N26 is closing my UK bank account, what should we do?

N26 have announced in February 2020 that it will be pulling out of the UK market and closing all accounts by the 15th April 2020.

It is believed that N26 are pulling away from the UK market due to Brexit and because it does not hold a British Banking Licence.

It has been operating in the UK using ‘Passporting rules’ but applying for a British Banking Licence would prove costly and time consuming.

If you have got an N26 bank account, then you will need to make sure that you withdraw all of your money and move any Direct Debits/Regular payments to a new bank account.

N26 is not supported by the popular Current Account Switch Service, so you will have to inform payers, as soon as possible so that you do not have a delay on receiving any money.

No, N26 does not partake in the Current Account Switch Service, this will mean that you need to let anyone who pays into your account, not to send you money.

Usually with the Current Account Switch Service, your existing sort code and account number can be used up to a set amount of time. However, N26 does not operate within this scheme.

Direct Debits and Regular payments out of your account will need to be moved to a new bank account.

It is understood that N26 had 200,000 account holders in the UK, out of all of the challenger banks such as Starling and Monzo, this is a lower amount.

Despite a huge push on sign-up’s via social media and marketing, N26 failed to sign up people to its accounts, therefore, it does not make it financially viable to apply for a British Banking Licence.

If you have a negative balance on your N26 account, then its quite important that you top up your account as soon as possible.

You can top-up your account via the N26 app or details can be found on your N26 Mastercard.

Your Metal Insurance will be valid for any trips you take before the 15th April 2020. If you have got any claims, N26 are advising you to contact Allianz by email at N26warranty.nl@allianz.com or by calling customer services at Allianz on 0203 481 4098.

If someone has sent you money to your closed N26 bank account after the 15th April 2020, then this will bounce and be returned to the senders bank account.

If you are looking for a new bank after your N26 bank account is closed and would like a similar bank, then Starling and Monzo come highly recommended and are extremely popular digital banks.

If you’d rather stick with a High Street Bank then Nationwide and HSBC always top high in the customer reviews.