N26
Published 6 November 2026, 09:07
N26 — N26 Bank SE (a German digital bank)
A bank with no branches; everything is done in the app. Behind it is the Berlin company N26 Bank SE, the first fully mobile bank with a German banking licence; it is supervised by Germany's BaFin, and deposits are protected by the German guarantee scheme up to €100,000. In Portugal it operates as a European bank, not a Portuguese one.
Where you come across it. Everyday spending, SEPA transfers and travel; an account people open before they have a Portuguese one.
Supervision and the deposit guarantee are German, not Portuguese: to take a dispute with the bank further, you go not to the Banco de Portugal but to the German authorities — the Bundesbank's arbitration board and BaFin, as the bank's own legal notice says. It is also not part of the Multibanco network: you cannot use it to pay a tax or a Segurança Social contribution with entidade and referência numbers, and the account's IBAN is German — people in online chats complain about this when they are asked for a Portuguese one.
Official website: n26.com/en-eu