Thinking of N26 - pros/cons

Barney224 · 20-02-2021 11:25am #1

I've been with AIB for over 30 years now and a bit pi$$ed off they've introduced quartlery maintence fees.

If I was to move to N26, would they look after all my DDs and SOs? Or would I need to do all that myself?

Any pros/cons with N26 compared to AIB? Or should I look at another bank?
I don't deal in much cash or cheques, so lodging money wouldn't really be an issue for me, as I know N26 doesn't cater for this facility.

Maccon · 08-03-2021 5:54pm

Hi Barney,

I'm a N26 customer for 5 years now and I my experience is a mixed bag.
First I have to say I'm very happy with the current account and especially with the app. "Banking made easy" applies 100%. I never had issues with N26 directly. App is secure and flawless.

However doing this in Ireland, there are strings attached. Moving to N26 or any other non-irish IBAN current account comes with warning labels.

All comes down to SEPA which was implemented in 2014. All employers or any vendors within the Single European Payments Area have to accept a current account from another SEPA member state for any money transfers. And with that comes IBAN discrimination.

Before switching check if your employer is able to transfer your salary. Personal note, not all do it

Do all your utilities accept DD from a non-irish BA?

Here my experience:
Three Ireland: reluctant but yes (May 2020)
SSE Airtricity: yes, no issues at all
Electric Ireland: very reluctant, I switched to SSE before getting final answer (Sep 2020)
Vodafone Ireland: The war is ongoing since Oct 2020, now I'm in contact with CCPC and ComReg, so much fun

Again I'm still with N26 and I'm going to stay with them because the way they do it is perfect and banking as it should be.
Any company refusing to transfer funds to these accounts are in breach of European regulations. To be more exact:

Article 9 of:
REGULATION (EU) No 260/2012 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 14 March 2012
establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and
amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009

I hope this helps

Maccon

Barney224 · 08-03-2021 7:33pm

Maccon wrote: »

Hi Barney,

I'm a N26 customer for 5 years now and I my experience is a mixed bag.
First I have to say I'm very happy with the current account and especially with the app. "Banking made easy" applies 100%. I never had issues with N26 directly. App is secure and flawless.

However doing this in Ireland, there are strings attached. Moving to N26 or any other non-irish IBAN current account comes with warning labels.

All comes down to SEPA which was implemented in 2014. All employers or any vendors within the Single European Payments Area have to accept a current account from another SEPA member state for any money transfers. And with that comes IBAN discrimination.

Before switching check if your employer is able to transfer your salary. Personal note, not all do it
Do all your utilities accept DD from a non-irish BA?

Here my experience:
Three Ireland: reluctant but yes (May 2020)
SSE Airtricity: yes, no issues at all
Electric Ireland: very reluctant, I switched to SSE before getting final answer (Sep 2020)
Vodafone Ireland: The war is ongoing since Oct 2020, now I'm in contact with CCPC and ComReg, so much fun

Again I'm still with N26 and I'm going to stay with them because the way they do it is perfect and banking as it should be.
Any company refusing to transfer funds to these accounts are in breach of European regulations. To be more exact:

Article 9 of:
REGULATION (EU) No 260/2012 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 14 March 2012
establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and
amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009

I hope this helps

Maccon

Thanks for that Maccon. Yes, I did check with my employer and they have no problems lodging into N26. Most of my direct debits come from another joint account (AIB) I have with my wife, so hopefully I won't have any of the same challenges you encountered.

I recently set up an N26 account and lodged a small amount of money there. one thing I did notice is that when I try to add money, the charges seem to be quite high. e.g. I went to add €150 and it was looking to charge €4.50 for this transaction. Is there any cheaper way to transfer? I have a couple of grand in my current AIB account, so if I was to start using N26 full time, could I transfer all this across easily?

Maccon · 08-03-2021 8:27pm

I guess you wanted to add money from a Credit or debit card, yes this is pricey. Most of the fee will go to either Visa or MC the rest to the card holding bank.
Just add money using the bank transfer, it takes 1-2 business days and should be free or the sending bank charges 20 - 30 cents

Maccon

xElDeeX · 08-03-2021 9:04pm

Maccon wrote: »

Hi Barney,

I'm a N26 customer for 5 years now and I my experience is a mixed bag.
First I have to say I'm very happy with the current account and especially with the app. "Banking made easy" applies 100%. I never had issues with N26 directly. App is secure and flawless.

However doing this in Ireland, there are strings attached. Moving to N26 or any other non-irish IBAN current account comes with warning labels.

All comes down to SEPA which was implemented in 2014. All employers or any vendors within the Single European Payments Area have to accept a current account from another SEPA member state for any money transfers. And with that comes IBAN discrimination.

Before switching check if your employer is able to transfer your salary. Personal note, not all do it
Do all your utilities accept DD from a non-irish BA?

Here my experience:
Three Ireland: reluctant but yes (May 2020)
SSE Airtricity: yes, no issues at all
Electric Ireland: very reluctant, I switched to SSE before getting final answer (Sep 2020)
Vodafone Ireland: The war is ongoing since Oct 2020, now I'm in contact with CCPC and ComReg, so much fun

Maccon

I'm with N26 and had no problem with electric Ireland once I got a paper direct debit form from them. Vodafone I just used my card number to set up the payment as it comes out of my account the same anyway.
I love N26 especially the notification of transactions so you don't need to log on to check for a payment you are expecting. Also the spaces for various savings - a great way to budget and save short term.
Best of luck if you go ahead with it.

Barney224 · 09-03-2021 8:57am

Maccon wrote: »

I guess you wanted to add money from a Credit or debit card, yes this is pricey. Most of the fee will go to either Visa or MC the rest to the card holding bank.
Just add money using the bank transfer, it takes 1-2 business days and should be free or the sending bank charges 20 - 30 cents

Maccon

Are you referring to a bank transfer directly from my AIB account to N26?

Also, are you using any of the paid services? or are you on the free service?

garrettod · 10-03-2021 2:52am

Hi,

What are N26 like for customer service?

- do they have long waiting times,

- can you talk to a competent human, or do you first have to try and get past some form of automated robot type service?

dotsman · 10-03-2021 3:05am

Barney224 wrote: »

Are you referring to a bank transfer directly from my AIB account to N26?

Also, are you using any of the paid services? or are you on the free service?

Yes, transferring (sepa) from aib to N26 and vice versa is free.

N26 is handy as a basic bank account, if that is all that you need. However, should your financial needs grow, you are better off sticking with AIB.

As background, for me, I use aib for most things (primary current account, savings, deposit, credit card and mortgage) . But also have a current account and savings account with kbc as well as a current account with N26. I also have a revolut account.

garrettod wrote: »

Hi,

What are N26 like for customer service?

- do they have long waiting times,

- can you talk to a competent human, or do you first have to try and get past some form of automated robot type service?

No idea. Have never needed to contact them, nor can i imagine a scenario where I would (come to think of it, I don't think I have contacted any bank in over a decade!) . But if I did, I'd guess it wouldn't be great. They are free for a reason.

con747 · 10-03-2021 4:58am

garrettod wrote: »

Hi,

What are N26 like for customer service?

- do they have long waiting times,

- can you talk to a competent human, or do you first have to try and get past some form of automated robot type service?

Had to cancel a card on the free account in October and was on to a human via webchat in a minute or 2 and they were very helpful, so can't fault my experience with them. This was during the day so not sure about after office hours.

Barney224 · 10-03-2021 9:24am

dotsman wrote: »

As background, for me, I use aib for most things (primary current account, savings, deposit, credit card and mortgage) . But also have a current account and savings account with kbc as well as a current account with N26. I also have a revolut account.

Wow...that's a lot of accounts!

For me, the reason for a move was more about making a stance against AIB since they removed their free service for accounts with more than €2,500.

Maccon · 10-03-2021 9:10pm

Barney224 wrote: »

Wow...that's a lot of accounts!

For me, the reason for a move was more about making a stance against AIB since they removed their free service for accounts with more than €2,500.

Same for me, I was with PTSB till they started to move from free account (1500 each month incoming) to quarterly fees.

But to tell the whole story about N26 people need to know that they were put on the watch list by the Bafin (German financial regulator) about 3-4 years ago for massive shortcomings for customer service and account security. Some customers accounts where wiped clean and they waited several months to get it back. The customer base grew so fast they didn't catch up with all that. However I've hadn't heard anything recently and all seems fine.
But to be honest, Irish banks are much worse and they are the ones taking customers money unlawfully in the past.

The wife is with Ulster Bank so she will be looking for a new home for all the money I send her and I guess it will be N26 as well because transfers between N26 accounts is instant

jerod29 · 11-03-2021 3:32pm

Maccon wrote: »

I guess you wanted to add money from a Credit or debit card, yes this is pricey. Most of the fee will go to either Visa or MC the rest to the card holding bank.
Just add money using the bank transfer, it takes 1-2 business days and should be free or the sending bank charges 20 - 30 cents

Maccon

If I want to transfer quickly from another account I use revolut as a middle man. Both revolut and n26 have sepa instant so I top up revolut using a card and then transfer it instantly to n26.

Though most times I'm fine waiting a business day or two

dotsman · 11-03-2021 10:28pm

Barney224 wrote: »

Wow...that's a lot of accounts!

For me, the reason for a move was more about making a stance against AIB since they removed their free service for accounts with more than €2,500.

I guess I'm a busy guy

I also like the idea of having multiple accounts with money in them, so if I ever lose a card or there is an issue with an account, I have a backup. But all the current accounts are free, so no problem for me.

peejay1986 · 12-03-2021 3:53pm

I've had an N26 account for a few years but only use it sporadically and still use Ulster Bank for personal and business accounts.

However, I'd love to make the switch to N26 for all. The drawback for me, particularly with business account, is the amount of people who still hand me cheques, especially tradespeople. Some seem reluctant to even try bank transfer so I'm left with little option or than lose their business.

What I might have to do is set up an An Post account purely for cash/cheque deposits.

It's a pain.

Ten Pin · 12-03-2021 6:00pm

What I might have to do is set up an An Post account purely for cash/cheque deposits.

Credit Union savings or EBS Money manager is a better option as they're free. AFAIK An Post have a monthly fee and might have an extra charge for cash/cheque lodgements.

peejay1986 · 13-03-2021 1:17pm

Ten Pin wrote: »

Credit Union savings or EBS Money manager is a better option as they're free. AFAIK An Post have a monthly fee and might have an extra charge for cash/cheque lodgements.

Problem with CU is the new limits they've brought in for max deposits each month. If I was putting in customer payments as well as my savings, I might well hit it.

Unfortunately EBS wouldn't be an option for me. After our Ulster Bank branch closes, we're only left with Credit Union, AIB, BoI and An Post in the town. Anything else is 20 min drive away.

Barney224 · 09-04-2021 9:43am

So, I had my first issue with N26. I was waiting for a refund from a UK Company (additional car protection I had taken out) and was told that they could not transfer the money to my N26 account as it was a German bank and that they needed my Irish account.

Spocker · 09-04-2021 11:04am

Thats not N26s fault though? It's the UK company that won't refund to an EU IBAN (known as IBAN Discrimination)

dotsman · 09-04-2021 12:58pm

Spocker wrote: »

Thats not N26s fault though? It's the UK company that won't refund to an EU IBAN (known as IBAN Discrimination)

It may be the UK company's fault, but it is still a problem for people who rely solely on N26 or similar.

And with Brexit, I can't see much of a rush by UK companies to adhere to these rules.

TempAc · 09-04-2021 2:11pm

Barney224 wrote: »

So, I had my first issue with N26. I was waiting for a refund from a UK Company (additional car protection I had taken out) and was told that they could not transfer the money to my N26 account as it was a German bank and that they needed my Irish account.

That's not an issue on N26's end, and it's unlikely to be a capability issue with regards to the UK company, likely it's poorly trained staff in the UK company not knowing any better.

Barney224 · 09-04-2021 3:18pm

TempAc wrote: »

That's not an issue on N26's end, and it's unlikely to be a capability issue with regards to the UK company, likely it's poorly trained staff in the UK company not knowing any better.

I wasn't implying that it was the fault of N26, really just a reality of what issues you can encounter using the bank for day to day activities. I did raise it with the UK company that it was a SEPA account and that they should accept it. AIB (who I also have an account with) are a foreign bank to them as well, so not sure why they would refuse a German bank.

Greenlights16 · 09-04-2021 10:07pm

Not on the N26 band wagon, would it be any better/advantageous for transferring more than €2000euro to sterling monthly vs revolut, Wise, currencyfair etc?

Barney224 · 13-04-2021 10:29am

I ordered a physical card from N26 in early March. Still hasn't arrived. Tried to contact their support and took nearly an hour to talk to a human. They said they'd send out a new card. hmmmmmm so far, (not) so good.

fafy · 14-04-2021 12:52pm

Last year I switched over to N26, and I was able to change Electric Ireland & Flogas for the N26 debit.

Just changing my energy provider now, as my 12 months energy deal is up, moving to Bord Gais, and the online switcher form states, they do not accept Non Irish IBAN's, so I called, them , and they confirmed by phone, only Irish Bank IBAN's can be used.

So Electric Ireland & Flogas (manual form was required)had no issue with debiting N26, but Bord Gais cannot handle non Irish IBAN's ? Found it quite odd.
I had no issues setting up Gomo, Vodafone, Spotify, Netflix, on N26 Direct Debit

athlone573 · 14-04-2021 1:08pm

Greenlights16 wrote: »

Not on the N26 band wagon, would it be any better/advantageous for transferring more than €2000euro to sterling monthly vs revolut, Wise, currencyfair etc?

N26 Sterling purchases have an FX cost of around 0.5% (mastercard rate) which compares well to anything else. I think Revolut is similar but does odd things at weekends.

Currencyfair pricing is a bit opaque.

fafy · 14-04-2021 1:53pm

athlone573 wrote: »

N26 Sterling purchases have an FX cost of around 0.5% (mastercard rate) which compares well to anything else. I think Revolut is similar but does odd things at weekends.

Currencyfair pricing is a bit opaque.

My understanding is Revolut currency rates becomes less compeditive at weekends, as they reduce the exchange rate, to hedge against weekend currency variations, but on weekdays, Revolut appears to be slightly better than N26, both give way better rates, than any of the main Irish Banks

LeakyLime · 16-04-2021 9:43am

Looks like will be moving to N26 - KBC are closed down.

Will there be any significant difference between the services by N26 as opposed to KBC.

Do not want to set up with BOI.

dotsman · 16-04-2021 10:50am

LeakyLime wrote: »

Looks like will be moving to N26 - KBC are closed down.

Will there be any significant difference between the services by N26 as opposed to KBC.

Do not want to set up with BOI.

As above. N26 offer a basic bank account. If you have very simple banking needs, you should be fine (although may have issues with Direct Debits for some non-SEPA compliant companies).

However, should your financial needs grow, you will need to have an account with a full bank.

athlone573 · 16-04-2021 11:02am

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.

LeakyLime · 16-04-2021 11:04am

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.

THank you. So you set up a annual subscription and pay €5 a month or more.

I suppose it beats paying AIB and BOI charges.

Is it like revolut then that you can easily move money?

KBC had a poor physical presence - didn't bother me as I didn't need it much.

athlone573 · 16-04-2021 11:10am

LeakyLime wrote: »

THank you. So you set up a annual subscription and pay €5 a month or more.

I suppose it beats paying AIB and BOI charges.

Is it like revolut then that you can easily move money?

KBC had a poor physical presence - didn't bother me as I didn't need it much.

N26 may still have free accounts

Money transfer in/out is by SEPA which may be slightly trickier than using debit card

Thinking of N26 - pros/cons

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