N26 Alternatives in 2026: Banks Like N26, Compared

Two very different people search for "banks like N26". One already has an N26 account and is thinking about leaving. The other cannot open one at all — because N26 does not operate in their country, or their application was declined — and simply wants the nearest equivalent. The right answer is not the same for both, so this guide separates them, and it starts with the part most lists skip: what is actually on the public record about N26.

What the regulator has actually said

N26 is supervised by BaFin, Germany's financial regulator, and BaFin publishes its measures. Three entries matter, and all three are primary sources you can read yourself rather than press coverage.

On 15 December 2025, BaFin ordered a package of measures against N26 Bank SE. It required the bank to establish proper business organisation, appointed a special representative to monitor compliance, imposed additional capital requirements, and prohibited new mortgage lending business in the Netherlands. BaFin's stated reason is that a special audit conducted in 2024, and the audit of the 2024 annual accounts, found that proper business organisation was not in place. In BaFin's own words the serious deficiencies were "im Risiko- und Beschwerdemanagement und bei der Organisation des Kreditgeschäfts" — in risk management, complaints handling, and the organisation of the lending business.

On 21 May 2024, BaFin published a fine of 9.2 million euros against the bank for systematically submitting suspicious-activity reports late during 2022. BaFin records that the fine notice is rechtskräftig — legally final.

Before that, from November 2021, BaFin capped how many new customers N26 could take on each month and appointed a special commissioner, citing weaknesses in its anti-money-laundering systems.

What that does and does not mean for your money

It is worth being precise here, because the honest reading is narrower than the headlines suggest.

None of those measures is a finding about solvency, and none of them affects deposit protection. N26 Bank SE is a licensed German bank, and N26's own plan comparison states that balances are protected up to 100,000 euros. That is the same statutory ceiling that applies at every other bank in this article. A supervisor ordering better risk management and complaints handling is a supervisor doing its job — the alternative, an unsupervised institution, is worse.

What the record does tell you is something softer and still useful: complaints handling was specifically named as deficient by the regulator in December 2025. If your reason for looking elsewhere is that something went wrong and getting it resolved was painful, that experience is consistent with what BaFin found, and it is a legitimate reason to move.

First decide what you are actually replacing

Before comparing apps, settle one question, because it changes which of the options below is even eligible.

• A licensed bank holds your money as a deposit, and a statutory guarantee scheme covers up to 100,000 euros per depositor if it fails.

• An e-money or payment institution is not a bank. It does not lend your money out, and it holds it under rules called safeguarding instead. That is a different protection, not a weaker version of the same one.

Neither is automatically better. But if the entire reason you are leaving is that you want a bank you can trust with your salary, replacing N26 with an e-money app is not the swap you think you are making. Our guide on how to check a bank licence shows how to confirm which one any provider is, in the official register, in about two minutes — and it is worth doing for every name below rather than taking this article's word for it.

Licensed banks that genuinely replace N26

Revolut

The closest like-for-like in the EEA. For customers in the European Economic Area the account is provided by Revolut Bank UAB, which is authorised by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Lithuania, and deposits are insured up to 100,000 euros by the Lithuanian state deposit-insurance company. One caveat that people miss: Revolut states that virtual currencies, commodities and investments are not covered by that scheme. Crypto held in the same app as your salary is not protected the way the salary is.

Revolut's plan structure is tiered, from a free account up to paid tiers that raise limits and add perks, and it is genuinely strong on multi-currency spending. We have deliberately not printed the monthly prices here: the line-up differs by country and Revolut's pricing page blocks automated access, so read the current plans on Revolut's own site rather than trusting a figure copied from a comparison article. For the head-to-head against N26 specifically, see Revolut vs N26.

bunq

The Dutch option, and the one most similar to N26 in feel. bunq holds a banking licence issued by De Nederlandsche Bank and is supervised by it, and eligible deposits are covered by the Dutch deposit guarantee scheme up to 100,000 euros per depositor. bunq is unusually clear about one detail that matters: its e-money accounts are not covered by that scheme. Which product you are holding inside the app decides whether the guarantee applies, so check the product and not just the brand.

bunq's paid plans are aimed at people who want sub-accounts, multiple cards and a genuine EU IBAN without a German-market focus. If N26's appeal to you was "a clean EU bank account in an app", bunq is the nearest substitute.

Not banks — and why that can still be the right choice

Wise

Wise is the strongest option in this article for anyone whose real problem is currency, and it is also the one where the protection question needs stating plainly. Wise says it is not a bank and does not lend customer money out. Its e-money and payment services are not covered by the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme; instead Wise safeguards customer funds, holding a mix of cash at banks, investments in liquid assets — mainly government bonds — and a comparable guarantee, kept separate from the money it runs the business with. Wise also states the honest downside: if it became insolvent, an insolvency administrator's own costs could be taken from safeguarded funds, so the amount returned could be lower than the balance.

That is a real trade-off, and it is worth taking on deliberately rather than by accident. What you get for it is the mid-market exchange rate with a stated fee instead of a rate markup, and local account details in several currencies. If you are an expat, a freelancer paid from abroad, or you simply hold more than one currency, Wise does that job better than any of the banks here — and there is a dedicated euro account if the euro is your base currency. Keep your protected salary account at a licensed bank and use Wise for the currency work; you do not have to choose only one.

Airwallex and Vivid, for business

If the account you are replacing is a business account rather than a personal one, the shortlist changes. Airwallex is built for multi-currency business payments and collections, and Vivid Business targets freelancers and small companies in the EU. Both are payment or e-money providers rather than banks, so the safeguarding point above applies to them too. Our roundup of the best business neobanks covers that side in more detail.

The N26 numbers you are comparing against

It helps to know exactly what you would be giving up. These figures are from N26's own plan comparison, read on 11 August 2026.

N26 runs four personal plans: Standard is free, Smart is 4.90 euros a month, Go is 9.90 euros a month, and Metal is 16.90 euros a month. Free ATM withdrawals in euros are capped per month and rise with the plan — two on Standard, three on Smart, five on Go, eight on Metal. All four state deposit protection up to 100,000 euros.

Two fee details are routinely reported wrongly, including in older versions of our own comparison. Card payments in a foreign currency are free on every N26 plan, at Mastercard's exchange rate, with no N26 markup. The often-quoted 1.7% is an ATM fee, and it applies to cash withdrawals outside the eurozone on Standard and Smart; it is waived on Go and Metal. If you are comparing on travel costs, those are two different things and only one of them applies to card spending.

Before you move anything

Switching a main account is more disruptive than opening a second one, so the low-risk sequence is to open the new account, run both in parallel for a month, move your standing orders and direct debits, and only then close the old one. Our bank account switching guide walks through the order that avoids missed payments, and what happens when a neobank fails is worth reading first if the whole reason you are moving is that you no longer feel confident about where your money sits.

One last check that takes two minutes and is worth more than any comparison table: look the provider up in its regulator's public register yourself, and confirm whether the specific product you are opening is a deposit or e-money. The brand on the app is not the answer. The register is.

Related reading

For the full ranking rather than the N26-specific shortlist, see the best neobanks ranked for 2026. For the safety question in general, how safe are neobanks covers what the guarantee schemes do and do not do. This is general information, not financial advice.