Frankfurt The competition for deposits from savers is intensifying: now the Berlin smartphone bank N26 is also getting involved. The company is now launching a new savings account – and is offering its customers 2.26 percent interest on their deposits. The company announced on Tuesday morning.
Customers in Germany have to be patient for the time being, the offer only applies to customers in Spain. N26 only said that the smartphone bank intends to “gradually expand the availability of interest-bearing savings in the other European markets”.
The pressure on the smartphone bank is great to also offer a savings solution in this country in the near future. On the one hand, the company has recently come under pressure because Allianz X, an investor, apparently wants to sell part of its holding and accept a significantly falling valuation. Allianz expects the neobank’s valuation to be as low as $3 billion, according to media reports.
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N26 is one of the most valuable fintechs in Germany. In the last financing round in 2021, the smartphone bank was valued at 7.7 billion euros.
On the other hand, there is more movement in the savings bank sector when it comes to higher overnight interest rates. On Monday, for example, S Broker, the online broker of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe and a subsidiary of Dekabank, the Sparkassen’s securities firm, announced that they were offering 2.9 percent interest on overnight money. The offer is valid for a period of six months, up to a credit of 250,000 euros – and is only aimed at new customers.
Eight million customers in 24 countries
According to the smartphone bank, the new offer from N26 applies to new and existing customers with a credit balance of up to EUR 50,000. Interest would be paid monthly. However, customers must be able to show a Spanish IBAN, a place of residence in Spain and a local tax ID.
N26 says it has more than eight million customers in 24 countries. A spokeswoman did not want to give any information on how many there are specifically in Spain.
With more and more customers choosing N26 as their main account, expanding the product portfolio has been a priority, said N26 product chief Gilles BianRosa. It is exciting to launch a product that offers one of the most competitive interest rates on the market today.
However, N26 would not mutate into a top provider with an identical offer in this country. Because in Germany there is a competition for the highest interest rate offer. At the beginning of May, the European Central Bank (ECB) increased the deposit interest rate, which is particularly important for the financial markets and which banks, for example, receive for their deposits at the ECB, from 3.0 to 3.25 percent.
At the BMW Bank, new and existing customers get three percent interest on the overnight money, up to a balance of 50,000 euros. Other fintechs also entered the competition much earlier. Neobroker Trade Republic and Scalable Capital had already started their interest rate offer at the beginning of the year.
Last week, N26 competitor Revolut also announced that it intends to launch a new savings solution exclusively for the German market in the second or third quarter.
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