Dutch digital bank Bunq partners with Tulp to offer mortgages

Netherlands-based challenger bank Bunq has partnered with Dutch lending platform Tulp as it aims to expand its services and become the first European digital bank to start offering mortgages.

Bunq founder and CEO Ali Niknam

The fintech plans to start offering mortgage options from early 2022 as it “seeks to challenge traditional banks’ grip on the home-lending market”.

Bunq says a move into the mortgage market offers an “opportunity to onboard users for the long-term” and represents “a source of sustainable income in an industry where many struggle to turn a profit”.

The firm’s mortgages will initially only be available in the Netherlands.

It adds that “approximately two-thirds” of its home loans on its balance sheet will be covered by the Dutch government’s insurance scheme.

Tulp, which specialises in mortgage lending and funding management, will help deliver the service. The firm is active in the Dutch residential mortgage market and in the buy to let market and was the first lender to introduce a Green buy to let mortgage under the brand De Nederlandse.

The move caps a busy year for Bunq. The firm raised $228 million in a Series A funding round led by UK private equity firm Pollen Street Capital back in July.

Bunq also partnered with payments platform Paysafe in September to offer cash deposit services to its customers.

In an interview with FinTech Futures, founder and CEO of Bunq Ali Niknam said he set up the bank to “contribute to the common good” following the global financial crisis.