Vivid Money vs bunq Business: 22 Currency IBANs vs Dutch Banking Licence

Vivid Business plans start at EUR 6.90/month (annual) and go up to EUR 249/month. Each plan tier increases the monthly FX allowance (EUR 10,000–70,000 at 0%), the number of SWIFT transfers per month (5–35), and team features. The entry-level plan is notably affordable for the multi-currency infrastructure it provides.

bunq Business plans range from approximately EUR 9.99/month to EUR 23.99/month (annual billing available). All plans include the full Dutch banking licence, deposit insurance, AutoVAT, and Company Cards. The plan tiers scale the number of Company Cards and some features.

For multi-currency infrastructure at the lowest price, Vivid's entry plan is cheaper than bunq's entry plan. For businesses that prioritise deposit insurance and AutoVAT above all else, bunq's slightly higher entry price is the cost of those features. Neither platform has a permanently free business plan. For larger organisations needing extensive team features, Vivid's higher tiers scale to EUR 249/month, above bunq's ceiling.

Vivid's standout structural feature is its 22 dedicated currency IBANs. Each currency — EUR, GBP, USD, CHF, and 18 others — gets its own IBAN. Clients and counterparties can pay directly to the relevant currency IBAN without triggering an automatic conversion. This allows businesses to hold and manage balances in each currency separately, converting only when the rate or timing is right.

bunq supports 22 currencies and allows multi-currency holdings, but does not provide 22 separate IBANs. bunq provides a single primary IBAN with the ability to hold multiple currency balances internally. Incoming payments in foreign currencies go through the main IBAN and are handled internally.

For businesses that regularly receive large payments in specific currencies (e.g., a company that invoices in GBP and USD and wants to hold those separately), Vivid's dedicated per-currency IBAN model is operationally cleaner and may help avoid unintended conversions. bunq's internal multi-currency handling works but requires more active management.

Vivid's FX model is based on monthly allowances. Within your plan's allowance (EUR 10,000–70,000), conversions cost 0% on the interbank rate. Beyond the allowance, 0.5% FX applies. This rewards predictable, high-volume multi-currency users.

bunq charges 0.5% FX on conversions beyond the interbank rate, with no free monthly allowance. All conversions carry the 0.5% fee from the first euro. bunq also imposes annual SEPA transfer caps: 100–500 free outgoing SEPA transfers per year depending on plan, with EUR 0.13 per transfer beyond the cap. This can add meaningful costs for businesses making many domestic euro payments.

For businesses with predictable monthly FX volumes that fit within Vivid's allowances, Vivid can be materially cheaper on FX than bunq. For occasional or low-volume FX, the difference is smaller. bunq's SEPA caps are an additional cost consideration that Vivid's monthly model does not impose in the same way.

bunq holds a full banking licence from the DNB (De Nederlandsche Bank), the Dutch central bank. Business deposits are covered by the Dutch deposit guarantee scheme up to EUR 100,000 per depositor — a statutory government-backed guarantee. This is the same protection standard as ING, ABN AMRO, or Rabobank.

Vivid Money is an EMI regulated by Luxembourg's CSSF. Customer funds are safeguarded — held in segregated accounts at major custodian institutions, completely separate from Vivid's own operational funds — but are not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme. Safeguarding is a strong protection mechanism regulated by the CSSF, but it is not a statutory deposit guarantee.

For businesses holding significant operating balances, bunq's deposit insurance is a concrete and meaningful advantage. For businesses that transact actively and do not hold large standing balances, Vivid's safeguarding regime provides adequate practical protection. This is a genuinely important difference if you hold more than EUR 50,000 as a standing balance.

bunq's AutoVAT is a unique feature that automatically identifies the VAT component of incoming payments and reserves it in a dedicated sub-account. VAT-registered businesses always have the right amount set aside for quarterly payments, improving cash flow management and reducing the risk of spending tax money. No other major European neobank offers this.

bunq also provides Company Cards with individual spending limits per team member, and its API and Zapier integration enable extensive custom automation workflows.

Vivid offers team cards and multi-user access on higher plans, plus DATEV and Sevdesk integration for accounting. Vivid does not have AutoVAT. For German businesses using DATEV or Sevdesk, Vivid's native integrations are valuable. For VAT-registered businesses managing quarterly tax cash flow, bunq's AutoVAT is a compelling differentiator.

The choice between these platforms often comes down to which automation matters more: FX allowance automation (Vivid) or VAT provisioning automation (bunq).