Beware of N26 - Day one without access to my account

[panheadvic]

@candleleigh It's enough to do a quick search on google or reddit to find thousands of people in your boat. This happend to my friend as well after they received a refund from the company for a business trip. N26 flagged the account for breach of T&C and instantly blocked the account.

It took them 1 month and tens of calls and emails to have their funds retrieved.

In summary, they have an overly aggressive AI-based model to flag issues, that has full control to terminate accounts without human interaction.

My suggestion is to avoid N26!

 

[creal88]

@candleleigh N26 is hell on earth. I told them to stick my €30 up their ass. Goodluck, would not recommend banking there.

 

[shantel0410]

@candleleigh Sorry to hear about this OP. I’ve only had very very positive experiences with N26 and I use them as my main bank account. Whenever I had problems, and I had many, from disputing payments to getting my money back from vendors, to changing my tax residence etc. and I always got an answer back within 10 minutes. I really wonder if N26 is really that much worse than any other bank, and if yes, why is that? I understand many people get locked out of their account, why does this happen? Is it suspicious activity on the card that somehow triggers this automatically? For anyone wondering btw. the right authority to complain is the German banking and securities regulator - BaFiN.

 

[barney]

@shantel0410 I do have the impression that online banks get more complains online because it's the public that it's here?
Like I. The sense that here on Italy if Intesa Sanpaolo blocks someone account for no reason, your average 42 yo Italian won't go to the internet to complain, he will go to the bank 20 times, complain to his family and friends and ask to them what he should do, make a "casino" on the bank, and in the end will probably have to accept to wait whatever the time the bank takes to check whatever they're checking.
His bad experience maybe never will come to the ears of anyone.
A usual N26 or revolut user is someone that chose those banks because they don't want to ever touch a phisical bank, they do everything online, including socializing, asking for opinions or help or complaining about things that go wrong to internet strangers, so that's where they'll go
And once online, we see every single complaint, and it adds to a lot even if it's a small % of users that have problems

 

[shantel0410]

@barney I think it may explain some of it but it is very very worrying that they lock people out and it takes months to get money back. I really wonder why their AML department sucks this much. A simple trip to Thailand where maybe I spend more money than usual should not trigger an investigation that takes such a long time.

 

[barney]

@shantel0410 That's for sure. It's the main reason that brought me to make new accounts. Had N26 as main one, but with all the stories about people getting locked out, didn't feel safe to have all my savings and money in there

 

[resjudicata]

@candleleigh And people still don't understand why I avoid Revolut and N26. Go with a reputable bank in your country.

 

[susanm]

@resjudicata A lot of countries have banks that charge you just for being alive, and don't have 1/4 of the features N26 and Revolut have.

 

[sharz]

@candleleigh Right, so it's probably gonna take a while. I work in banking and n26 is horrible.

I suggest to use multiple banks in multiple currencies, preferably in more then one country. Also keep money in each of them. I have 2 euro accounts and 3 zloty accounts. 1 euro account for my main usage and savings. An other one with one month's income for if the first one is down (the bank I'm using it with is infamous for crashes). I have 1 shared zloty account with my girlfriend, 1 account for salary, savings and bills (I only keep about 2 months worth of savings in that account as the rest goes to my main euro account for stability) and 1 account with 1 month saving in case the first one goes down for whatever reason. This will ensure you always have money for both emergencies and bills incase one goes down.

Your best option would be to cooperate. It will take weeks maybe months. If it takes too long or your hitting a wall your best course of action would be sueing them. If you can't afford it an complaint with the local regulatory agency tens to help but ether way you won't be able to access your money for a while.

I specifically work in the department doing AML which involves these investigations. N26 AML department is horribly understaffed and untrained. Good luck.

 

[lovethyneighbourasthyself]

@sharz Can you name the banks you use for euro accounts? Thanks.

 

[sharz]

@lovethyneighbourasthyself I use ING Netherlands and Sparkasse in Germany. I used to live in both countries. I'm planning on opening an euro account with millennium Poland as well just for convenience sake as I live in Poland.

 

[coffeecuplady]

@candleleigh Bitcoin fixes this

 

[boxer_dog]

@candleleigh Absolutely the same with revolut. Blocking payements, freezing cards because their stupid anti fraud system flagged “unusual transaction”. While it was me trying to withdraw some cash in USA, the main reason I wanted use revolut for! Stay away from these bS neobanks, I would rather pay more to established institution, but be sure and safe that it works when I need it

 

[resjudicata]

@candleleigh I have 4 bank accounts and three other investments accounts. Do you think this is enough?

 

[thebreakdown]

@resjudicata You could also make an intergalactic account

 

[meli034]

@candleleigh Not your keys = not your coins.

 

[tranhuukhanh]

@candleleigh Keep us posted...

 

[fdiwata]

@candleleigh Same here. Blocked out of my account for a routine check. Spoke to support 4-5 times and every time they said “sorry routine checks can’t do anything I am closing the chat now” and they were gone. I closed the account and never saw my money back (luckily it was only 30-40 euros). I gave up after 6-8 months but not after telling this to anyone who would listen to make them close their accounts just in case. Fuck them.

 

[geekangel]

@candleleigh These things happen. Things are flagged. Specially when money comes in that usually doesn’t. It’s a normal risk pattern which every bank does. They are also obligated to do so. It may look bad for you as the customer and you are frustrated, however without these things illicit funds financing all sorts of things including terrorism would never be caught.

If you have done nothing wrong it will clear itself soon enough.

For the meanwhile, use a credit card or ask a family member.

For the future > you can get debit cards which are linked to crypto such as Bitcoin, no bank can touch you as you can top up and down as much as you like. ( yes crypto is volatile ) but you can just get usdc for example , which is just a US dollar pegged stablecoin , which means it won’t fluctuate much.

 

[sagerice]

@geekangel Any recommended debit cards linked to BTC that you have personally used?