N26 is one of the new “challenger banks” that has been growing at a fast rate in Ireland and the rest of Europe .
We have already written about N26 in Ireland , but we are aware that some of our visitors are from Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK.
N26 was made available for UK residents in November 19th 2018 and since then about 200,00 UK customers joined N26.
N26 Pulling out of UK
On 11th February 2020 N26 announced that they are closing down their UK operation and that all UK accounts will be closed by 15th April.
N26 said that ..
“The timings and framework outlined in the EU withdrawal agreement mean that the company will in due course be unable to operate in the UK with its European banking licence”
It appears that N26 was relying on passporting rights that allowed it to use its German banking licence to operate in the UK.
N26 originally planned to take advantage of the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s temporary permission to continue operating in the UK after the Brexit transition period ending on 31 December 2020, giving them three years to apply for a formal licence. But maybe the costs were starting to outweigh the benefits of staying in the competitive UK market.
We don’t expect this to have any effect on N26 customers in Ireland or the rest of Europe. It probably means they will have more time and money to invest in looking after their EU customers instead of worrying about Brexit.
N26 cards issued to Irish customers and other EU customers will still work in the UK for spending and ATM withdrawals – there will be no changes for Irish N26 customers whatsoever.
N26 said on Tuesday that its decision to withdraw from Britain “does not change our global vision to transform retail banking for the better”. It added that it would focus on growing in “harmonised markets across Europe” and large single markets such as the US.
Read more here about N26 in Ireland Compared to Revolut