Bunq to acquire group expenses app Tricount

Bunq, a European challenger bank based in Amsterdam, has announced that it plans to acquire Tricount, a popular mobile app to manage group expenses. Bunq isn’t disclosing the terms of the transaction and the acquisition is pending regulatory approval.

Tricount is a simple yet effective way of tracking expenses as a group. For instance, if you are traveling with friends or if you live with roommates, the Belgian startup lets everyone add expenses, which can be useful when it’s not the same person buying things for the group.

At any point in time, group members can check who owes what so that they can settle up. Tricount offers additional options. For instance, you can add expenses in multiple currencies or split expenses unevenly.

Tricount has amassed quite a large user base with 5.4 million users. The app is free with ads. There’s also an optional subscription that unlocks pro features, such as CSV exports and statistics. It competes with other mobile apps, such as Splitwise.

“Tricount’s commitment to simplicity, transparency and community perfectly aligns with our own values. I’m very happy that we’re able to offer Tricount’s users many new ways to make life easy,” Bunq founder and CEO Ali Niknam said in a statement.

While Bunq lets you split a payment with friends, the feature is designed for a group of people who all use Bunq. Tricount is a bank agnostic solution.

This is an interesting move as these startups don’t offer the same thing at all. Bunq is a challenger bank with account numbers, debit cards and, yes, subscription fees. On the other hand, Tricount is a lightweight, mostly free utility app with some virality factor as it only works with groups.

Tricount has a large audience but doesn’t generate as much revenue per user as Bunq. It could act as the top of the funnel for Bunq products and services.

While Tricount’s app is available globally, the company focuses specifically on users living in France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Italy. Bunq also operates in these markets.

“We fully subscribe to Bunq’s mission and are very proud to be a part of it. I’m excited for the many opportunities this gives our users,” Tricount co-founder and CEO Jonathan Fellon said in a statement.

In other news, Bunq is announcing a handful of new features today. With Jackpot, users can participate in a lottery by paying with their Bunq card, adding money to their account and inviting friends.

The app has been slightly rearranged. Users can now customize the home tab with accounts, cards and other features. In the community tab, users can now respond to posts from the app.