-for-my-identity-verification

        The only things I'm not sure about is regarding the acceptance of residence permit cards at IDnow. They're indeed not listed in the official information post from bunq 🧐 Maybe better to only proceed if your passport is is from one of the countries listed.

          @Jakob-Y#221520 Moreover, I'm from Israel and I don't see that option under the list of supported passports in the link you sent.

          Regarding a eAT card - I got my visa before Germany started offering them, and because of the Coronavirus I can't schedule a "replace your existing visa with a eAT card" appointment

          I guess I can wait to use this feature until such an appointment is available, or wait until I'm eligible for citizenship hahaha

            @Matan-Navy-Starfish#221524 or wait until I'm eligible for citizenship

            Oh well that's always an option I guess 😂

            I reached out to get some clarification on the IDnow requirements, and it unfortunately seems like that's maybe your only option for now. Residence permit cards aren't officially accepted (and thus not mentioned in the article). Sorry for alluding to them being an option earlier. However in that case, well, I would agree bunq should think about offering an alternative for identity verification here. Not just for their user's sake, but also for their own. There are some nationalities with huge populations in Germany missing from the "accepted passport"-list.

              @Jakob-Y#221523 I see Onfido accept an EU drivers license, that would have solved it for me but it seems as if IDnow do not accept that as an identification document

                In Deutschland dagegen ist ein Führerschein, obwohl er ein amtliches Dokument ist, kein Ausweisdokument, mit dem man sich identifizieren kann, sondern lediglich der Nachweis der Fahrerlaubnis.13 mei 2015

                https://www.fr.de › ... › Geld

                  5 days later

                  I just tried with German eAT, and they told me that residence permits are, unfortunately, not supported. I wish bunq would allow identification with "POSTIDENT" available at any Deutsche Post branch.

                    Welche NEOBank nimmt denn bitte Postident? Das ist ein Sicherheitsrisiko und ein extra Aufwand den sicher wieder keiner Bezahlen möchte... Zudem nur in Deutschland möglich und bei Postident gelten dieselben Auflagen wie bei dem VideoIdent... Mir ist auch keine NeoBank bekannt bei welcher die BaFin ein Ident mit eAT statt Personalausweis oder Pass durchwinken würde.

                    Wenn es nicht geht dann geht es halt nicht. Bleibt man bei NL oder notfalls einer anderen Bank.

                      Warum muss man immer mit der gleichen Ausrede „der arme Arme Nicht EU Bürger wird mal wieder ausgegrenzt“ kommen ??? Wenn ich im Ausland schreibe würde „Ich armer EU Bürger, nichts klappt“ interessiert dies dort keinen Menschen. Ein nicht EU Bürger muss nicht immer ein Fass auf machen. Einfach mal die / eine Entscheidung hinnehmen so wie sie ist. Das müssen auch EU Bürger.

                        Also Reisepässe von 49 nicht-EU-Ländern werden ja auch durchaus akzeptiert. Das hier ist keine EU / nicht-EU-Geschichte. Es fehlt in der Tat die Unterstützung für israelische und indische Pässe.

                          7 days later

                          @BBiker#221867 Ich habe bei N26 und Fidor jeweils Postident verwendet. Sonst hätte ich dort auch keine Konten eröffnet. Inzwischen haben sie es abgeschafft. Mit „NEO“ hat das also nichts zu tun. Außerdem bietet auch der deutsche Ausweis die Online-Funktion für solche Zwecke an. Die habe ich schon vor 6 Jahren aktiviert. Dazu gibt es inzwischen die Ausweis-App. Aber die Banken brauchen vermutlich nochmals 6 Jahre dafür...

                            Hey everyone. Seems like this thread got an update: https://together.bunq.com/d/43670-what-can-i-use-to-verify-my-identity-as-a-german-user @Matan-Navy-Starfish @New-Golden-Eagle-3834304353

                            It's now possible to use your German eAT card or any other EU residence permit card during IDnow identity verification. So now everyone permanently residing in Germany, regardless of nationality, should be able to successfully verify their identity to get a German bank account at bunq. You can of course still also use non-EU passports if they're on the list.

                              5 days later

                              I just hope one day that any bunqer would be able to get French and German IBANS if you live in France/Germany or not. Basically available to any bunqer

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