N26 Update - On a scale of 1 to “oh my god, could you be any more sketchy”, these guys are doing their best!
Here’s an email I’ve just received:
Hi Nick,
Further to our chat, I have been informed we are not able to share previous chats via email. Really sorry about this. However, I can see in December you were informed there would not be a credit check and management are aware of this communication made.
Sorry I can not give you an answer right now but have referred you to our specialist team. This is being looked in to and as soon as I have an update, you’ll be informed via email. I’m sorry for any concern caused with this.
Does going full N26 outside of the UK and not out of choice counts?
So I’m in Germany this year and initially, the only reason I got the card was because my landlord wouldn’t accept anything but a German account. Gradually I wasn’t happy with the decreasing value of the pound and decided to use N26 full-time, since I’ve transferred lots of money over from when the pound was still doing ok. Bearing in mind my four-month usage of N26 is the bare minimum, only two direct debits (rent + Netflix), taking cash out and other miscellaneous payments.
Full disclaimer:
I will sound biased as I’m used to using in the UK.
I can’t review things I don’t use: Insurance, Savings, Credit, premium accounts, etc.
I may be misinformed, please correct me if I’m wrong.
Now that’s out of the way, please see my review below.
What I like about N26:
The application process was fairly easy and quick compared to conventional banks. Based on my friends’ experiences with Hypoverein and Stadtsparkasse, they all had to set up appointments and go over the Ts and Cs in German, which can be tricky when you don’t speak the language well.
The app is much better than any of my friends’ banks. One time my friend freaked out thinking she’d miss her rent because the money she transferred over didn’t show up in her account. Only took one teary phone call to find out the money was there all along.
I appreciate having an easy to find IBAN number.
More categories.
Their search function is quite good. It’s easy to filter through transactions using categories and calendar.
Free banking!
Ability to name your main account, although quite pointless to be frank.
The free Maestro card will be much used in the Netherlands (when I can finally go).
No need to register your address to open an account with them those who know will know.
What I don’t like about N26:
Their current authorisation process can be quite hostile. My friend got his application rejected due to them being unable to authorise his Taiwanese passport. Apparently it’s too new for their system to work with. Tell me if I’m too critical but I feel like they could have worked with him more to resolve the issue. His case can’t be the only one in the future surely?
I didn’t receive my card for two weeks. I don’t mind the long wait but this could be a problem for people who have deadlines for payments. My landlord sent quite the email when I couldn’t pay rent for the first month.
Everything about the summary. First off, it counts services deducting money to test the card out as legitimate transactions. Despite the money being refunded straight after, the summary still reflects the amount taken as money spent with no way to change this. Even though it’s a small amount, when accumulated it can become an annoying anomaly which can be so easily fixed! The summary is also located in a very unconventional place and doesn’t even have its own tab. When I first used the app I had to actively look for it. Another thing, the fact they haven’t yet implemented the function to customise the start/end date of your month baffles me.
Only two pots allowed per account. Five would have been nice.
I don’t like having my email displayed on the start page. Since I’m paranoid, I can’t help but feel there could potentially be a security breach don’t ask me how.
Tldr: N26 is still better than other German banks, but if you’re in a country where Monzo exists, don’t bother yet.
I’m still using the account and will let you know if anything jumps out in the future, but for now that’s my 50p. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
I’m just under a month away from checking my free Experian so I bit the bullet to pay for the £14.99 version and yes, obviously, I’ve been hit too. Not too happy when I am about to complete buying a house and didn’t want to rock my credit rating about. Probably won’t matter, but I may not have applied for the account knowing they would.
@Chapuys While annoying, as a former underwriter, no underwriter is going to refuse a mortgage because of one hard credit check for a current account. With 2 of the 3 FIs I’ve worked for, the internal scoring system ignores hard checks for current accounts and those from phone companies.