bunq has launched a local Italian IBAN and opened its first branch in Italy, targeting digital nomads and internationally mobile Italian residents.
Netherlands-based bunq has announced the launch of a local Italian IBAN for its users, alongside the opening of its first branch in Italy. The move makes Italy bunq's newest key market in Europe, adding an Italian IBAN to the five it already offers across the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, and Ireland. Users can hold all six IBANs simultaneously within a single application, with each account organised into dedicated pots for specific spending categories.
The launch follows 200% year-on-year growth in bunq's user numbers in Italy. The neobank currently serves more than 20 million users globally.
Digital nomads and the Italian market
The announcement is framed around Italy's growing population of digital nomads and internationally mobile workers. According to data from Italy's Ministry of Labor and Social Policies cited in the announcement, Milan, Rome, and Florence rank among the top European cities for expatriate residents, with close to one million Italians having adopted a lifestyle that involves living, working, or travelling across multiple countries.
For this segment, access to a local IBAN is a practical necessity. Italian IBANs are required for a range of everyday financial interactions in the country, including salary deposits, direct debit mandates, and utility payments - functions that a foreign IBAN cannot reliably support in the Italian market. Offering a local IBAN alongside global account functionality addresses a specific friction point for users who split their financial lives across multiple jurisdictions.
Broader expansion context
The Italian launch is part of a wider internationalisation strategy for bunq. The neobank has recently expanded into North America, receiving approval for a broker-dealer licence and submitting an application for a de novo banking licence in the US, as well as filing a licence application in Mexico. The combination of European market deepening and North American market entry reflects a dual-track growth approach as bunq scales beyond its core European base.
bunq describes itself as the first generative AI-powered bank, though the announcement does not elaborate on the specific AI capabilities deployed in its Italian offering.
