N26 Metal looks fantastic. I’m a big fan of how they operate. I think we have a lot in common with our two companies.
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So when will a metal coral core Monzo card be released? 
There was an app update this morning bringing the Metal core to select users.
How can an app update change the card…? Or does the app update allow people to pay for the premium card?
Is the phone insurance full coverage or just theft?
I’d imagine the latter… 
Given that I am based in UK and don’t have an account yet, and thus just thinking logically, I think it is for premium users to subscribe to the metal service if they want and for regular users to register interest.
Here’s the release description for the update published to the App Store today:
3.9 is here and with it, we are making a big statement. We’re happy to announce N26 Metal, our new premium card and product for the digital generation. We’ve built a brand new app section to house all its benefits—members will have access to exclusive partner offers from exciting brands with dedicated customer support and personalized content. It’s a home more than just your finances, it also takes you places while maintaining that unique connection to the moment. While N26 Metal will only be available to current N26 Black customers by invite-only from 14 December 2017 until early 2018 , signing up now is an easy way to ensure you’ll be one of the first to know when we have a general release.
Finally, we’re launching N26 Credit in France. This is the first partnership of its kind in France—with Younited we’re making it easy for customers to apply for loans of up to €40,000 with real-time pre-approval.
Now that winter is here, we’ll be retreating for a bit back to our hibernation holes to get ready for the New Year. We’d like to wish you a warm, fattening, and jolly holidays. Send us any ugly Christmas sweater pictures to ideas@n26.com. And make sure to leave a review. You can think of it as a stocking stuffer for us.
Logically, I knew that 
But I found the fact that they announced it as a feature of an app upgrade to be hilarious. I can be a bit sarcastic, all in good fun of course.
After having a check online, N26 Metal is €14.90 a month, which is actually within what I predicted last week
Would you consider paying that? It’s significantly cheaper than having a Santander World Elite and the HSBC Premier World Elite Credit Card
https://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/credit-cards/hsbc-premier-world-elite-credit-card
https://www.santander.co.uk/uk/select/credit-cards/world-elite-credit-card
Does anyone know anymore about the N26 UK launch timeframe?
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They have an invite only Facebook group but only other users seem to answer any questions, N26 rarely bother…not encouraging if it any indication what their customer service is like! 
I’m part of the Facebook group but so far it seems pretty useless, i’ve heard a few bad things about their customer service.
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How much of that is a result of cultural differences they’ll pick up and learn with some experiences here?
I don’t know Germany well enough to understand the underlying cultural issues, but from what I have seen, German people as a whole don’t tend to care as much about customer service… If I’m right on that, maybe service will improve if they find it critical to success here.
But maybe I’m wrong, maybe it doesn’t really matter that much here either? Look at the success of companies like Ryanair. A company that turns awful customer experience into a point of pride.
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I don’t think it is a case that Germans do not care about customer service, they just expect it to be succinct and to the point which to us may appear blunt or rude. They want to get straight to the detail and don’t feel a need for pleasantries, whereas Brits tend to want lots of politeness and courtesy.
I’ve got an N26 account from when I was living in Ireland. Have only had need to contact customer services a couple of times, but found them to be good, if a little slow to respond.
I wanted to change my address with them to my UK one, but there is no option to select ‘UK’ as a country on their site. So my registered address is currently my full UK address & postcode, with Republic Of Ireland at the end. Any correspondence seems to find me, though not sure if it gets routed via ROI!
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Fair point. As I said, I don’t understand the cultural connotations and won’t pretend to. My own limited experience with German organisations has been that they are generally, but not always, rather blunt and to the point. As you said, no time is taken for pleasantries.
I will note that there’s one giant exception. During uni, I did an internship at a German firm’s Romanian office and they were amazingly welcoming, friendly and engaged!
I too found working in an office in Germany very friendly and was invited to their homes but it was different to interacting with German banks as a customer. They perhaps see colleagues like friends or family and customers as strangers and for whatever reason think being professional means formal and stuffy not friendly and relaxed.
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I have no knowledge but if you look on their website, for jobs, they are still still advertising for a General Manager in the UK market. The person spec of the role states it is to spearhead the launch in the UK market. I think it will at least be quarter 2 if not quarter 3 when it finally happens.
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Same! I was invited into the homes of several people, including my manager, etc. That makes sense that there’d be a customer/colleague divide.
This is why it’s so important that we recognise that ‘rude’ shouldn’t always be the first conclusion. There are cultural differences. Perhaps they think we’re the rude ones?
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As a German I take offence at that! just kidding 
Mt experience is that if anything we expect more from customer service than in the UK. However, we are indeed less focused on pleasantries, and more on getting things done.
A recent example:
I recently had to call Deutsche Bank (in Germany) for some common reporting stuff. I wasn’t asked how I was doing, but I was promised a call back, because the person I needed to talk to was out of the office. I was very surprised to actually get a call back a few hours later, as I cannot remember ever having received a promised call back since moving to the UK. (maybe I’m the only one with this experience, but I really honestly can’t remember ever having received a call back from an English company.)
Today I had to talk to NatWest about something, and while waiting for the PC to load my details she asked me how my weekend was. This wouldn’t have happened in Germany (and a bit of me felt that this was none of her business, but of course I know how it was meant).
This is obviously anecdotal, but I think it exemplifies the different approach to customer service. But, yes, German directness is often mistaken for rudeness. Even my wife still struggles, despite being married to a German for 7 years 
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I think I would like Germany and German customer service.
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