Online bank Bunq has told account holders that it will compensate them if they become victims of a banking scam.

Bunq said earlier this month it had upped security measures after an investigation by broadcaster NOS and the NRC newspaper found dozens of people had lost millions of euros to scammers from their Bunq accounts.

Now Bunq said that victims will get up to 100% of their losses refunded. “We will assess each case individually according to the principle ‘compensate damage in full unless’,” Bunq said. “We are going beyond the criteria established by the Dutch banking association NVB and in distressing cases we may be extra lenient.”

Bunq pointed out earlier this month that of the 10,000 cases of bank helpdesk fraud reported to the NVB, just 85 involved Bunq accounts.

The decision follows criticism of the bank by finance minister Steven van Weyenberg, who described comments by Bunq chief executive Ali Niknam as ‘totally inappropriate”. Niknam said Bunq account holders who had been conned had effectively “given their car keys away” by passing their login codes to thieves.