Hey bunqers,
As a bank, we're legally required to follow and apply all sanctions imposed by the European Union. These can have an impact on your daily banking activities if you have Belarusian or Russian nationality. All measures taken in response to these sanctions and when they apply are explained below.
Why do we do this?
The sanctions mentioned in this article are synchronized as per:
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/328, Article 5b and 5f for Russian nationals
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/398 Article 1u and 1z for Belarussian nationals
If you believe that any of the sanctions are applied incorrectly, you can always contact us directly through the Support center for further assistance.
Account balance limitations
Your total account balance is limited to €100,000 due to sanction-related regulations for non-EU residents. Keep in mind that the limit is applicable to all of your sub-accounts and Savings Accounts (including Joint). This means that you can only deposit a total of up to €100,000 across all of your accounts.
Closing your bunq Account
In case you're not following bunq’s Terms & Conditions (where all the sanction-related regulations are listed), we have the right to suspend and close your bunq account. You can learn more about this here
Exemption from sanctions
You’re exempt from the sanctions if you have a temporary or permanent residence permit that is valid in the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland. A valid passport or identity card issued in any of the aforementioned areas is also acceptable.
If any of the above sanctions are applied to your account but you believe this is incorrect, please reach out to us via Support so that we can assist you further. We aim to resolve such cases and remove restrictions from your account as soon as possible.
ID verification
As a Belarusian or Russian national, your identity verification request will be reviewed individually. Keep in mind that, in some cases, your ID verification may take longer due to regulations and the legal document requirements.
- Learn more about the opening of your account here
- Learn more about the accepted identity documents here
International funds transfer
We have adopted a measure concerning SWIFT transfers to prevent large-amount transfers from Russia and Belarus to Europe. That’s why we actively monitor international transfers to your account. This can mean that some transactions to your account are stopped. We review these transactions on hold as soon as possible, usually within 48 hours, and may ask for some additional information regarding your transfer. Learn more about this here
On occasion, the review can take up to 7 days. We will make sure to keep you in the loop every step of the way!
Also, keep in mind that in March 2022, a number of Russian and Belarusian banks were excluded from the SWIFT international payment system. Please see the list of excluded sanctioned banks at the bottom of this page.
How are partner services affected?
Currency Cloud service regulations
CurrencyCloud, our partners for Local Currencies, won’t process transfers to and from Russia and Belarus until further notice. This means that your Local Currencies accounts can’t send or receive transfers from Russia and Belarus from 9th of March, 2022, 12:00 CET onwards.
Wise service regulations
Wise informed their customers and partners that from the 1st of March, 2022, they’ve deactivated their services for Russia and Belarus in RUB currency. This means that you can't send or receive transfers from Russia using Wise.
Mastercard service suspension
In an official statement on their official website, Mastercard announced the suspension of all of their services in Russia. This means that your Mastercard won’t operate when used at Russian ATM machines or merchants.
List of banks that we are unable to process SWIFT payments from:
For Russia 🇷🇺
- VTB (VTBR.MM)
- Bank Otkritie
- Novikombank
- Promsvyazbank (PSKBI.MM)
- Bank Rossiya
- Sovcombank
- VEB
- Sberbank
- Credit Bank of Moscow
- Russian Agricultural Bank
For Belarus 🇧🇾
- Belagroprombank
- Bank Dabrabyt
- the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus
- Belarusian Bank For Development And Reconstruction
- also including all of the mentioned above Belarusian subsidiaries
Important note: The Intermediary bank makes the final ruling if a certain transfer is sent successfully, therefore some other banks not mentioned above may experience unsuccessful transactions too.
Related topics
If you’re in need of help, willing and able to help others in the war affected region or want to donate, reach out to the People for People foundation, co-founded by bunq to connect people who can provide help to those who need it – Ukrainians and Russians alike.
