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In March 2019, Germany media reported that customers who had their account credentials stolen found it difficult to contact the bank and resolve the situation. In a widely reported case N26 took more than two weeks to restore access for a customer who had 80,000 Euro stolen from their account. They complained that poor customer service and the lack of a telephone hotline made this kind of situation very difficult to resolve. The media saw this as an indication that N26 was growing to quickly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://t3n.de/news/n26-kundenservice-valentin-stalf-1153635/|title=Betrug bei N26: Jetzt spricht Valentin Stalf|last=Weidemann|first=Tobias|website=t3n News|language=de|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://n26.com/en-de/blog/what-n26-will-do-to-help-in-case-of-fraud|title=What N26 will do to help in case of fraud|website=n26.com|language=en|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.de/einem-n26-kunden-werden-80000-euro-gestohlen-und-die-bank-ist-ueberfordert-2019-3|title=Einem N26-Kunden werden 80.000 Euro gestohlen — und die Bank ist überfordert|last=Gründerszene|first=Caspar Tobias Schlenk|website=Business Insider Deutschland|language=de|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref>
In March 2019, Germany media reported that customers who had their account credentials stolen found it difficult to contact the bank and resolve the situation. In a widely reported case N26 took more than two weeks to restore access for a customer who had 80,000 Euro stolen from their account. They complained that poor customer service and the lack of a telephone hotline made this kind of situation very difficult to resolve. The event surfaced only months after former N26 CPO, Lorenz Jüngling, had left the company on a short notice. N26 blamed the situation on its fast growth trajectory, as customers reacted, accusing N26 of denying them access to their funds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://t3n.de/news/n26-kundenservice-valentin-stalf-1153635/|title=Betrug bei N26: Jetzt spricht Valentin Stalf|last=Weidemann|first=Tobias|website=t3n News|language=de|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://n26.com/en-de/blog/what-n26-will-do-to-help-in-case-of-fraud|title=What N26 will do to help in case of fraud|website=n26.com|language=en|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.de/einem-n26-kunden-werden-80000-euro-gestohlen-und-die-bank-ist-ueberfordert-2019-3|title=Einem N26-Kunden werden 80.000 Euro gestohlen — und die Bank ist überfordert|last=Gründerszene|first=Caspar Tobias Schlenk|website=Business Insider Deutschland|language=de|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 09:38, 7 April 2019

N26 Bank GmbH
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedFebruary 2013 Edit this on Wikidata
HeadquartersKlosterstraße 62, 10179,
Berlin
,
Germany
Area served
Germany (primary)

Eurozone
United Kingdom
Denmark
Norway
Sweden

Iceland
Revenue120,375,000 Euro (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
OwnerN26 GmbH
Number of employees
1,500 (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
Websiten26.com
N26 Black

N26 (formerly known as Number 26 until July 2016) is a German direct bank, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, that offers its services throughout most of the Eurozone and in the UK. N26 has also announced plans to expand to the US in early 2019. [1][2][3]

Product overview

N26 provides a free basic current account and a Debit MasterCard card to all its customers, as well as a Maestro card for their customers in certain markets.[4][5][6] Additionally customers can request overdraft, investment products, and premium current accounts.[7][8] The premium MasterCard product, referred to as N26 Black, is currently available in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Finland.[9] N26 has plans to expand into the United States in early 2019. In June, 2018, N26 launched N26 Metal, a super-premium banking option, which is currently available in Germany, Austria, France, Spain and Italy.[10][11]

The account opening process can be completed via a video chat with N26's identity verification partner, IDnow,[12] which according to its website takes about 8 minutes. Only holders of certain passports and ID cards can verify their identity online; others will have to visit a German post office if it is supported by Postident.[12][13]

Availability

N26 accepts customers with residency addresses in the following European countries for its basic current account and Debit Mastercard products[14]:

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Liechtenstein
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Poland
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom

N26 Black is not available in Greece and Slovenia.

In the Netherlands customers can additionally request a Maestro card.[15]

Some parts of the website and customer service are provided in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish regardless of the customer's residency.[citation needed] As a result, N26 is one of the few German banks that offer their interface in other languages for non-German speakers living in Germany.[16]

Mobile Payments

N26 customers in several of its markets can use their smartphone for in-store purchases. N26 supports Google Pay in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia, Finland and Spain[17], while it supports Apple Pay in Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain[18]. Additional countries are added as both Google Pay and Apple Pay gradually expand throughout N26's markets.

Fees

N26 charges no fees for basic banking transactions, but has introduced a Fair Use policy for most countries [19]. This limits free ATM withdrawals to 3 or 5 per month depending on country and profile, after which, there is a 2 euro fee. For its German customers N26 offers CASH26, an alternative method of withdrawing cash for free up to 999 euro per day at various retail locations.[20] With CASH26 cash can be deposited on a credit card up to 100 euro per month without fees, and additional amounts at a 1.5% fee.[20] As with all other fintech banks, customers can lock and unlock their MasterCard through the app without having to contact N26 support. They can similarly enable and disable it for usage abroad or online usage, or modify the daily limits for cash withdrawals and card payments.

The N26 app can scan the users' contacts in their smartphone and identify other N26 account holders.[21] Using a service called Moneybeam a N26 customer can send funds to these contacts without having to fill in their IBAN.[22] Moneybeam transfers are executed instantaneously.[23]

History

In April 2016, N26 received €10 million in a series A round by Valar Ventures.[24] Valar Ventures was co-founded by Peter Thiel, PayPal's co-founder.

Initially Number 26 started operations without holding a banking license; instead it was merely an interface while the back end was provided by Wirecard. In July 2016 it rebranded as N26 Bank, having received its own banking license from BaFin.[25]

In July 2016 N26 also announced its Fair Use Policy for customers residing in Germany. This created a backlash on social media by unhappy customers.

In November 2016 customers were asked to transfer their accounts to N26 Bank's infrastructure. As a result, they would have to get a new account IBAN number, while the previous accounts held by Wirecard would be terminated.

In December 2016 N26 announced that its basic current account would become available to 17 Eurozone countries.[26]

In March 2018, N26 raised $160 million in a series C round by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings and Allianz X (Allianz). On the same date, N26 claimed a customer base of 850,000, with the goal of having 5,000,000 customers by 2020.[27][28]

In January 2019, N26 raised an additional $300 million in a series D round led by Insight Venture Partners with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and a few existing investors also participating at a valuation of $2.7 billion. With its new valuation of $2.7 billion, N26 overtook Revolut as the most valuable mobile bank in Europe. [29] [30]

Controversy

In June 2016 N26 notified several customers that their accounts were going to be terminated. The company cited as main reasons that some customers were making too many ATM withdrawals, while others were suspected of money laundering.[31] The unpopular introduction of the Fair Use Policy in July 2016 came as an aftermath of these terminations.[original research?]

During the transfer of its customer base to its own banking infrastructure, N26 customers took to social media to report various problems.[32]

In December 2016 Vincent Haupert, a research fellow in computer science from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, demonstrated how he could take advantage of security vulnerabilities in order to get access to N26 users' accounts.[33] Haupert had already notified N26 of the vulnerabilities back in September 2016.[34] N26 acknowledged the issues and claimed that they had been fixed before they became public, adding that no user account had actually been compromised.[35]

In March 2019, Germany media reported that customers who had their account credentials stolen found it difficult to contact the bank and resolve the situation. In a widely reported case N26 took more than two weeks to restore access for a customer who had 80,000 Euro stolen from their account. They complained that poor customer service and the lack of a telephone hotline made this kind of situation very difficult to resolve. The event surfaced only months after former N26 CPO, Lorenz Jüngling, had left the company on a short notice. N26 blamed the situation on its fast growth trajectory, as customers reacted, accusing N26 of denying them access to their funds.[36][37][38]

References

  1. ^ Running, Thomas K. (26 September 2018). "When is N26 launching in the US? Launch date and how to open an account". nomadgate.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  2. ^ "N26 expands its bank of the future to 17 European countries". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  3. ^ Editorial, Reuters. "German digital bank N26 launches in Britain, sets sights on U.S." U.K. Retrieved 2018-10-03. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ "N26 Bank Account". n26.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  5. ^ "N26 Bank Account". n26.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  6. ^ "How can I order my Maestro card?". n26.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  7. ^ https://n26.com/n26-invest/
  8. ^ https://n26.com/overdraft/
  9. ^ https://n26.com/black/
  10. ^ https://www.howitravel.com/n26-metal/
  11. ^ https://n26.com/metal/
  12. ^ a b Running, Thomas K. (2017-04-04). "How to open a N26 Bank account—from anywhere". Nomad Gate. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  13. ^ Bouliane, Nicolas. "An honest review of N26". All About Berlin. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  14. ^ "Can I open an N26 account in my country?". n26.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Fee Information Document" (PDF). n26.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  16. ^ Bouliane, Nicolas (2017-09-18). "Which German bank should you choose for your first account?". All About Berlin. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  17. ^ https://n26.com/en-de/google-pay
  18. ^ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206637
  19. ^ "Charges: What you should know when withdrawing money from an ATM". N26 Support Center. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  20. ^ a b "What is CASH26?". n26.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  21. ^ "How can I use MoneyBeam?". n26.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  22. ^ "N26 Bank Review - Why N26 Black Will Change The Way You Bank". howitravel.co. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  23. ^ https://n26.com/moneybeam/
  24. ^ Dillet, Romain (2016-04-16). "Number26 Grabs $10.6 Million To Bring Its Bank Of The Future To Everyone". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  25. ^ Dillet, Romain (2016-07-21). "Number26 is now a true bank as it now has a full banking license". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  26. ^ "N26 goes Europe" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  27. ^ N26. "N26 raises $160m co-led by Allianz X and Tencent". globenewswire.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ https://n26.com/160-million-series-c-funding-round-and-850k-customers//
  29. ^ N26. "N26 raises $300m at 2.7 billion valuation". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 10 January 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ Smith, Oliver. "With A $2.7 Billion Valuation, N26 Overtakes Revolut As Europe's Most Valuable Mobile Bank". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  31. ^ "Number26 closed accounts because customers made too many ATM withdrawals". Finextra. 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  32. ^ Wirminghaus, Niklas (2016-12-21). "Der Shitstorm zieht nicht ab". Gruender Szene (in German). Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  33. ^ Ghosh, Agamoni (2016-12-29). "Smartphone bank N26 is not safe and exposes users to hacking, says researcher". International Business Times. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  34. ^ Wirminghaus, Niklas (2016-12-14). "Massive Sicherheitslücken bei N26 aufgedeckt". Gruender Szene (in German). Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  35. ^ "HOW N26 BANK PROVIDES SECURITY OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT". N26. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  36. ^ Weidemann, Tobias. "Betrug bei N26: Jetzt spricht Valentin Stalf". t3n News (in German). Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  37. ^ "What N26 will do to help in case of fraud". n26.com. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  38. ^ Gründerszene, Caspar Tobias Schlenk. "Einem N26-Kunden werden 80.000 Euro gestohlen — und die Bank ist überfordert". Business Insider Deutschland (in German). Retrieved 2019-04-06.
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