N26 reaches 500.000 customers in Spain
Madrid, October 21st 2020 - The mobile bank N26 has already reached more than 500,000 customers in Spain. The company, which continues its path of growth and consolidation in our country, will also relocate a large part of its team to the new headquarters located in Madrid, further strengthening its commitment to the Spanish market.
Since N26 arrived in Spain at the beginning of 2018, it has managed to position itself as a leader in mobile banking in less than 3 years thanks to its distinctive banking model. After doubling the number of customers in 2019, N26 has continued to maintain its growth during 2020, increasing its clientbase by 42%, and now exceeds 500,000. The company, which is consolidating its growth rate in a year in which the pandemic has made the need for banking digitalisation even more valuable, expects to reach one million Spanish customers by 2021.
"We are extremely pleased to be able to announce that more than half a million people already trust N26 in Spain. We entered the market with a concept that was unprecedented: that of being able to carry your bank on your Smartphone and be able to do banking simple, quick and without surprises", explains Francisco Sierra, general manager of N26 Spain. "We have made a great effort to educate the Spanish customers about the advantages of 100% online banking, and today we see how even big ‘traditional’ banks are beginning to copy our subscription banking model. We believe this is yet another sign that our vision is right and that our potential for growth is still enormous," concludes Sierra.
As this rate of growth illustrates, Spain continues to be one of the firm's key markets in Europe, which is why N26 has decided to further strengthen its presence in the country. Along with the technological hub that the mobile bank has in Barcelona, formed by more than 100 people, the company is opening a second office, establishing its Finance, Communication and Compliance teams in Madrid, which will define the development and growth of the bank in the coming years. A structure that has started to be replicated in other countries such as France, Italy and Austria, where N26 has recently moved its teams from Berlin to reinforce its local strategy from Paris, Milan and Vienna, respectively.
Banking as a subscription: the key to a new banking model
One of the proposals that makes N26 different is its "subscription banking" model. A model on which the success of Spotify, Amazon or Netflix resides and which N26 has pioneered in transferring to the banking system and which traditional banking is now trying to replicate. The key to success? Offering a basic quality service (current account and debit card) completely free of charge and without commissions, as well as "premium" plans that offer added value services, to give the customer the freedom to choose which services they need, at a fixed monthly cost, with no ties or hidden costs.
This model is gaining more and more acceptance in a society that has changed its way of consuming, but also wants to avoid the increase in fees for basic banking services such as the maintenance fee for current accounts, something that big banks are starting to charge for.
According to studies carried out by the firm, more than 60% of Spaniards would opt for a subscription model that included all the services of daily operations, with 100% online management, free cash withdrawals throughout the world or without commissions for currency exchange. All this with the aim of avoiding the fees that large banks are applying for basic services if you do not comply with their conditions (direct debits, obligations to set up more products, etc). Spain is the European country that has reported the most complaints (81%) regarding unexpected fees, which on average exceed 66 euros per year.
"The success of our model is based on our light and flexible structure, which allows us to respond efficiently to the needs of our clients. These lower costs are translated into zero commissions for premium users, since we do not depend on charging them for each transaction, as large traditional banks do," explains Francisco Sierra. "Our goal is to continue growing in Spain thanks to our Premium products, which are adapted to personal or professional customers with different profiles of financial activity. We want to convince our clients through an excellent service and a great product, not through obligations and long-term requirements".
Goals: increase in premium subscribers and global growth
N26 is committed to Spain and will continue to work on further consolidating its growth in the country by increasing its services for premium and business plans, two key client segments for the company. "Our goal is to double our current subscriber base by 2021, so we will be launching new products and services in the coming months".
The company, which in the light of the pandemic has delayed its plans to launch credit products until the middle of next year, is committed to new savings products that will start to be marketed in early 2021.
The growth path of N26 also continues globally: in September it announced the hire of two senior executives to its management team to work on the company's new phase of global expansion.
N26 aims to reach 100 million customers worldwide and lead the transformation of the banking industry towards a fully digital model based on transparency, closeness to the customer and an excellent banking experience.
About N26
N26 is building the first mobile bank the world loves to use. Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal founded N26 in 2013 and launched the initial product in early 2015. Today N26 has 8 million customers in 24 markets. The company employs more than 1.500 employees across 5 office locations: Berlin, New York Barcelona, Vienna and São Paulo. With a full European banking license, state-of-the-art technology and no branch network, N26 has redesigned banking for the 21st century and is available on Android, iOS, and desktop. N26 has raised close to $800 million from the world’s most established investors, including Insight Venture Partners, GIC, Tencent, Allianz X, Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Li Ka-Shing’s Horizons Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital, Greyhound Capital, Battery Ventures, in addition to members of the Zalando management board, and Redalpine Ventures. N26 currently operates in: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, where it operates via its wholly-owned subsidiary, N26 Inc., based in New York. Banking services in the US are offered by N26 Inc. in partnership with Axos® Bank, Member FDIC.