Hey bunqers 🌈,

Waiting on a payment that's taking longer than expected? Check the normal arrival time for your payment type first — most late payments are still moving through the banks in the chain.

If your payment is past that window, open a Payment Investigation directly from your bunq app. As a licensed European bank, we see every step of the payment chain and we'll trace your payment within 5 business days.

💡If you’d like to request a refund for a card payment, you can create a chargeback request directly in the app. 

Is my payment missing?

Compare how long your payment has been on its way against the normal arrival time for its type. Money doesn't move in a straight line — a payment can pass through several banks before it lands, and each one adds some time. So some waiting time is normal, and doesn't mean anything is wrong with your payment.

• bunq-to-bunq payments: always instant ⚡

• SEPA payments: usually instant, but can take up to 1-2 business days

• Direct debit payments: usually instant on the due date, but can take up to 1-2 business days

• Wise payments: usually within 2-5 business days

• SWIFT payments: usually within 5 business days

Heads up: weekends and public holidays aren't business days, so a payment sent on a Friday can arrive several calendar days later than expected.

If your payment is still within inside its window, it's in transit and an investigation won't speed it up. If you've been waiting longer than the expected waiting time, open a Payment Investigation to trace your payment.

How do I start a Payment Investigation?

To investigate your missing outgoing bank transfer payment, you just need to have an active bunq account. Here's how you can start one:

1. Tap on your Profile in the top left corner

2. Tap on Support

3. Share the following details:

   • A quick description of the issue,

   • Your Bank Account details (IBAN)

   • The sender's Bank Account details (IBAN)

   • The payment date and amount

   • A payment confirmation document (e.g., a bank statement)

   • A transaction ID (EBA ID if your transfer was made within the EEA or the UETR code if you made a SWIFT payment)

4. We'll confirm we've received your case in the chat, and our Payments team will review it within 5 working days.

Open one Payment Investigation per missing payment. Bundling several payments into one case slows all of them down.

What information is needed for a Payment Investigation?

The required information depends on the payment type. Find yours and share them the Support chat to help our team trace your payment:

• SEPA (SCT) / Instant payment:

  • Sending & Receiving IBANs

  • Transfer date

  • Currency and amount

  • Payment confirmation and EBA transaction ID or EBA message ID

  
  

• SWIFT payment:

  • Sending & Receiving IBANs

  • Transfer date

  • Currency and amount

  • Payment confirmation and SWIFT reference (or MT103 export)

  • Unique end-to-end transaction reference (UETR) code

Pro tip: You can request a SWIFT settlement confirmation from the sending bank.

• Missing card refund:

  • Original card payment details

  • Acquirer reference number (ARN ID) of the refund (23 numbers)

  • Refund date

  
  

• Missing iDEAL payment:

  • Sending & Receiving IBANs

  • Amount and date

  • Payment confirmation

  • Payment reference

  
  

• Wise:

  • Sending & Receiving IBANs

  • Amount and date

  • Confirmation (screenshot showing EUR and other currency amounts)

  • Wise transaction ID

  
  

• Currencycloud:

  • Sending & Receiving IBANs

  • Amount and date

  • Confirmation (screenshot showing amount)

  • Payment reference

What are EBA, ARN and UETR IDs?

EBA, ARN and UETR IDs are identifiers which help to track and manage payments. To help us locate your payment easily and quickly, we need a transaction ID. Find out more about each of these individual IDs below:

EBA ID

A unique transfer ID for every European bank transfer. If your SEPA transfer hasn’t arrived within 2 business days, ask the sending bank for this ID and share it with the receiving bank to help trace the payment.

ARN ID

A unique number for card transactions, useful for tracking payments or refunds. If you’re asked for an ARN ID, you can request it from the sending bank and share it as needed.

UETR Code

A unique end-to-end transaction reference code, used to track SWIFT payment. If you’re asked for a UETR code for a specific SWIFT payment, you can locate it in the payment event in the bunq app.

What happens next?

Our Payments team reviews your case within 5 business days and updates you through your Bank Account overview. You'll get a pop-up notification when we have news!

Rejected or returned payments

If a payment you sent is rejected or returned by the beneficiary bank, it may take up to 4 working days for the money to return to your account. In some cases, the process can take longer if the beneficiary bank performs additional checks.

If the beneficiary bank requests more information about your outgoing payment:

• You can export your payment statement and share it directly with the receiving bank.

If the payment was successfully sent from our side but the beneficiary bank cannot locate it, we require a statement confirming that they didn’t receive the payment using the provided reference to investigate further.

Waiting on a transfer from SumUp to your Italian (IT) bunq IBAN?

SumUp's system currently fills in the wrong BIC for bunq, so these transfers are routed to the wrong bank. Your money is safe. The payment is then either returned to your SumUp balance, or it reaches your bunq Bank Account up to 7 business days later instead of the usual one day transfer time.

The fastest fix is on SumUp's side: contact SumUp and ask them to send the transfer to bunq's Italian BIC, BUNQITM2. If you only give them your IBAN again, their system may fill in the wrong BIC a second time. We're in contact with SumUp to get this corrected as soon as possible.

Good to know

• Selfies, ID cards, unrelated pictures, or irrelevant statements won’t be accepted and may result in the investigation being closed due to insufficient information or mismatched data.

• Provide a payment confirmation specifically for the missing payment.

• Open 1 Payment Investigation per missing payment.

• You must have an active bunq account in order to initiate a payment investigation.