For the last two years, N26 has been my only personal checking account — and I love it.
N26 is a web based bank with an excellent mobile-first, no-fee Checking account.
This review is for their Standard Account. They also offer premium and business accounts in some countries, which this does not cover.
I’ve personally been using this as my only personal checking account for over 2 years, including with time living abroad. I am not a professional investment person or reviewer, but I do enjoy sharing when something works great. And for me, this has worked great.
Ease of Use 10/10
Reputation 8/10 (It’s a newer bank, but they are insured and backed by a brick and mortar bank)
Customer Support 8/10
Design 10/10
Features 9/10
Totals: 4.5/5 stars, 95%
No minimum starting balance!
Want to try out N26? Use my referral code and you’ll earn $10. All you have to do is use your new N26 card to make a purchase of $20 or more. Use alexandw0605. n26.com/r/alexandw0605
What sets N26 apart? Well firstly, it’s 100% digital! It also has almost zero fees and is very transparent about them. I haven’t spent a single penny on an unexpected fee from them in 2 years. How do they afford to not charge fees? Being 100% digital, overhead is low. Also, they focus on a few services. They won’t try to upsell you into car insurance and a credit card. They keep it simple, and they pass that savings along to their customers.
It’s also been easy, dependable, and inexpensive for use both in the United States and abroad. It comes with a nice-looking VISA ATM card that comes with some pretty good perks when you use it, including discounts, and cashback partnerships.
Details
— Zero Maintenance/ Service/ Monthly Fees
— No Minimum Balance
— Zero Foreign Transaction Fees when abroad
— FREE ATM withdrawals within the Allpoint ATM network, 2 ADDITIONAL free out of network withdrawals per month
— FDIC Insurance up to $250,000
— No Overdraft Fees
— Ability to apply for overdraft flexibility where you are only charged interest (8.9%) when you use it!
Availability: USA, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (not available for residents in the DOM/TOM), Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Physical Branches: No physical branches.
Parent Bank: Axos
Mobile App: iOS | Android
Bonus offer: Use my referral code and you’ll earn $10. All you have to do is use your new N26 card to make a purchase of $20 or more. Use alexandw0605. n26.com/r/alexandw0605
Earns interest?: With Checking, No. But they offer a savings account with up to 1.38% interest.
Minimum opening deposit? $0
ATM access: Free use of Allpoint ATM network (over 55,000 ATMs)
Other features
Super quick sign-up takes 5 minutes, done directly from your phone.
The Sign-Up Process
1. Fill out an online form (use this link: n26.com/r/alexandw0605)
2. Verify your ID (also online)
3. Connect your smartphone. 💥 Boom.
What do you need to open an account?
3. 🎂 Date of Birth
4. #️⃣ Social Security Number
5. 🏠 Home Address
6. ☎️ Phone Number
7. 📧 Email Address
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8. 💰 This code (to receive $10 FREE) alexandw0605
That’s it! You don’t even need a single dollar to spare to open your account!
Other Features Continued:
Mobile check deposit? No.
Direct Deposit: Yes, free.
Use Apple Pay or Google Pay.
CASH26: Deposit or withdraw cash using the app at participating stores! Only a few locations now, but rapidly growing.
App Features: App Reviewed Below 😄
The App Reviewed 5/5
The N26 app comes with a number of great features, some you would expect from a great banking app, and others which surprised me!
— Realtime notifications
— Real-time support via chat, phone, or email — in my experience it's been quick and excellent, but others have had mixed experiences.
— Fingerprint/ face recognition login
— “Spaces” is an intuitive feature that gives you the ability to stash money away for various spending goals.
— Send and receive money from friends and family with N26 INSTANTLY (2 days to other banks)
— Tag transactions with things like #gifts or #home or whatever you want to organize your history how YOU want it.
— Easy to lock or unlock misplaced cards, change the PIN, enable international spending, and change withdrawal limits all from the app!
Downsides
Nothing is perfect. However, in two years of using N26 as my primary bank account, I have found only two potential downsides:
1. There have been a couple of services I have tried to link to my bank to, which would not accept my routing number for some reason. One of those was Stash App, an investing app I no longer use for a few reasons. Click here for more information.
My understanding is that this is due to the bank having a new special class of routing numbers as an internet-based bank, and a few companies have not updated their services to accept such routing numbers.
My hope is that as this company, and others like it becomes more well established, this will stop being an issue altogether. In the meantime, I’ve still been able to use all of the services I’ve wanted with this as my only personal bank account.
2. No mobile deposit for checks! In fact, since there are no brick and mortar branches, other than direct deposit there is really no way to deposit checks at all. But that isn’t an issue for most people, and it hasn’t bothered me yet.
For one thing, you can sign up for the free direct deposit, which actually they say gets you your money two days BEFORE your usual payday. Although I haven’t tried it, since I work for myself. Most of my money ends up there being transferred from PayPal.
For another thing, if you DO have a physical check, you can go to a branch of the bank that issued the check and they can cash it for you. Or you can deposit it in another account and transfer it to your N26 account easily.
Still, I hope they can implement this feature soon, as it is very convenient for those birthday checks from Aunt Ruth!
What others are saying
Bottom Line
First of all, this is the cheapest checking account I’ve ever had.
And it also may be the best.
It’s wonderful to be able to travel, and spend freely without worrying about fees of any kind.
This is banking at its best: they don’t squeeze their own customers on BS fees that kick you while you are down! Instead, they operate old school: they invest the money people deposit, and earn on that.
The app is intuitive and pleasant to use, the customer service has been excellent, and at the end of the day it does its job of a safe place to hold and easily access my money.
Disclaimer: I do benefit if you use my promo link to sign up. But otherwise, I am in no way affiliated with this company. I don’t personally ever promote anything I don’t personally use and benefit from.
No minimum starting balance!
Want to try out N26? Use my referral code and you’ll earn $10. All you have to do is use your new N26 card to make a purchase of $20 or more. Use alexandw0605. n26.com/r/alexandw0605
Hey! My name is Alex White and I write about self-transformation and strange and interesting topics! Occasionally I review products and services I’ve used and loved.
My most popular article ever compares using three popular investing apps over the course of two+ years. Check it out here!
