N26 Refusal

I applied for an N26 account and after a few months I was asked to provide a picture of my passport and a selfie which I duly did. I got a message to say it could take two days but a day later I got an email stating that they have reviewed the information that I provided and that according to our current verification procedures,we’re unable to offer you an N26 account at this time.
Has this happened to anyone else or has anyone any one any insight as to why my application was unsuccessful.

Sounds similar to this...

It's a bit of a paradox.

If you are rejected for some money laundering reason they are legally not allowed to tell you specifically, or to tell you why.

NoRegretsCoyote said:

It's a bit of a paradox.

If you are rejected for some money laundering reason they are legally not allowed to tell you specifically, or to tell you why.

Click to expand...

That's not really the case. If they have a suspicion of money laundering they are not allowed tip you off, but if they have an issue with the customer due diligence documentation you are providing they absolutely can. So unless the OP is trying to open an account with a forged document it's very likely just the latter. I'd imagine that their processes are so digitised that they just don't bother with human intervention if computer says no.

24601 said:

That's not really the case. If they have a suspicion of money laundering they are not allowed tip you off, but if they have an issue with the customer due diligence documentation you are providing they absolutely can.

Click to expand...

But they haven't asked for verification of customer identity again.


But you are probably right about processes being over automated. They were fined by the German supervisor I think a few years ago for poor controls for customer onboarding so have presumably tightened things.

"With the overwhelming demand for N26’s digital banking products, we will be making a temporary limitation to the number of new bank accounts that we can offer each month.

With this, we have had to temporarily pause new customer onboarding in certain markets. We encourage you to sign up to our waiting list and will be in touch as soon as we’re able to offer you the account of your choice."

There was a customer cap imposed on new customers since Oct 2021 by the German regulator - they say due to money laundering concerns. So to fix this it's the German regulator who needs to have their minds changed.