N26 - Closure of UK bank

SlovakianGuy

I think the biggest problem these upstarts face is the that UK already has a pretty advanced banking system that offers 'free' banking.  I can sit here in my underwear with my tablet or phone in my hand and open a bank account within five minutes.  And that bank account will offer free ATM withdrawals, free direct debits, free transfers and in some cases free overseas spending and ATM withdrawals... with no monthly fee.

True. Just visit Slovakia if you want to see some prehistoric banking system. I think most British people don't even realise how lucky they are when it comes to UK banking. Well, unless they rack up some serious debt, of course, but for financially responsible and savvy people, UK is a great place.

For example, in Slovakia there's nothing like Faster Payments. Transfer from one bank to another can take a few days and only works on working days. I think same day transfers are possible if both accounts are at the same bank. Otherwise there is a fee for "express payments" if you want. Faster payments are possible today, but SK banks simply don't want to do it because they can charge extra for express payments.
Almost all SK bank accounts come with a monthly fee. If you meet certain criteria, the fee can be either reduced or waived. They call this an account "perk". Same with credit cards. You need to spend at least such and such sum each month if you don't wanna pay a monthly or yearly fee. There's only ONE credit card with no monthly fee and that's Cetelem which is some sort of a sub-prime lender similar to Vanquis in the UK.

I was charged 0.70 Eur on my Slovak debit card just for changing my PIN using the ATM. It's really horrible.

Oh, and things like current account switch service? Keep dreaming! I visited a bank in Slovakia and told them about the UK switch system. I asked if something like that is possible in Slovakia. They had no idea what I was talking about. I would have to close my old account myself, transfer all DDs and SOs manually. And switching incentives? Never! One of the "top banks" once offered 22 EUR incentive for opening an account with them, LOL! Then they charge you about 7 Eur each month just for having an account with them.

Of course, no such thing like credit reports or credit score. You don't have a website or anything else to check your creditworthiness, your accounts history, etc. There is Slovak Credit Bureau but I don't really know what they do. Almost no one in Slovakia is aware of credit history or anything related to that. And banks don't ask you either.

I find UK banking system absolutely great.

Free accounts, Faster Payments, switch incentives, CASS, Section 75 protection, direct debit guarantee, rewards for direct debits, etc. Even savings rates are far better here.

SlovakianGuy

colin79666 said:

I’m sure Monzo and Starling will be fine was they are UK banks with UK licenses. Revolut however...

What's the problem with Revolut? Do you mean their Latvian banking licence?
I wonder if Revolut become a bank, would that still allow them to offer cryptocurrency accounts? It seems to me like Revolut have no aim to obtain UK banking licence. Perhaps being registered as e-Money business gives them more freedom in what they want to do, but I may be wrong.

colin79666

SlovakianGuy said:

colin79666 said:

I’m sure Monzo and Starling will be fine was they are UK banks with UK licenses. Revolut however...

What's the problem with Revolut? Do you mean their Latvian banking licence?
I wonder if Revolut become a bank, would that still allow them to offer cryptocurrency accounts? It seems to me like Revolut have no aim to obtain UK banking licence. Perhaps being registered as e-Money business gives them more freedom in what they want to do, but I may be wrong.

Depending on how the Brexit negotiations go the existing passporting rules which allow an EU bank license to be used in the UK (and for UK banks to operate in the EU) might not remain. This could pose a problem for Revolut who seem to have skated round some of the UK regulations to date. 

[Deleted User]

I remember putting my name down on the waiting list, then when they eventually came to the UK they spammed the hell out of me but I never bothered actually getting an account. Happy using Starling as my main current account since 2017.

MiserlyMartin

I just found out about this. I don't want an N26 UK sterling account I want it for €'s. I thought pretty much all EU banks offer accounts to anyone not just in the UK but in the EEA.Brexit does not change that, we are still in the EEA. So correct me if I am wrong but UK residents should still be able to open accounts under it's European (German) banking licence.

tehone

MiserlyMartin said:

I just found out about this. I don't want an N26 UK sterling account I want it for €'s. I thought pretty much all EU banks offer accounts to anyone not just in the UK but in the EEA.Brexit does not change that, we are still in the EEA. So correct me if I am wrong but UK residents should still be able to open accounts under it's European (German) banking licence.

You may want to read this about the EEA and the UK post-Brexit
https://www.gov.uk/eu-eea

eDicky

N26 offer euro accounts to residents of various European countries, but not to UK residents.

MiserlyMartin

tehone said:

MiserlyMartin said:

I just found out about this. I don't want an N26 UK sterling account I want it for €'s. I thought pretty much all EU banks offer accounts to anyone not just in the UK but in the EEA.Brexit does not change that, we are still in the EEA. So correct me if I am wrong but UK residents should still be able to open accounts under it's European (German) banking licence.

You may want to read this about the EEA and the UK post-Brexit
https://www.gov.uk/eu-eea

I've read this page but I don't see anything there which is relevant to the topic. You can open a bank account in most countries in the world, regardless of if the bank is in an EU country or not. If seems to be dependant on the bank in question. It seems that N26 have just decided that they don't want to have any UK customers for some strange reason. More fool them.