Thinking of N26 - pros/cons

McGaggs wrote: »

N26 still have free accounts. Transfers are the same as any other bank account. Salary can be paid directly by your employer to your N26 bank account.

Sorry to be pedantic but

Transfers are the same as any other European bank account!

Some of the Irish banks make it more difficult to transfer money to N26 as their systems treat non Irish IBANs separately (although they shouldn't, this is discrimination)

It is an annoyance rather than a blocker though.

athlone573 wrote: »

I am not familiar with KBC. the drawbacks I'm aware of with N26 are that they don't have a physical presence which can be convenient for lodging cash or cheques (and withdrawing cash) , and I don't think you can phone them in case of issues.
Some people keep a local/Credit Union /Post Office account for these reasons.

N26 account holders - on the free basic account, can withdraw from any ATM, subject to the basic account restrictions, which is 3 withdrawals per month uncapped,
versus,
a total per month on free Revolut account, capped at a paltry 200.

Yes, you cannot lodge cash or cheques to N26, but this won't be an issue for most people, but it does depends on your own individual needs.

Mrcaramelchoc wrote: »

all i want n26 for is to save money.just lodge a few quid in every now and then and keep it as a savings account only.will they charge you for that?

Not for a basic account no, Revolut the same, no charges on basic accounts.
Good comparison here, between the two:

https://www.moneyguideireland.com/n26-compared-revolut.html

Latest Changes to Revolut, hitting those who use ATM's regularly:
https://www.bonkers.ie/blog/banking/revolut-to-increase-its-fees-and-charges-for-second-time-in-less-than-a-year/

dotsman wrote: »

I don't think that's right. I transfer easily between my AIB and N26 accounts and have done for years.

TBH, transferring between N26 and any Irish bank shouldn't be a problem. The issue is with certain utility providers who only accept Irish IBANs for Direct Debits (can't be bothered updating their systems)

I think AIB make it difficult to set up the N26 account as a payee in the app. It was easier to get the Mrs to set up revolut than set up N26/bunq as a payee to send cash to me.

"N26 customers can also pay money into N26 by bank transfer. Top up by debit card is also possible but there is a 3% charge – so it is best to avoid it."

Quelle est la difference?:D

Surely they're one of the same as the debit card is attached to a separate bank entity?

seligehgit wrote: »

"N26 customers can also pay money into N26 by bank transfer. Top up by debit card is also possible but there is a 3% charge – so it is best to avoid it."

Quelle est la difference?:D

Surely they're one of the same as the debit card is attached to a separate bank entity?

It should be noted that since both Revolut and N26 support SEPA Instant you can top up Revolut instantly with credit/debit and then transfer it to N26 instantly too. A bit cumbersome but very much worth it to save 3% fee.

I've been reading this Thread with interest, I'm a KBC customer, shocked at yesterday's news.

KBC have an excellent app, pretty much can do everything on it.

Would N26 be an alternative? My needs/ concerns would be.

Cost Of Lodging to an account (wages etc)
Is their physical Debit Card accepted widely in Ireland & or using online?

Do Revenue & SW allow use of N26 as an account for lodgement purposes?

Is there a cost for using Debit Card, standard day to day usage.

Setting up Payee's? Is this possible? I pay my mortgage this way (irish IBAN & BIC)

Apologies is above questions asked, I've seen some concerns re utilities.

Thank you

chewed wrote: »

How do you save payee on the website? I made a payment yesterday from my AIB to my N26 using the card reader, but didn't see any option to save it.

When you're doing a transfer online and pick payee, there should be a little tickbox to say to save it. Then itll show up on the AIB app

feargantae wrote: »

When you're doing a transfer online and pick payee, there should be a little tickbox to say to save it. Then itll show up on the AIB app

It was easier to convince her to sign up to revolut than jump through the AIB hoops.

TempAc wrote: »

Only issue you might have is SW, but that's more down to staff training, they can do it it's just a knowledge issue on SW end. There'll either be no questions or an argument where you tell them to go check and they concede you are right.

Thanks for that

Dempo1 wrote: »

I've been reading this Thread with interest, I'm a KBC customer, shocked at yesterday's news.

KBC have an excellent app, pretty much can do everything on it.

Would N26 be an alternative? My needs/ concerns would be.

Cost Of Lodging to an account (wages etc)
Is their physical Debit Card accepted widely in Ireland & or using online?

Do Revenue & SW allow use of N26 as an account for lodgement purposes?

Is there a cost for using Debit Card, standard day to day usage.

Setting up Payee's? Is this possible? I pay my mortgage this way (irish IBAN & BIC)

Apologies is above questions asked, I've seen some concerns re utilities.

Thank you

Heres a summary of N26 Free Standard Account, others can add anything i missed ! :

Yes to these for N26 Standard Account:

Can receive salary& wages into N26
Can receive Revenue refunds into N26,
Can receive DSP child benefit payments into N26,
Can receive PUP payments into N26
Can pay LPT direct debit from N26
Can pay Revenue from N26
Have direct debits from Vodafone, Spotify,Netflix, Electric Ireland, Flogas(manual form required for non Irish bank accounts)- no issues
Basic account “N26 Standard” is free of fees, some limits on ATM withdrawals(3 per month are free, or 5 free if you lodge €1,000 per month), physical debit card costs €10 a one off fee.
Have found currency exchange rates quite good, way better than Paypal, or the main Irish Banks.

You can set up Payees as normal, and regular standing orders can be scheduled as normal, just need IBAN.

The N26 APP is fine, and has a good desktop portal as well.

Have been using N26 Standard Card/Account for more than 6 months, had an issue making 1st ATM withdrawal, support sorted it promptly, no other issues, no fees.

Use tap all the time & chip & pin with the Standard card, no issues.
The IBAN for N26 accounts, is German, commencing with DE
N26 has the state bank guarantee in place(Revolut currently does not, allthough it has applied for an Irish Banking Licence)


No to these for N26 Standard Account:

i had it confirmed you cannot receive unemployment benefit payments into a non Irish bank account. (But oddly, PUP payments are fine)
Bord Gais do not accept non Irish bank accounts, others have reported some issues with other utility providers, check in advance.
“Some” organisations, have payroll systems which cannot cope with paying to non Irish bank accounts, so check this in advance, this is because the bank file generated to pay the payroll, is hard coded and is limited to Irish IBAN’s only.

You cannot lodge cheques, as there are no physical N26 branches.

No phone support is available, its email or web chat. Support chat is available 08:00 to 00:00 Irish time 365 days.

How are the non-Euro transactions with N26?

Is it worth using Revolut for this or will N26 just exchange on the fly and give you the best available rate similar to Revolut?

I thought it would help others sharing my experience in October 2021: I moved to N26 from KBC in October 2021, and I had no issue with the social welfare, Direct Debit with BoI's credit card, Direct Debit AIB's mortgage, Iberdrola, Laya, revenue, eFlow...the only very small glitch was with Vodafone, where i could not switch on line, but a call to their support fixed that rapidly. So my experience so far is that there is NO issue whatsoever to use an N26 current account for Direct Debit or for receiving payments. I am guessing that the hassle some have experience earlier has been fixed, since more and more customers are using N26.

I raised a complaint with VOdafone and they told me they will escalate for a long term solution, allowing customer to change their IBAN to a German IBAN online. But again, i could do it thru their support line, so this was not a blocker

Moved to N26 last week from KBC.

Sky and Eir won't accept the IBAN when trying to update payment details on their website. Painful enough.

Eir even have a drop-down to select the bank and approx 20 banks are listed but no Revolut or N26.