The co-founder and co-head of the most valuable German fintech, Maximilian Tayenthal, apologized for the incidents last weekend. In a new measure to detect and prevent fraud, “unfortunately, a number of accounts have been mistakenly closed,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
In the meantime, some of those affected have had their money transferred to an alternative bank account. On the one hand, this does not apply to everyone, on the other hand, even they could not access their money for about ten days.
But what happens if an upcoming transfer, for example for the rent, cannot be made in the time? Do those affected even have to worry about a Schufa entry?
It is true that there are no blanket solutions that apply equally to all those affected, and each situation must also be assessed individually. Nevertheless, some indications for those affected can be derived. The most important questions and answers at a glance.
Can an N26 account be reopened after it has been terminated without notice?
no Even if the error lies with N26: If the smartphone bank has to close an account, “this termination is final,” said an N26 spokeswoman at the request of the Handelsblatt.
The situation is different in the case of a blocking: If an account is blocked for a certain period of time, N26 checks whether a “specific suspicion underlying the blocking” is confirmed, the N26 spokeswoman said. If this is not the case, the account will be released again, it is said.
Are victims entitled to compensation?
“If customers were wrongly unable to access their credit, they are entitled to a claim for damages,” says Marko Huth, specialist lawyer for banking and capital market law at the law firm Gansel Rechtsanwälte, the Handelsblatt. However, first of all, material damage must have occurred. “Anger alone, although understandable, is immaterial and not in itself compensable damage,” says Huth.
Patrick Rösler, lawyer and professor of banking law at Allensbach University, agrees. Customers must be able to prove the damage they have suffered, then it is also possible to assert this. For example, if payments were not made in the supermarket because the account was wrongly terminated or if the rental contract was terminated because the rent was not paid on time.
Do customers have to worry about a Schufa entry?
Huth says he cannot imagine what should have been reported to the Schufa at all. The N26 spokeswoman said: “When we communicate the closure of an account to Schufa, we only share basic customer information, such as full name and address.” Schufa needs this to identify the person in question.
A Schufa entry therefore seems unlikely, but of course it cannot be completely ruled out. To ensure that there is no entry, consumers can view all their data stored by the Schufa free of charge once a year. “N26 has to correct a possible incorrect Schufa entry,” says Niels Nauhauser from the consumer advice center in Baden-Württemberg.
What happens in cases where payments could not be made because the account was blocked or accounts were even overdrawn, for example, because N26 deducted the money from the account concerned?
The following also applies to payment instructions that are not possible or not carried out in violation of the contract: “There is the possibility of compensation if damage has occurred,” says Huth.
Some customers who were still able to log into their N26 account even say that the smartphone bank withdrew the entire amount from the account. If money is “deducted” unjustly, i.e. without authorization by the beneficiary, there is a right to a refund. This includes an adjustment to the account for any unlawful debit interest.
Means: If N26 charges those affected, although the account was previously unlawfully emptied by the smartphone bank, N26 has to pay for it.
The N26 spokeswoman said on possible liabilities on request: “Our teams will be in direct contact with the affected customers to ensure that the situation and the resulting circumstances are resolved as quickly as possible.”
More: N26 co-founder Tayenthal on account closures: “I sincerely apologize”