Mastercard expands partnership with bunq to accelerate bunq’s European growth

• Partnership with Mastercard brings bunq Metal Card to 30 European markets
• bunq plants a tree for every 100 Euros spent with Metal Card; 100,000 trees planted to date

Mastercard and bunq announce today the expansion of their partnership to accelerate the growth of bunq’s card offerings in Europe. Mastercard is leveraging its international network, helping to expand the bunq Metal Card into 30 European countries¹. bunq Metal Card, a metal Mastercard, builds a greener planet by planting a tree for every 100 Euros spent.

The sustainable bunq Metal Card was introduced in November 2019. Apart from planting a tree for every 100 Euros spent, the card itself is produced in an environmentally friendly way, from packaging to production². To date, the challenger bank has planted over 100,000 trees since the introduction of the initiative four months ago, representing a CO2 reduction of 30.8 million kg, the equivalent of 32,560 flights from Paris to New York.

The Metal Card initiative contributes to the recently launched Priceless Planet Coalition, a Mastercard platform to unite corporate sustainability efforts and make meaningful investments to persevere the environment. Together with partners who share a commitment to doing well by doing good, the Priceless Planet Coalition is pledging to plant 100 million trees over five years. Among other banks, bunq is one of the founding partners in this coalition.

Mastercard and bunq’s partnership dates back to 2015, when the challenger bank officially entered the market. Since then, bunq and Mastercard have brought multiple unique card offerings to the public. The partnership recently introduced card offerings including bunq Metal Card and bunq Travel Card, which offers travelers the real exchange rate, anywhere in the world.

In Europe alone, Mastercard is the partner of choice for more than 60 digital banks and fintechs, which has doubled in the last two years. The expanded partnership with bunq underlines Mastercard’s strategy of closely working together with fintech partners from their inception.

“We are extremely excited to take our partnership with Mastercard to the next level. Together with our users we have established an easy way for everyone to create a greener world with zero effort. Together we will further expand bunq Metal Card throughout Europe,” says bunq founder and CEO Ali Niknam.

“How Europeans bank and make payments is evolving. People want and expect the technology they use to not just be safe and simple, they are increasingly looking to have a positive impact on the world they live in. Mastercard believes that the power of partnership can not only drive innovation but also do good. We have successfully partnered with bunq over the last five years and are proud that this exciting partnership continues to grow; driving ease and speed for people across Europe and delivering positive impact for the environment,” said Javier Perez, President Mastercard Europe.

 -Ends-

¹ bunq is currently available in 30 European markets: the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Ireland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Norway and Iceland.

² Learn more about bunq Metal Card: https://www.bunq.com/blog/is-the-new-bunq-green-card-really-green

 

About Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.

Media contact: Robert.Vreeburg@mastercard.com

About bunq
bunq is the Bank of The Free. A totally independent bank that makes life easy. No branch visits, no queues, no paperwork, just immediate access from a mobile device. Users can share bank accounts with whomever they want and pay with worldwide Maestro and Mastercard wherever they go.

bunq was founded in 2012 by Ali Niknam (1981), who managed to get the first European banking permit in over 35 years. He set out to radically change the traditional banking industry and, as its sole investor, invested €44.9m in bunq. bunq’s latest publicly available number of user deposits is €433,410,761 based on the deposits in December 2019. Throughout 2019 the total amount of user deposits doubled and is increasing every day. bunq is currently available in 30 European markets: the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Ireland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Norway and Iceland.