N26

N26 is a retail bank that exists only as a mobile app: an account is opened from a phone with a government-issued ID and no branch visit, and the app then carries everyday banking - a Mastercard, virtual or physical, spending and budget controls, instant notifications, and 3D Secure with Mastercard Identity Check, fingerprint and face recognition for logins and payments.

The bank says it has more than 8 million customers and operates in 24 markets, from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands to Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Liechtenstein, with around 1,600 employees of more than 90 nationalities. Four plans run from a free Standard account through Smart at EUR 4.90 and Go at EUR 9.90 to Metal at EUR 16.90 a month, with no opening fee and no minimum income. The same app covers investing in more than 5,000 stocks, ETFs and funds from EUR 1 (EUR 0.90 a trade, three free trades a month on Go and ten on Metal) and saving: Instant Savings pays 0.30% a year on Standard and Smart, 0.50% on Go and 1.50% on Metal, alongside a flexible cash fund managed by Fidelity. Balances are protected up to EUR 100,000 by the German Deposit Protection Scheme.

N26 launched in 2013 and holds a full German banking licence from BaFin, which it describes itself as the first 100% mobile bank to have been granted and to operate on. It is registered in Berlin as N26 Bank SE, Voltairestr. 8, 10179 Berlin, with securities execution and custody handled by Upvest Securities GmbH, also in Berlin. Investment products carry a risk of capital loss.