Wise vs Revolut vs bunq for Expats 2026

If you want a broader look at all your banking options, read our best bank account for expats in the Netherlands guide. For a head-to-head between just Wise and Revolut, see the Wise vs Revolut Netherlands comparison.

💡 Looking for a complete banking comparison? Read Best banking for expats in the Netherlands 2026 — covers ABN, ING, Bunq, Wise, Revolut & 5 others by expat use case.

The Core Problem: IBAN Acceptance in the Netherlands

Before getting into fees and features, there is one practical reality that shapes everything else in this comparison.

The Netherlands has a higher-than-average rate of IBAN discrimination in practice. Despite EU regulations requiring businesses to accept any valid SEPA IBAN, many Dutch landlords, utilities, and employers continue to reject non-Dutch IBANs.

Here is what each app gives you:

This single fact — bunq gives you a Dutch NL IBAN — is the most important thing in this entire article for anyone who wants to use one of these apps as their primary bank account in the Netherlands.

Let me walk through exactly what this means in practice.

Where IBAN Acceptance Causes Real Problems

Rent payments: Many Dutch landlords and housing corporations (woningcorporaties) only accept payments from Dutch NL IBANs. This is illegal under EU SEPA regulations, but enforcement is weak and fighting your landlord over it is not a battle most expats want during their first weeks in the country.

Utilities and telecom: Vattenfall, Eneco, Nuon, KPN, T-Mobile NL — many of these process direct debits by automatic incasso. Some will reject foreign IBANs outright. Others will accept them but flag them as irregular, leading to payment delays.

Employer payroll: Some Dutch employers’ payroll software (especially smaller companies using Dutch-specific payroll tools) only processes NL IBANs for salary transfers. Your HR department may tell you this is not possible to change.

Gym memberships, subscriptions: Less critical, but the same pattern applies to recurring direct debits across the Netherlands.

Revolut says new Dutch-branch customers receive an NL IBAN automatically; eligible existing Dutch customers are migrated from an LT IBAN. Check the primary EUR details in the app.

Wise: The Best for International Transfers

Wise (formerly TransferWise) built its reputation on one thing: cheap international money transfers. It remains the best option for that specific use case in 2026.

What Wise Actually Gives You

• A multi-currency account holding 40+ currencies
• A Belgian IBAN (BE57 format) for Euro transactions
• A debit card (Wise card, one-time fee of €7)
• The mid-market exchange rate on all currency conversions
• Ability to receive salary or payments in 10+ currencies using local account details

Fees

The no-monthly-fee structure makes Wise attractive as a secondary card to hold alongside a traditional Dutch bank account or bunq.

Wise’s Strengths for Netherlands Expats

Salary from abroad: If your employer pays you in GBP, USD, AUD, or another currency, Wise’s local account details mean you receive the transfer as a local payment — no international wire fees. For British expats receiving UK income, this saves significant money.

Sending money home: Whether you are supporting family in the Philippines, India, Turkey, or the UK, Wise’s exchange rates consistently beat traditional banks and even Revolut for most currency pairs.

Wise availability, verification, EUR details and card delivery depend on residence and the current account terms; it is not an NL bank account.

Transparent fees: Every transaction shows the exact fee and exchange rate before you confirm. There are no surprises.

Wise’s Weaknesses for Netherlands Expats

Belgian IBAN: As covered above, this causes problems with Dutch rent payments and some direct debits. Wise explicitly states on its website that not all Dutch services accept the BE IBAN.

Not a bank: Wise is an e-money institution, not a licensed bank. Your funds are not covered by the Dutch DGS (Depositogarantiestelsel) up to EUR 100,000. For everyday use this is fine; for storing savings it is a legitimate concern.

No cash deposits: You cannot deposit cash at an ATM or bank branch. For expats working in cash-heavy industries (hospitality, freelance events), this is a limitation.

Bottom Line for Wise

Best for: International transfers, receiving foreign-currency income, first weeks in the Netherlands before you have a BSN, travel.

Not suitable as: Your sole Dutch bank account.

Open a Wise account here: Open Wise →

Revolut: The Best for Budgeting and Travel

Revolut started as a travel card and has grown into a full-featured financial app. It has the most polished user experience of the three and the richest set of budgeting features. But for daily life in the Netherlands, it has a fundamental problem.

What Revolut Actually Gives You

• A Lithuanian IBAN (LT format) for Euro transactions
• A multi-currency account (30+ currencies)
• A Revolut debit card
• Spending analytics by category
• Budgeting tools and savings vaults
• Free and paid plans

Fees

Revolut’s Strengths for Netherlands Expats

Budgeting features: Revolut’s spending analytics are the most detailed of the three. Automatic categorisation, weekly spending summaries, and savings pockets make it genuinely useful for expats tracking their Dutch cost of living.

App polish: The Revolut app is the most intuitive and feature-rich of the three. If you spend time in the app, you will appreciate the interface.

Travel: For expats who travel frequently — within Europe or to home countries — Revolut is hard to beat. Multi-currency holdings, good exchange rates on weekdays, and broad global acceptance make it excellent for trips.

Crypto and investments: If you want to buy ETFs or crypto within your fintech app, Revolut has this built in (with caveats about regulatory status).

Revolut’s Weaknesses for Netherlands Expats

Weekend markup: Revolut adds a markup to exchange rates on weekends. If you travel or transfer money on a Saturday or Sunday, you lose some of the rate advantage over Wise.

Banking entity and product matter: Revolut Bank UAB is a licensed Lithuanian bank with a Dutch branch. Do not infer protection from the brand alone: read the legal entity and deposit or safeguarding information shown for the specific balance or savings product.

Customer service reputation: Revolut has faced persistent criticism for slow and bot-heavy customer support. For everyday transactions this matters little, but if your account is frozen or you have a dispute, the response can be slow.

Bottom Line for Revolut

Best for: Travel spending, budgeting and spending analytics, crypto and investments as a side feature, weekday currency exchange.

Not suitable as: Your primary bank account for Dutch rent, utilities, or salary receipt.

bunq: The Best for Daily Dutch Banking

bunq is a Dutch neobank — licensed as a full bank in the Netherlands and regulated by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). It is the only one of the three that was built specifically for European and particularly Dutch banking needs.

What bunq Actually Gives You

• A genuine Dutch NL IBAN — this is the headline feature
• Full banking licence (DNB regulated)
• Deposit guarantee up to EUR 100,000 under the Dutch DGS
• Multiple sub-accounts (up to 25 on higher plans)
• Joint accounts
• Tax reporting tools (handy for Dutch belastingaangifte)
• A strong environmental focus (bunq plants trees per transaction)

Fees

bunq retired the old Easy Bank naming. Current personal plans (checked 14 September 2026, bunq Help: What plans are available):

Note: all three providers now have a €0 entry plan, so the old line that bunq is the expensive one no longer holds. What you pay for at bunq is the physical card and the extra Money Pockets.

bunq’s Strengths for Netherlands Expats

Dutch NL IBAN: This solves the IBAN discrimination problem completely. Your landlord, utility provider, employer, and gym will all accept it without question.

Sub-accounts: bunq’s signature feature. You can create up to 25 separate IBANs, each for a different purpose — rent, groceries, savings, utilities. This makes it extremely useful for budgeting in the Dutch system where many bills are direct debit.

Full banking licence: Your funds are covered by the Dutch DGS up to EUR 100,000. This is genuine bank-level security.

BSN requirement is manageable: bunq requires a BSN to open a personal account. This means you cannot open it before arriving in the Netherlands, but you can open it within the first few weeks once you have registered at the gemeente.

Tax integration: bunq integrates with the Dutch Belastingdienst systems and produces reporting that makes filing your Dutch tax return easier.

bunq’s Weaknesses for Netherlands Expats

Cost: the free plan (bunq Free, €0.00) has no physical card, so a full Dutch card account starts at bunq Core, €3.99 per month — roughly level with €4.00 at ING or €4.30 at ABN AMRO. The Money Pocket system most people want is bunq Pro at €9.99, and that is where cost becomes a real consideration.

International transfer fees: on bunq Free, foreign-currency spending is at bunq’s rate up to €1,000 per year, after which bunq states “a fee of 3% of each further transaction amount applies”; bunq Core lists a 0.5% markup. For sending money abroad, Wise is still significantly cheaper.

Requires BSN: You cannot open a bunq account before arriving in the Netherlands and registering with your gemeente. For the first days or weeks, you need another option.

Customer support: Like many neobanks, bunq’s customer support is app-based and can be slow. However, it has improved significantly from its earlier reputation.

Bottom Line for bunq

Best for: Primary Dutch banking, rent payments, direct debits, salary receipt, sub-account budgeting, anyone who wants a genuine Dutch bank experience without the bureaucracy of ING or ABN AMRO.

Not suitable for: Cheap international transfers, use before you have a BSN, travel if cost is a concern.

If you are specifically a student or young expat weighing bunq against the free traditional bank options, the best bank accounts for students and young expats guide compares bunq’s sub-account features against ING’s free student account and ABN AMRO’s Young Banking package in more detail.

Check Bunq →

Feature Comparison Table

Which App for Which Use Case?

Rather than declaring a single winner — because there isn’t one — here are clear recommendations by situation.

Use case: You just arrived in the Netherlands and need banking immediately

Wise availability, verification, EUR details and card delivery depend on residence and the current account terms; it is not an NL bank account.

Once you have your BSN, open bunq as your primary Dutch account.

Use case: You need to pay Dutch rent and utilities

Choose bunq. The Dutch NL IBAN is the only reliable solution for rent payments, woningcorporatie direct debits, and energy providers. Do not attempt this with Revolut.

Use case: You send money home regularly

Choose Wise. It has the best exchange rates and lowest fees for international transfers. Even if you use bunq as your primary account, keep Wise as your transfer tool.

For more apps and tools for managing money across borders, see my best finance apps for expats in the Netherlands guide.

Use case: You want to track your spending carefully

Choose Revolut as a secondary card. The budgeting tools and spending analytics are the best of the three. Load a monthly budget onto your Revolut account and use it for day-to-day spending.

Use case: You want the simplest setup with one app

Choose bunq. The Dutch IBAN, Money Pockets and full banking licence mean it can genuinely replace a traditional Dutch bank. It starts at €0.00 per month on bunq Free; €3.99 on Core if you want a physical card.

Use case: You are comparing these to traditional Dutch banks

Account eligibility, verification time, address and tax-ID requirements vary by provider and residence. Bunq says eligible customers may supply a tax ID within 90 days; for every provider, check the live onboarding terms before relying on an account or card.

You can also use the bank account chooser tool to get a personalised recommendation.

The Combination Strategy Most Expats Use

1. Wise availability, verification, EUR details and card delivery depend on residence and the current account terms; it is not an NL bank account.
2. bunq — open as soon as you have your BSN, use as your primary Dutch account for rent, direct debits, and salary.

This covers the two main needs: cheap international money movement (Wise) and reliable Dutch banking (bunq). Revolut is optional — useful if you travel frequently or want its budgeting features, but not necessary.

The total cost of this setup: the Wise card is €7 one-time and bunq Free is €0.00 per month — so €7 in year one. If you want a physical bunq card, bunq Core at €3.99 per month makes it €54.88 in year one and €47.88 a year after that.

Wise provides EUR account details to eligible verified customers, often using a Belgian IBAN; it is not an NL bank account. Check the exact details and current terms in the account.

Practical Steps: Opening Each Account

Wise: Check Wise’s current eligibility and fees, register with accurate residence details and complete the requested verification. EUR details and card pricing depend on the account and current terms.

Revolut eligibility and Dutch-branch assignment depend on residence and verification; use the IBAN and delivery estimate displayed in the approved account.

bunq: Download the bunq app, begin registration. You will need your Dutch BSN, a Dutch address, and a selfie with your ID. The full verification process takes a few hours to a day. You must be physically present in the Netherlands.

Bottom Line

Wise, Revolut, and bunq are all genuinely useful for expats in the Netherlands — but they solve different problems.

Wise wins on international transfers and exchange rates. Revolut wins on budgeting tools and travel features. bunq wins on Dutch banking functionality, IBAN acceptance, and deposit security.

The Dutch IBAN issue is real and it matters more in the Netherlands than in most other EU countries. If you want one app that works everywhere in the Netherlands without friction, it is bunq.

If you want the cheapest way to send money abroad, it is Wise.

If you travel frequently and want to track your spending carefully, add Revolut as a secondary card.

Most expats end up using at least two of these. That is not a failure of the apps — it reflects the reality that no single fintech has yet built a product that is simultaneously the best at international transfers, Dutch IBAN acceptance, and budgeting.

Open a Wise account to get started with transfers: Open Wise →

For a deeper look at all your banking options in the Netherlands, see my complete guide to bank accounts for expats.

Frequently Asked Questions: Real-World Scenarios

“I just got my BSN — what should I open first?”

Bunq offers app-based onboarding and says eligible customers may supply a tax ID within 90 days, but approval and delivery times are not guaranteed.

Keep your Wise account open (if you already have one) for international transfers, but prioritise bunq for Dutch daily life.

“My HR department told me they can only pay salary to a Dutch NL IBAN. What do I do?”

This is bunq’s territory. Your HR department is technically wrong under EU SEPA law — they must accept any valid SEPA IBAN. But picking a fight with payroll during your first month at a new job is rarely worth it.

Wise provides EUR account details to eligible verified customers, often using a Belgian IBAN; it is not an NL bank account. Check the exact details and current terms in the account.

“I have a Revolut account already. Should I close it when I move to the Netherlands?”

Keep it, but demote it to secondary status. Revolut’s budgeting tools and multi-currency features remain useful for travel and tracking spending. But do not rely on it for anything requiring a Dutch IBAN — rent, utilities, Dutch employer salary, or government payments.

The total cost of keeping Revolut Standard is zero. There is no reason to close it. Just add bunq (and optionally Wise) to cover the Dutch-specific gaps.

“I work remotely for a UK company and get paid in GBP. What is the best setup?”

This is Wise’s strongest use case. Give your UK employer your Wise GBP account details (sort code and account number). Your salary lands in your Wise GBP balance. Convert to EUR as needed at mid-market rate. Fund your bunq NL account from Wise for Dutch bills.

This setup avoids both the international wire fees that ING/ABN AMRO charge for incoming GBP transfers and the currency conversion markup. On a GBP 40,000 annual salary, the saving versus using a Dutch bank for GBP receipt and conversion is EUR 600–1,200 per year.

“Which of the three apps is best for a partner who is new to banking apps?”

Wise has the simplest, most focused interface. Revolut is more feature-rich but can feel overwhelming. Bunq’s interface has improved significantly but is still more complex than the others.

If a partner has limited experience with digital banking and primarily needs a Dutch account for daily life, bunq’s interface is functional enough. If they will be doing international transfers regularly, a Wise tutorial upfront is time well spent — the interface is genuinely intuitive once you understand what it does.

Understanding the Dutch Banking Ecosystem: Context That Helps

To get the most from any of these three apps, it helps to understand the Dutch payment landscape these tools are operating within.

iDEAL 2.0 (launched 2024): The Netherlands upgraded its iDEAL system in 2024 to a European standard that theoretically accepts more banks. In practice, bunq has full iDEAL 2.0 support. Wise and Revolut still do not integrate as iDEAL sources — this is a structural limitation, not a temporary oversight.

Instant Payments (SCT Inst): The Netherlands moved to near-universal instant SEPA payments in 2024. Transfers between Dutch banks now complete in seconds rather than hours. Bunq was an early adopter of instant payments. Wise SEPA transfers are instant for many transactions within the eurozone. Revolut SEPA transfers are also fast. For routine euro transfers within Europe, all three perform similarly on speed.

Wise provides EUR account details to eligible verified customers, often using a Belgian IBAN; it is not an NL bank account. Check the exact details and current terms in the account.

DigiD and banking integration: DigiD (the Dutch government’s digital identity system) sometimes links to your banking app for identity verification. ING and ABN AMRO are fully integrated. Bunq has a DigiD integration. Wise and Revolut do not support DigiD authentication — you will need a traditional Dutch bank or bunq for any process requiring bank-linked DigiD verification.