N26 Discussion

As far as I know N26 Apple Pay is only available in some regions. I have an N26 card issued to me in Ireland that does not support Apple Pay :frowning:

Jason

So possible not. We’ll see. Ireland is supposed to be a supported region on Apple Pay but n26 is not listed. Likely it will only be available on the countries they list on their website. I’ll test when I get my card.

That is correct, not all supporting banks on these services support all regions. For the longest time American Express didn’t support Android Pay here, but did in the US. Barclays just announced Android Pay support in the US but not here. Etc.

So yes, looks like N26 Ireland cards aren’t supported. What I meant as simply that a supported card works on any phone. E.g. a supported N26 card will work on an Irish region phone. Again, with the FeliCa exception. If the card uses FeliCa the phone must have FeliCa support.

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My N26 account’s origin is Germany. No Apple Pay with that account either, I don’t even think Apple Pay is yet available in Germany.

Contactless payments aren’t even widely used in Germany, they look at you strange when you use tap instead of putting in your pin. Restaurants/bars refuse to even let you use contactless on occasion!

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N26 offers Apple Pay in France, Italy, Spain and Finland.

N26 is indeed a German Bank offers service in other European countries as well.

https://support.n26.com/read/000001422?locale=en

Correct, it’s not listed in the supported European countries on Apple’s support page.

I imagine a lot of this is cultural. It’s been a few years since I was in Germany, but Mastercard acceptance was virtually nil. Has this improved?

I know N26 offers the much more widely accepted Maestro also, but which would be presented on Apple Pay?

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I wouldn’t have thought it would matter?

ApplePay can differentiate between different debit cards from the same bank based on the bin. I have an RBS debit card branded Child & Co. in ApplePay because my branch happens to be a Child & Co. branded RBS branch. It is still part of RBS. When it comes to Germany, I’m sure whatever card N26 issue in Germany, MasterCard or Maestro would be avilable in ApplePay. I am happy to be corrected if someone knows better!

My understanding is that they issue both. I’m not sure if they’d make both available in Apple Pay. I may be wrong but I’ve never heard of a Maestro in Apple Pay before, and the Maestro logo isn’t on the Apple Pay website.

On May 17, 2017 Apple Pay launched in Italy (including San Marino and Vatican City) with boon., Unicredit and Carrefour Bank, also introducing support for Mastercard’s Maestro and Visa’s VPay, not available to use with Apple Pay in other countries. So there are some cases of Maestro being available on Apple Pay

Maestro is also available on Android Pay https://newsroom.mastercard.com/eu/press-releases/mastercard-launches-android-pay-with-maestro-in-belgium-a-world-first/

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Thanks! I hadn’t looked this year!

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I would say that it has probably improved a lot. MasterCard tends to be accepted almost everywhere that takes card now.

The only place I found that didn’t accept MC was Kik and local businesses. As N26 also provide a Maestro card linked to the same account it’s no problem. Once the terminal decides it doesn’t like my MC, I drop the Maestro in and never have a problem.

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Maestro is still big in the Netherlands and on the Bunq forums there are comments that MasterCard is accepted more in the tourist areas but not as much in the non-touristy parts where Maestro is still king due to the cheaper fees.

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Are the fees still cheaper? With the EU limiting debit interchange to 0.2% for four party schemes I can’t see how Maestro would be cheaper.

I’ve tweeted N26 a few times about their World Elite benefits for both Black and Metal and they’re avoiding questions about why they are not giving people airport lounge access and other world elite stuff from MasterCard unlike HSBC and Santander. Turns out a few others on twitter has this problem too, I’d definitely just go for the normal account

I’m excited for N26 to come to the UK eventually, maybe by Q2/3 ‘18, but they could be more open when they are promising something they can’t give out

Bizarre, it’s definitely supposed to be one of the features: http://www1.mastercard.com//content/mc/offer-exchange/world-elite/apmea/en/travel/airport/Airport_Lounge_Access.html

One free trip to priority pass (which are cheap-quality contract lounges… joy… but still, you’re supposed to get it!).

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This is what they said to me initially

N26 Metal comes with a world elite card. It offers an extensive insurance package as well as a personalized app section and preferred customer support directly through the app. N26 Metal does not include access to airport lounges.

When I asked further they said

It doesn’t include all the services available in the World Elite program such as the car rental insurance.

Just a tad bit of false advertising for Black and esp Metal as you don’t get a personalised telephone number, lounge access, just some basic stuff you can get if you have an Amex card plus 1 year free extended warranty on some products

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Amex UK doesn’t have the free extended warranty, sadly :frowning:

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You’re right, not sure what made me think Amex :joy: but still the N26 premium specials do not look appetising to me but the normal bank account does

Amex has it in the US and possibly other countries. It’s a great benefit of Amex in the US (and quite a few other issuers as well, but Amex is the best at honouring it - I’ve claimed a couple times, full refund, no issue).