81–90 of 517 posts
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.
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…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Next step for UK is to reduce regulations compared to EU to make it easier for people to setup shop in UK compared to EU.
Depends on whether those regulations are socially useful or not. It's not a given that should be the next step.
Things like blatant crime should still be regulated, but creating an easier regulatory environment for businesses in the UK is absolutely a given next step.
> With the UK now having left the European Union, we will in due course be unable to operate in the UK with our European banking license. Isn't this still up for discussion? Since they're only giving two months notice, they could wait until much later in the year before shutting up shop in the UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/10/checks-on-e...
And if you don't have a deal on goods you absolutely won't have a deal on services.
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)…
Next step for UK is to reduce regulations compared to EU to make it easier for people to setup shop in UK compared to EU.
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…
> 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. Funny and surprising you say this since I just saw a large N26 billboard in the London Tube Station at Angel Station; very unmissable as a Londoner using the tube these days.
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)…
The referendum was almost 4 years ago and only last year they were talking about expanding in the UK. Some people might have been in denial but considering the political force of a referendum result and the glaring absence of any political alternative for years now, any other Brexit outcome was a fantasy and remaining in the single market never realistic.
As you say the reality is that they are not doing very well in the UK and they are also investing in the US, and so made a commercial decision not to invest further in the UK.
Edit: As far as I know a full banking licence is not compulsory to offer purely electronic current accounts in the UK. Revolut only got a banking licence in 2018, and it is from Lithuania, so they are also at risk of losing it for their operation in the UK. Just saying...
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)…
My first German bank account was with Sparkasse, and I had to request a MasterCard separately (the main card was Maestro I think? useless for online payments). It wasn't even attached to the account, I had to transfer money to it (so, a prepaid card) and couldn't even see the remaining balance (I really tried). Terrible experience, but they were the only option for me at the time.
Had that very same experience with Sparkasse, Postbank and my Amazon credit card.
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…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm still trying to understand the point of your comment, but regardless: You haven't heard of it. So what? People will be affected by this. This will also not be the only company who will have to leave the UK because they've deemed the cost of legalising their business there after Brexit is not worth the benefits. So you're either in denial about that fact or you think it doesn't matter, which perhaps works for you…
I think the point of parent's comment is that hardly anyone in the UK has heard of N26, so perhaps we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's all due to Brexit. Let's be honest, if they had a market here worth saving, they'd apply for the licence.
That basically amounts to a tautology: if getting a license would be worth it, they would get a license.