Hey bunqers 🌈,
Received an email from us notifying you that your account is in Safety Mode and wondering what that means? No worries, we’ve got you covered — below, we’ll explain what Safety Mode is and how it can affect your account.
What Is Safety Mode?
At bunq, we take your security seriously. That’s why we may enable Safety Mode to protect your money and personal data whenever we notice any unusual activity on your account. You can think of Safety Mode as a temporary shield to protect you if there’s a chance the activity we're seeing is fraudulent.
When your account is in Safety Mode, your outgoing payments are temporarily limited in order to contain any potential damage in case your account has been compromised.
To make sure that everything’s in order as quickly as possible, we conduct a review to determine whether your account is secure. Our team treats these cases with the highest priority and aims to complete the review within 5 working days. You’ll be notified immediately via email and an in-app notification once you can resume the use of your account without any restrictions.
What can I do while my account is in Safety Mode?
We've designed Safety Mode to give you access to your money for daily life activities while protecting you from large, potentially fraudulent transactions. While in Safety Mode:
✅ You can use your account for essential day-to-day expenses, like paying for groceries or other small purchases of up to 500 EUR per day
✅ You can receive money into your account. For example, your salary will be credited as usual
✅You can continue using your existing bunq cards: physical cards, plus any card already added to Apple Pay or Google Pay
What is temporarily restricted while my account is in Safety Mode?
The following actions aren’t possible while your account is in Safety Mode:
❌ Adding new cards to Apple Pay or Google Pay
❌ Making outgoing payments larger than 500 EUR per day, until the review is complete
Why is my account in Safety Mode?
We understand it can be surprising to see your account temporarily limited. This happens if our automated security system detects activity that might pose a potential risk to your account and acts proactively to protect your money and data.
In case you’re a victim of fraud, Safety Mode makes sure that no large amounts of money can be taken from your account to limit the potential damage. If you suspect you’re a victim of fraud, you can secure your account by following the steps in our anti-fraud guide, which you can find right here — I've been scammed, what can I do?
This feature helps us create a safer banking experience for everyone. You can learn more about how we safeguard your account here.
I think my account is fine, so why Safety Mode?
Safety Mode is a feature designed to protect your account. Think of it like Airport Security — the checks may be inconvenient but they exist to keep you safe. Safety Mode is triggered for two key reasons:
Blocking potential fraudsters. If a fraudster gains access to your account, they may be in contact with us pretending to be you. Safety Mode triggers an independent review by our team, ensuring we can identify and stop malicious activity.
Spotting unusual transactions. Safety Mode may flag a transaction as unusual even when it’s perfectly fine — like when you’re sending a larger amount of money than you normally do. Even if your activity is perfectly legitimate this safety feature acts as a temporary block to ensure your money remains secure while we verify that everything is in order.
This is why Safety Mode is integral to keeping you safe and we can’t lift the restriction until our team completes the review — we have to be 100% sure it’s you in control. As such, sometimes we may send you a few quick questions via our secure in-app Support Chat, just to be sure everything’s in order. We’ll be able to complete our review when you provide all the required additional information.
Your account will automatically go back to normal after we make sure it’s safe for use. This can take up to 5 working days and we’ll email you the moment that Safety Mode is lifted.
When will my account be back to normal?
Our goal is to get your account back to normal as quickly as possible. Here’s what you can expect:
Safety Mode is enabled. We’ll always keep you in the loop and you’ll be notified the moment your account enters Safety Mode via email and an in-app notification.
Review is in progress. No action is needed from you while our team is reviewing the activity to ensure your account is secure.
Additional verification. In some cases, we may ask you a few quick questions to verify a transaction via our secure in-app Support Chat. Please provide any requested information as quickly as possible, to help us continue our swift review.
Resolution. Your account will return to normal once we complete our review and determine all activity is safe. This can take up to 5 working days and we’ll notify you by email and an in-app push notification the moment Safety Mode is lifted.
Securing your account. If we suspect your account is at risk of fraud, we’ll ask you to complete a quick identity check before lifting Safety Mode. If you suspect you’ve been a victim of fraud, you can reset your security code and submit a Fraud Report to us here.
Can I still receive payments on my account?
Yes — you can still receive money on your account even if Safety Mode payment limits have been applied. For example, if your salary or another payment is due to arrive during the review period, the money will still be credited to your account.