Interview: bunq’s chief evangelist Joe Wilson on absorbing rate cuts and M&A strategy
As European digital banking moves beyond the race for user acquisition, fintechs are increasingly focused on becoming customers’ primary financial relationship. Dutch digital bank bunq, which has surpassed 22 million users, is positioning itself at the centre of this shift, expanding beyond its travel-focused proposition into everyday banking. At the same time, falling interest rates and the rapid adoption of AI are reshaping the economics and customer experience of digital banking.
In this interview, Joe Wilson tells RBI how the bank is turning travel customers into everyday users, the role of AI assistant Finn, navigating lower rates and expanding into lending. He also explains bunq’s approach to acquisitions and partnerships and why customer demand remains its key filter for growth.
RBI: With bunq well past the 22 million user milestone, what specific product feature successfully transitions casual travellers into primary, everyday banking customers?
Joe Wilson: bunq was built for people who live borderless lives. When a user might be in three countries in a month, paying in different currencies, and needing support at 3am in a language that isn’t English, you build very differently than a bank that assumes everyone lives in one place. Finn, our AI assistant, operates in 38 languages, resolves queries in 47 seconds, and became the first in banking to offer real-time speech-to-speech translation. Products like Stocks Baskets and flexible crypto staking give users a reason to centralise their finances with us, not just their holiday spending, but to start investing and growing their wealth.
A big part of that is ZeroFX. Where traditional banks typically charge 2% to 3% on foreign transactions, bunq applies a significantly lower network fee instead. For a traveler, that difference adds up fast across hotel bookings, daily transport, meals and everything in between.
RBI: Much of your recent profit was driven by high central bank interest rates. As rates fall, how will you protect your profit margins?
Joe Wilson: As market rates came down, we made a conscious choice to absorb that impact rather than pass it on to our users. We kept our savings rates among the most competitive in Europe, and went further by paying interest every week rather than monthly, so users actually feel their money working for them.
Our success comes from building a bank users genuinely rely on. Paying subscriber numbers continue to grow, income grew strongly year-on-year as card transaction volumes surged, and products like crypto and Stocks Baskets deepen the financial relationship with our users. We’re building for long-term growth, not short-term margins for people who value a bank that works the way we do.
RBI: Beyond basic user engagement, is your AI assistant, Finn, tangibly lowering day-to-day operating costs or improving your operational efficiency?
Joe Wilson: The question assumes AI is primarily an efficient play. For bunq, it never has been. It’s about better serving our users.
We’ve been building with AI since 2016, starting with fraud detection and KYC, long before it became an industry talking point. The hype right now is around using AI to cut costs and reduce headcount. That’s not what we’re doing. For us it has always been a user-centricity play, and those are very different things. Finn handles 97% of all support activity, but that’s not an achievement in itself. It’s proof that we can be genuinely personal for someone in Amsterdam, Lagos or Mexico City at 3am in their own language.
Internally, that same thinking shapes how we build and update our products in real time, staying close to what our users actually want and need.
RBI: With over €8bn in deposits, do you plan to diversify into structured lending like mortgages, or maintain your current deposit-heavy posture?
Joe Wilson: If our users ask for a product, we build it. That’s how we’ve always made decisions. Our mortgage portfolio in the Netherlands has already proven we can handle complex lending products digitally and efficiently. We’re always looking at how to scale what works, and we’d consider expanding into other markets if and when the demand from our users is clearly there.
RBI: As the European digital banking sector matures, will bunq focus strictly on organic growth or actively pursue acquisitions and strategic partnerships?
Joe Wilson: The only filter we apply is whether something brings genuine value to our users. That goes for acquisitions as much as anything else. tricount is a good example. When we acquired the shared expenses app in 2022, our users were already using it internationally, splitting costs on group trips, shared apartments and travel with friends. It was a natural fit. Bringing it into bunq made those moments more seamless and kept everything in one place. That’s the kind of opportunity we’re always open to.
Note: Regarding potential market expansion and US regulatory inquiries, bunq stated that they are currently reviewing feedback from the OCC and cannot comment on expansion strategy at this time.
“Interview: bunq’s chief evangelist Joe Wilson on absorbing rate cuts and M&A strategy ” was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.