N26 leaves the UK

Financial Chat Fintech Chat
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Anyone else just get this email? Is it for real…seems like they might not realise they don’t have much long term chance in the UK market so are pulling in the plug now before having to invest in getting a UK licence…what do you think?

The email:

With the UK having left the EU at the end of January, we will in due course no longer be able to operate in the UK with our European banking licence. Therefore, we are writing to share the news that we will be leaving the UK and closing all accounts.

We are sorry to be leaving and we understand this will be disappointing for our customers.

We’ve planned the next steps carefully to ensure this process is as smooth as possible for you.

What will happen next?
We will close your account on 15 April 2020, in line with our terms and conditions and you will shortly receive a formal termination notice.

If you have money in your account, please consider transferring it to an alternative bank account.

In the meantime, all account and app functionality will continue to work, so you can still spend or withdraw the money in your account. Your money will continue to be protected up to the equivalent of €100,000.

We have prepared a list of FAQs which you can find here in order to answer any questions you might have. We will continue to keep this updated, and will be in regular contact to support you through this process.

On behalf of the entire N26 team, I would like to thank you for the support you’ve given us since we launched in the UK. We have been proud to have you as a customer.

Kind regards,
Will Sorby
General Manager UK, N26

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I received the email. Barely used the account as the app didn’t have improvements since it first launched in the UK

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Here’s the post from N26

https://support.n26.com/en-gb/getting-started/account/my-account

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Not surprising, they barely invested in the U.K. anyway, but alongside the “news” that frictionless trade will end this year, it’s beginning to look like us “remoaners” are sadly being proven right.

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Yep - although N26 only launched in the UK at the end of 2018, so not sure it’s the bellweather for Brexit (though am sure there will be one soon!)

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And they don’t even support the Current Account Switching Service, that’s gonna make transferring just that little bit trickier.

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Yep, I liked it as I could draw out larger sums of cash for child support.

And the see-through card always had a wow factor!

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Exactly that. They didn’t exactly have their heart in it. Following Fidor out…

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Of course it is. They joined the U.K. at a time prominent government figures were suggesting that trade and transactions will work seamlessly after Brexit since a deal was so super easy.

The government could agree to honour EU banking licenses to carry over after Brexit, but they won’t or aren’t currently doing so.

Granted, this isn’t a big deal or market for N26, but the U.K. is not a bad place for fin techs and yet they aren’t bothering applying for a U.K. license.

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They are using Brexit as an excuse for their poor offering. They simply can not compete in the U.K. with Monzo and Starling.

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Also got the email

They never really got started in the UK market. Basic things like overdrafts were always coming soon though at least that meant they couldn’t move the goalposts on overdrafts like other fintechs

Shame they are withdrawing. I liked the clear card that let you see all the contactless gubbins and it’s a real pity Brexit is already taking casualties even in the transition phase

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^^ This. They posted several times they planned to continue operating in the UK post Brexit. The decision now is probably more related to the poor up-take. The decision on how businesses from UK/EU will be able to operate hasn’t even been finalised yet.

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I got the email too, like others never really used the account so another empty app space soon to be on my home screen I suppose :grin:

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But the fact is that if it were easy to remain here they would do, even to try and get a chunk of the market. Like I said previously, all government speak suggested nothing would change with trade and regulations once Brexit happened. This was blatantly untrue and we are starting to see this.

They may have been on the edge, but Brexit has pushed them off it.

If they were more invested in the U.K., perhaps they would have gone through the bother to get a U.K. licence, so while it’s hardly a loss to the U.K. financial sector, this still is a bad sign, and jobs will have still been lost, alongside investment.

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Revolut also have a European banking license and not a UK one. Will be interesting to see if they have a similar response.

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True. I suspect they will go through the bother. I see them used a heck of a lot more.

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Revolut won’t quit the UK - they are a UK firm and its their biggest market.

As others have said, N26 are using Brexit as an excuse for a poor product - until recently they were saying they were fully prepared for Brexit

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They’ve been in the UK for a while now… they talked about getting a UK banking licence and for whatever reason didn’t bother, maybe cost related, who knows.

But the trade talks haven’t even been finalised yet? So your statement is purely your personal opinion.

(I say all of the above as an EU citizen btw… so before I get branded as a Brexiteer)

The problem is… and this is largely’s N26’s fault… they didn’t do their research before entering the UK market and then the incredibly slow roll out was probably the death of them.

No CASS, direct debits took a ridiculously long time to appear, stupid fee’s…

Edit: If I tighten my tin foil hat even more… I’d guess they are more focused on the US market…

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It’s not my opinion, the trade deals haven’t finished yet no, but the government could easily say they would allow EU licenses to be turned into UK licenses if they wanted to. They could do that today.

N26 have been awful in the U.K., don’t mistake my posts for suggesting that they are terrible due to Brexit. I believe this is, to an extent, a get out of jail free card for them, but equally if the government said they could continue to have a license in the U.K. regardless then I believe they would have continues trying. Fail still, perhaps, but try nonetheless.

Them not getting a U.K. license is the same reason why many EU nationals lived here for decades but never got a British passport - They simply never needed to, and the government promised that nothing would change and they would seamlessly stay here regardless. If I were N26 I wouldn’t have bothered either, and they clearly believed the government.

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The UK government already stated that EU banks would have a 3 year grace period with Brexit in a no deal situation. This is clearly N26 failing in the UK and using Brexit as a smoke screen.

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