Dutch-owned digital bank Bunq announced plans to roll out its travel insurance offering for customers in the Republic, in a bid to enter the global insurance market.
Bunq said it had “set its sights on Ireland” with its new offering, as its user base in the Republic nearly doubled in the last 12 months and the firm reported a surge in deposits, up 114% since the start of the year.
The AI-powered financial service provider will offer travel insurance coverage for anyone on its Easy Bank Pro XL plan and insurance claims can be filed in the app.
The move comes after the chief executive of Bunq told the Irish Examiner of his plans to expand in Ireland while attending Web Summit in Lisbon last year.
Ali Niknam said the sweet spot for Bunq was when Ulster Bank and KBC had first halted banking operations in the Republic, but the Irish market remained on his radar.
“We have looked at the Irish market and it’s very interesting because it’s very underserved,” said Mr Niknam at the time.
“When Ulster Bank pulled out we kind of missed that opportunity because we were too slow to respond,” he said.
There has been a recent frenzy of activity among the leading three banks in the Republic to remain attractive to customers as challengers enter the market.
In 2021, Bunq bought CapitalFlow, a Dublin-based business lender that works with small firms and property investors.
The following year, it provided Irish-based customers international bank account numbers for the first time.