N26 - The Mobile Bank

@hrygrfn you beat me to it. Was still typing on my phone. :)

@hrygrfn N26 or formerly Number 26 is the german copycat of Simple. Thats not saying that its bad in any way, but the concept is essentially the same and Simple existed long before N26. I dont feel informed enough to give you a full comparison.

@hrygrfn Basically, it's Simple for the EU. Customer here, feel free to ask me questions 😃

@hrygrfn Looks like N26 also supports currency exchanges - that's the one feature that seems unique. Wouldn't be surprised if their UI around setting budgets is substantially different than Simple's "Safe to Spend" as well.

@clay_to_n @hrygrfn How about wire transfers? Again not knocking Simple, been a customer for years and they have the BEST customer support, but it has burned me once or twice that I can't initiate a wire transfer from Simple.

@cenk They added a fair-use policy as they were losing a lot of money on people who withdrew money in Germany (where fees are exceptionnally high for every withdrawal)

@marwannas True. They also acted in the most non-transparent way possible, not telling people why their accounts were being cancelled until after a huge media shitstorm. They also touted unlimited free cash withdrawals as a selling point of the bank account right up until the accounts were cancelled. And I know for a FACT that this was not only for people who withdrew money in Germany. My girlfriend was in Istanbul for a year and still got her account cancelled. Either way, people should take this kind of behaviour into account before using this as their bank account. Move fast and break stuff may work great for chat apps, but I don’t really want my bank to break anything.

@cenk Couldn't agree more, this hasn't been done in the best manner. Btw, if your girlfriend had an original shipping address in Germany she was considered as a German customer by N26.

@marwannas Yes, but my point was that she didn’t withdraw money in Germany. It was not only not done in the best manner, it was also the wrong thing to do. Cancel 500 accounts and then not be reachable by phone, email or livechat for days, leaving customers in the dark as to why their BANK ACCOUNT was being cancelled? Not cool.

@rboab What do you love about it?

@joshdance It began with a very simple and fast signup process and the quick shipment of the credit card. I like the app because: - I can see my transactions immediately after a purchase or withdrawal (my main bank has a shitty app which shows only the amount for about 12-24 hours, no information where I've spent the money) - Push notifications for debit entries - Search and filter function for transactions - Instant cash transfer (Moneybeam) All in all: it's simple and it works.

@bertconcepts with Cash still being the #1 thing in Berlin, this is a very important (negative) selling point for #26.

@bertconcepts Got their email about this as well and was highly disappointed... the first 3 withdrawals a month are free but ... come on, cash every 10 days and fair use? I'd understand something like twice weekly but not this :(

@bertconcepts I got my account cancelled too tough I had not received their card (twice). To top it off their support response time was like 3 weeks and at first, there was no way to actually contact them. I was excited but now I am really disappointed.

@bentossell is this for Europe only? or is it available in the US?

@bdotwaller Since it has a banking license I believe it can expand a lot quicker - not sure of the areas covered just yet.

@bentossell @bdotwaller As far as I know it's only for a few European countries, but they are expanding quite fast. I've been a customer for the last 6 months and all I can say it that it's awesome. I still don't understand why traditional banks don't improve their UX to match what N26 does.

@jelmt biggest difference with Revolut is that N26 is a bank and Revolut is not. Revolut is more like a prepaid mastercard in a fancy suit.