Revolut Business vs bunq Business: Banking License, Team Features, and FX Compared

Both Revolut and bunq hold full banking licenses — a rare distinction among European neobanks. Revolut Bank UAB is licensed by the ECB and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania, offering deposit protection up to €100,000 per depositor under Lithuania's VAS scheme. bunq holds a Dutch banking license regulated by DNB (De Nederlandsche Bank), with deposit insurance up to €100,000 per account holder under the Dutch DGS.

In practice, both provide the same statutory protection level. The difference lies in jurisdiction: bunq's Dutch license may feel more familiar to Benelux businesses, while Revolut's ECB license provides the same European-standard guarantees across its 30+ country footprint. Neither carries the weaker "EMI safeguarding only" model used by some fintech competitors like Finom or Vivid.

For businesses selecting a neobank based primarily on safety, both Revolut and bunq provide equivalent formal deposit protection. The decision between them rests on features and pricing fit rather than regulatory security.

Revolut uses monthly subscription tiers: Basic (€10/month, 10 free SEPA), Grow (€35/month, 100 free SEPA, 5 SWIFT), and Scale (€125/month, 1,000 free SEPA, 25 SWIFT). Beyond the monthly free allowance, local transfers cost €0.20 each. The model is predictable for stable, moderate-volume businesses.

bunq uses annual SEPA caps: Free (€0.13/transfer, no quota), Core (€7.99/month, 100/year), Pro (€13.99/month, 250/year), Elite (€23.99/month, 500/year), with €0.13 overage per transfer. At face value, bunq appears cheaper — but the annual cap structure requires planning. A business making 40 SEPA transfers per month on the Pro plan (480/year) exceeds the 250-transfer cap after 6 months and pays €0.13 per additional transfer.

For low-to-moderate SEPA volumes, bunq is more affordable. For high-volume SEPA users, Revolut's Scale plan (1,000 free/month) or Grow plan (100 free/month) is more predictable and often cheaper in total cost.

Revolut is the clear winner for international transfers. It supports 30 currencies with monthly FX allowances (€1,000–€1,500 on Basic, €15,000 on Grow, €60,000 on Scale). Beyond the allowance, a 0.6% markup applies (1% on weekends). SWIFT transfers are included from Grow onward (5/month on Grow, 25/month on Scale). The global reach extends to 30+ countries.

bunq supports 22 currencies with a flat 0.5% FX markup. International SWIFT transfers are available via a Wise partnership, with a €5 shared fee plus Wise partner fees applied per transfer. bunq operates in only 9 EU countries, limiting its international reach significantly.

For businesses making frequent international payments or holding multiple foreign currency balances, Revolut is substantially more capable. For businesses operating primarily within SEPA with occasional international transfers, bunq's Wise-powered SWIFT option is adequate.

bunq's strongest differentiator is its expense management depth. On Pro (€13.99/month), businesses get 3 Company Cards with granular spend limits, receipt OCR with enforcement rules, AutoVAT automation, API and Zapier access, XML batch payments, and integrations with DATEV, Sage, Oracle NetSuite, FreshBooks, and Pennylane. Elite (€23.99/month) expands to 10 Company Cards and adds travel insurance.

Revolut offers team expense cards on all plans, with up to 200 virtual cards per member on higher tiers. Bulk payments and custom approval workflows are available from Grow onward. API access opens from Grow. However, Revolut lacks AutoVAT, built-in receipt enforcement, and the depth of bunq's accounting integrations.

For teams needing structured VAT management and receipt-level expense enforcement, bunq Pro is hard to beat at €13.99/month. For teams needing scale across many users with flexible multi-currency accounts, Revolut is the stronger platform.

Revolut Business is available across 30+ countries including all EU/EEA member states and the UK, making it one of the most geographically accessible neobanks for business. This is a significant advantage for companies with distributed teams or international operations.

bunq Business is available in just 9 EU countries: Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal. An additional restriction requires that all Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) must be EEA residents — companies with non-EEA shareholders cannot open an account.

For businesses operating or expanding beyond core Western Europe, or with global ownership structures, Revolut is the only viable option between these two. bunq's geographic restriction is its most significant limitation for growth-stage businesses.