Dutch online bank Bunq is to start paying its customers interest on their savings and current accounts at what it claims is nine times the going market rate.

From Wednesday, the bank will pay customers 0.27% interest across all their accounts, compared with the 0.03% currently offered by the likes of ABN Amro and ING.

In addition, the bank is now allowing users to choose from a variety of categories where their cash should be invested, ranging from green European companies to European government bonds.

‘It’s your money, so you decide… This way we’re freeing our users from the restrictive market of legacy banking,’ said chief executive Ali Niknam.

Bunq, which was granted a banking licence in 2015, now operates in Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Spain as well as the Netherlands. The app-based service charges customers a fixed monthly fee to run their accounts.