How does Localized Card Protection work? 💳

bunq

Hey bunqers 🌈

Never worry about your card’s safety, thanks to a card that will only work where you are, based on your phone's location. If “Localized Card Protection” is on, card payments are enabled at merchants whose location is within 100km of you. This means that the physical authorization of your card payments will happen automatically based on your device’s location.

How do I enable “Localized Card Protection”?

Follow these easy steps to set it up:

Go to Home
Select any of your bunq cards
Tap on Settings in the right corner of your screen
Click on Allowed Countries
Turn on the “Localized Card Protection” toggle
Done! Your cards now only work where you are, based on your phone’s location

Please note that this feature will use your device’s location. If you haven’t given the bunq app permission to “Always Allow” location access in your phone’s settings, or if you’re offline (with a turned off internet connection), this feature won’t work, since we won’t know your phone’s location.

How do I set up my Allowed Countries manually?

Go to Home
Tap on Cards
Select the card you'll use
Tap on Settings in the right corner of your screen
Click on Allowed Countries
Select Add Country and choose the country you want to use your card in

My card doesn’t work with “Localized Card Protection” enabled. What should I do?

In order for the setting to work, the app needs to use your device’s current location. For that you need an active internet connection, so that the information flow is successful. However if your location is missing, or the app can’t read it - your payment might fail. But worry not - here’s what you can do in such cases:

If you haven’t allowed the app to use your current location - simply go to your phone’s app permission settings and turn on the “Always Allow” location setting. This way the bunq app can use your location consistently and therefore authorize your card payments wherever you are. Once enabled - it’ll work just fine ✨
- Keep in mind that your device may offer different location access options, however enabling the “Always Allow” setting will provide you with the best experience! If the app has partial access to your device’s location, the app will remember the last country where your device was active.
If you’re offline - you’ll receive an SMS notification immediately, explaining why the payment failed. In such a case simply turn on the mobile data of your device / connect to an internet hotspot. Once you do, the bunq app will immediately get the info that it needs and you can redo the payment successfully.
The merchant has been registered in a different location - Some merchants have a couple of locations and they can be registered in a different geolocation than the one you’re on. In this case, it will be better to disable the “Localized Card Protection” toggle for the time being, then try the payment again

Good to know

Some merchants don't provide accurate location data to us. If we don't know a merchant's geolocation, we'll use their registered country instead. Payments will be accepted if the merchant is registered in the same country as you are.
The 100km applies in any direction.