N26

[RedOnion]

1) Utility IBAN Issue

What utilities are you having trouble with?

There's a little bit about the rules here:

Bord Gais not accepting IBAN

SEPA Consumer (Debtor) Rights Under the SEPA Direct Debit Core Scheme Rules and SEPA Regulation 260-2012 consumers can: Use a single account to pay a SEPA Direct Debit in any SEPA country Instruct their bank to refuse a SEPA Direct Debit Prohibit the application of any SEPA Direct Debit to...

www.askaboutmoney.com

 

[fayf]

Its Bord Gais, they told me a few months back they do not accept non Irish bank accounts. I just asked again for an update from them, in case the position has changed, but CCPC have today advised they are breaking the rules, and they will follow it up if i correspond with them and get nowhere

 

[Pmc365]

I'm surprised at the positive reviews about N26. My own experience with N26 is mixed as follows:

1. I transferred about €150 in to it to withdraw £ Sterling at ATMsin London and used their Mastercard for in-store purchases. It worked perfectly. I received app notifications immediately after all transactions and was surprised printed ATM receipts gave my account balance.

2. Their app is excellent.

3. I have the " N26 YOU " premium account. This is a fee- paying account which is supposed to have a phone service but this is not contactable. The only benefit I see of N26 YOU is free Allianz travel Insurance. I got the account free for a year in a promo.

4. Re: customer service. This was very disappointing and extremely frustrating. Agents often don't answer specific question unless you repeatedly ask. They often send on pro forma relies quoting links which in my case did not resolve the issue. The chats are quite protracted and it's a very frustrating experience.

When KBC exit ( who incidentally I find absolutely fantastic for both phone support and app experience) I was going to naively go with N26 but after the test run no way would I have N26 as my main Bank. This is just my personal experience after many chats with them and making a complaint after unresolved issues and protracted chats. My friend was not allowed to open an account as he had a .Co.uk e mail address. When it was pointed out he was based in Republic this was ignored.

I was not surprised at some of the reviews on trustpilot about N26.

At the end of the day you definitely pay for what you get and I will be sticking with the bricks and mortar banks and not Fintechs for my main current account.

The benefit of N26 over Revolut is the Deposit Guarantee.

When KBC exit I will use my EBS money manager account and use N26 for ocassional small non-Euro transactions.

I'm an ex BOI customer and now get free banking with KBC and managed to even get interest off the Banks ( ulster bank 0.85% and KBC regular saver 0.25%). They're making a loss on me. Just the way I like it...I even managed to get €50 off N26 and free travel Insurance for 1 year... Plus a free credit card (€30 stamp duty refund) off Avant Money. I just love the freebies...

 

[DeeKie]

You heard of these guys?

Who is the relevant competent authority for SEPA in Ireland?​

In cases involving consumers and traders (such as a utility provider), the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the competent authority.

These guys are hopeless enforcers

 

[Freelance]

At the end of the day you definitely pay for what you get and I will be sticking with the bricks and mortar banks and not Fintechs for my main current account.

I reached the same conclusion.

I have an N26 account (free). When Ulster first announced their withdrawal I considered using N26 for my day to day banking. I chose not to for the following reasons:

• Inexplicable 8 week delay from the time I signed up and my debit card was despatched (10th March) to it’s arrival (6th May)
• A few attempts to find out the reason for the delay while I was waiting met with silence and ended in frustration. N26 were almost uncontactable and when I did establish contact they proved quite useless.
• The horror stories of people’s accounts being locked without notice during the 2019 BaFin action on N26 AML failings, due to N26’s knee jerk reaction
• BaFIN’s ongoing concerns about N26 and what these could lead to (I don’t fear for my capital, I understand the DGS and it‘s overseas equivalents, I just couldn’t be bothered with the hassle having had experience of trying to get money out of an online Northern Rock account during their meltdown, and being locked out by Ulster Bank for a month during it‘s self inflicted systems failure in 2012)
• The facilities available to the free N26 account are somewhat limited. And the accounts for which they charge are not particularly cheap.
• All this messing around with overseas’s IBANs. It’s wrong, but I’m too old to crusade.
• I have a current account, deposit account and credit card all with the same provider. Being able to monitor all three from a single App/Login and having instant/same day transfers between these is very convenient. This also means that any delay in the monthly DD payment from my accounts to my credit card is the bank’s problem, not mine.

At the end of the day the personal account fees charged by the Irish Banks are not unreasonable for the services they offer (I can feel a target on my forehead for that comment). We have all been sucked in by the illusion of “free banking” and are now paying the price. I’m certainly not here to defend the Irish Banks, having seen at close quarters the misery they inflicted on many of their customers over the last decade and a half. And I am not afraid of the FinTechs or other new entrants, just their lack of maturity and limited nature of their offerings. Having given it a lot of thought just like Pmc365 I’m sticking with bricks and mortar, for now anyway.

 

[fayf]

Its Bord Gais, they told me a few months back they do not accept non Irish bank accounts. I just asked again for an update from them, in case the position has changed, but CCPC have today advised they are breaking the rules, and they will follow it up if i correspond with them and get nowhere

Just updating on Bord Gais. I emailed back and forth, they initially told me by email they accept ALL EU banks for DD, and asked me to update my online account with the German Bank details, the details were not accepted, and there is a note clearly stating only Irish Bank Accounts allowed. So, i went back and they asked mento ring Customer Service, who changed it manually for me over the phone. When i asked the rep about this, he said there were issues with the system accepting non Irish Bank details.

Its sorted now, but it seems they are discouraging customers from using non Irish Bank Accounts, and have a system which is not fit for purpose.

This is their online portal where you enter your Bank Details for DD.