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N26 will be leaving the UK

n26.com

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Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#31

Post by _n_b_ »

danpalmer wrote: post #11

Businesses pulling out of the UK based on the Brexit process is bad for the UK, and I'm sure this was indeed mainly motivated by N26's need for a UK banking licence, which is a costly and difficult process to go through. However, it's worth noting that they are pretty small in the UK (~200k users). They're very successful in Germany where banking is a very slow, difficult, manually run industry (from what I've heard)…

N26 is also very successful in France, whose banking industry is--I can confirm--very much slow, difficult, and _very_ manually run. They can charge fees for accounts because their fees are still so much lower than the incumbents they're displacing. (And you can do stuff without having to talk to your bank counsellor, at your one specific branch, in person... how novel!)

So I can see how their model wouldn't be very good, or very disruptive, in places with more consumer-friendly banking options.

Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#32

Post by seemslegit »

btzll wrote: post #22
seemslegit wrote: post #6

Well, unlike some N26 users who get their accounts locked without warning explanation or anyone to turn to - at least the UK gets a notice.

Could you expand? People get their accounts locked for no reason?

Well there was probably a reason but they weren't told it and with N26 being online-only had noone to turn to, you can do a google/twitter search for someone getting police called on them for showing up at their Berlin HQ/Backoffice trying to get some answers.

Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#34

Post by shadowgovt »

trekrich wrote: post #28
tablloyd wrote: post #18

I'm skeptical of Brexit being the reason that N26 is withdrawing from the UK. They started operation in the uk in October 2018, over 2 years after the referendum result and 6 months before the UK was meant to leave until the date got pushed back.

i suspect this is being used as an excuse to leave the UK.

In the sense that "Brexit means N26 needs to now file a lot of license paperwork that wasn't necessary under EU law," yes.

Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#35

Post by stuartleigh »

jen20 wrote: post #21
Zenst wrote: post #2

As somebody who lives in the UK (London area), I've never even heard of this company N26, let alone aware that they had UK operations. I do frequent the web, youtube, bus stops, tubes, trains and utterly exposed to all forms of marketing. So from my perspective, this does seem like marketing failure from the start - at least from my perspective. Though the only real new Bank in the UK to do well, traction wise would…

> Though the only real new Bank in the UK to do well, traction wise would be Metro Bank This probably indicates that you are not in fact as well exposed to bank marketing as you suspect - it's hard to argue that Monzo and Revolut have not done well.

Or starling bank for that matter

Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#36

Post by seemslegit »

peshooo wrote: post #30
seemslegit wrote: post #6

Well, unlike some N26 users who get their accounts locked without warning explanation or anyone to turn to - at least the UK gets a notice.

Sources on this? I have read similar stories about revolut, but haven't heard about n26.

Do a twitter search for N26

Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#37

Post by jamil7 »

3fe9a03ccd14ca5 wrote: post #24

Brexit makes for a convenient scapegoat when your business isn’t compelling to U.K. customers.

You might be right, here in Germany the banks are extremely archaic and make things difficult if you're a foreigner and just moved here. N26 onboarding is streamlined (video call on your phone) and can be done in at least English and German, maybe other languages now they're expanding. They also invested heavily in native mobile experience first while the other banks where struggling to offer decent online banking.

Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#38

Post by hocuspocus »

seemslegit wrote: post #6

Well, unlike some N26 users who get their accounts locked without warning explanation or anyone to turn to - at least the UK gets a notice.

Well that's kinda the deal when you pick a product that's cheaper and more convenient because it's run by more algorithms and fewer humans.

Other challenger banks are no better and have also been pretty heavy-handed when dealing with suspicious activity. Typically after an initial period where said banks were too lenient and easily abused for money laundering and other kind of fraud.

And to be honest, the quality of customer service with big traditional retail banks in the Eurozone has become pretty terrible overall. KYC and fraud detection mechanisms can be very annoying if your situation is a bit special.

Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#39

Post by danpalmer »

_n_b_ wrote: post #31
danpalmer wrote: post #11

Businesses pulling out of the UK based on the Brexit process is bad for the UK, and I'm sure this was indeed mainly motivated by N26's need for a UK banking licence, which is a costly and difficult process to go through. However, it's worth noting that they are pretty small in the UK (~200k users). They're very successful in Germany where banking is a very slow, difficult, manually run industry (from what I've heard)…

N26 is also very successful in France, whose banking industry is--I can confirm--very much slow, difficult, and _very_ manually run. They can charge fees for accounts because their fees are still so much lower than the incumbents they're displacing. (And you can do stuff without having to talk to your bank counsellor, at your one specific branch, in person... how novel!) So I can see how their model wouldn't be very…

Exactly. I can fully understand how they might be a paradigm shift from that sort of banking ecosystem.

For us it was just a bank that lacked features and had charges, without a memorable brand.

Re: N26 will be leaving the UK

#40

Post by jfengel »

tablloyd wrote: post #18

I'm skeptical of Brexit being the reason that N26 is withdrawing from the UK. They started operation in the uk in October 2018, over 2 years after the referendum result and 6 months before the UK was meant to leave until the date got pushed back.

I agree with your skepticism, but it's important to note that Brexit being pushed back implied that it might not happen, or that it might be very soft. It wasn't certain until a couple of months ago, when the vote effectively reaffirmed Brexit (or at the very least, that the Remain vote was so badly confused as to make it a fait accompli).

So there is almost certainly more going on here than Brexit, but there's also a chance that they were hoping that a soft/nonexistent Brexit would create a more favorable environment.

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