Dutch neobank Bunq ramps up recruitment efforts with focus on digital nomads

Dutch challenger bank Bunq plans to increase its global employee headcount by 70% to more than 700 this year, despite other financial technology startups deciding to cut staff, it told CNBC.

Bunq, which operates in markets across the European Union, competes with fintechs already present in those countries, such as Monzo and Revolut in the UK and US neobank Chime, as it seeks to expand into new geographies, including the UK and US.

Bunke said it needs the right talent in those regions to support its global ambitions. To that end, the company said it plans to have 735 employees worldwide by the end of this year, up 72% from 427 at the start of 2024.

“Bunq is focused on digital nomads who tend to roam the globe,” Ali Niknam, CEO and co-founder of Bunq, told CNBC in emailed comments.

So-called “digital nomads” are defined as people who use technology and the internet to travel freely and work remotely from hotels, cafes, libraries, co-working spaces, temporary housing, etc. abroad.

“We want to be able to serve our users wherever they are, and given the regulatory environment we’re in, it will require a lot of additional manpower to make this happen,” Niknam added.

Bunq is currently applying for banking licenses in both the U.S. and the U.K. Last year, the company submitted an application for a federal banking license, and in the U.K., Bunq is awaiting financial regulators’ decision on its application to become a licensed electronic money institution (EMI).

The digital bank said it is actively hiring in the areas of sales, business development, product marketing, public relations, affiliate marketing, market analysis, user support, development and quality assurance.

The bank said many of these roles will be part of a “tailored digital nomad” program that allows staff to work from anywhere in the world.

But the company stressed that it has no plans to close any office spaces and that many of its new hires will work from its offices, which include Amsterdam, Sofia, Istanbul, Munich, Paris, Dublin, Madrid, London and New York City.

One of the biggest stories in the fintech and technology industry as a whole over the past two years has been the job cuts made by companies to reduce the huge amounts of spending that were implemented during the pandemic period of 2020 and 2021.

Meanwhile, fintech companies are facing an increasingly tough business environment, with inflation dampening consumer confidence and rising interest rates making it harder for start-ups to raise capital.

Last January, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase The company cut 950 jobs, with other payment giants following suit. PayPalThe company plans to cut its global workforce by 2,000 jobs in early 2023, followed by a further 2,500 in early 2024.

Meanwhile, some fintech companies are using artificial intelligence to take on more and more roles.

For example, Swedish pay-later services company Klarna said last month that it had been able to reduce its workforce from 5,000 to 3,800 in the past year through attrition alone. The company added that it was considering cutting a further 2,000 employees by using AI for marketing and customer service.

“Our investments in AI have enhanced our proven efficiencies at scale, reduced operating expenses and improved gross margins,” the company said in its first-half earnings report.

Klarna says it has increased average revenue per employee by 73% year-over-year, thanks in part to implementing AI in-house.

But Bunq’s Niknam said he doesn’t think AI will help companies cut headcount.

“We have been introducing AI systems and solutions for years before they became mainstream. [but] “In our experience, AI enables employees to do a better job for users more effectively and efficiently,” he told CNBC.

Bunku earlier this year reported its first full-year profit, with a net profit of 53.1 million euros ($58.51 million) in 2023. The company’s most recent private investor valuation gave it a market capitalization of 1.65 billion euros.