Fintech/News/ N26 pulls out of the UK, citing Brexit. But numbers suggest the German bank was struggling The German digital bank has pulled the plug just a year into its play in the UK. Has Brexit claimed a major fintech victim, or is this a case of international expansion gone wrong? By Isabel Woodford 11 February 2020 N26 N26 \Fintech The roles Klarna is cutting down on By Mimi Billing 26 May 2022 Fintech/News/ N26 pulls out of the UK, citing Brexit. But numbers suggest the German bank was struggling The German digital bank has pulled the plug just a year into its play in the UK. Has Brexit claimed a major fintech victim, or is this a case of international expansion gone wrong? By Isabel Woodford 11 February 2020 Berlin-based digital bank N26 is pulling out of the UK, blaming the country’s decision to leave the European Union last month. The financial startup, which has raised $670m to date, said on Tuesday that it will “be unable to operate in the UK with our EU banking licence so we will be leaving the UK and closing all accounts” in April. On the face of it, the move is a high-profile casualty of Brexit and will add to fears about the move to leave the political bloc hurting London’s tech and startup ecosystem. But industry experts have immediately started to question if Brexit was the main reason for the move, or if weak performance was also to blame amid tough competition in the UK digital banking market. Firstly, N26 knew the Brexit was coming. It launched in Britain in October 2018, over two years after the Brexit vote and 6 months before the UK was originally scheduled to leave the EU. Last October, it even reassured users in a since-deleted blog that they would “not experience any changes… regardless of the 31 October outcome.” Moreover, data compiled by Sifted in December suggested N26 was struggling to catch up in the UK, after expanding out of Germany. Despite having over 5m customers globally, among British fintechs, N26 ranked far behind its local peers like Monzo and Revolut by monthly active users (MAUs), coming in 19th place. While N26’s late arrival in the UK went some way to explaining its smaller user base, download data in December ranked N26’s app in 16th place for the fintechs; a metric which ultimately contradicted its “high-growth” narrative. Sarah Kocianski, head of research at fintech consultancy 11:FS, said on Twitter following the N26 announcement: “No-one in the industry is really surprised by this. Why bother getting, and maintaining a license (along with regulatory capital) in a market where you face stiff competition, when you could go many other places where you don’t?” The post mortem N26 likely struggled to differentiate itself from its peers in an already heavily-populated digital market. “Why should I bank with N26 versus another one? That’s the question that we need to answer, very clearly. That’s my biggest challenge,” Will Sorby, N26’s UK general manager, admitted to Sifted last year. Their strategy seemed to be a work in progress. N26’s user-experience ratings also put it behind its three UK peers, creeping below 4* on average. Ratings for the digital banks for iOS and Google Play. Source: App Annie. It’s also possible UK customers had less appetite to pay for N26’s Premium offering than their German neighbours. For context, 30-35% of N26’s customers worldwide are Premium users, but the firm declined, when approached in December, to disclose what percentage of its UK userbase were paying for their accounts and generating revenue. On hearing the news, one senior executive at a competitor digital bank told Sifted: “If you go all out for growth without working out how to be profitable you risk running out of cash. What you need to aim for is sustainable growth,” they said. Nonetheless, just two months ago, N26 remained resolute that it was in a strong position. “Having only set out in the UK just over a year ago we’re still only at the beginning of our mission to bring a better, more personalised banking experience to UK customers,” Will Sorby, N26’s UK general manager, told Sifted at the end of last year. Today, the firm claimed geo-political instability was the reason it was cutting short its UK plans. “With the UK having left the EU, we will in due course be unable to operate in the UK with our EU banking licence, so we will be leaving the UK and closing all accounts. We’ve made careful plans to support customers, and are sorry to have to leave,” it commented on Twitter. The UK isn’t the N26’s only high-risk international endeavour. N26 has also expanded into the US, where it’s seeing more impressive growth. Related Articles “We want 10m American users” — How Europe’s digital banks are taking on the US By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more Another challenger bank is trying its luck in the UK. This is how it hopes to sweep the market By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more Member Digital banks Monzo, Revolut, Starling and N26 compared By Isabel Woodford and Kim Darrah Click here to read more Most Read 1 \Startup Life Tech company layoffs in Europe: the list 2 \Consumer Gorillas halves its headcount at HQ 3 \Startup Life From Revolut to Back Market: the European startups still hiring despite the tech downturn 4 \Venture Capital Ranking: UK tech startups to watch in 2022 5 \Startup Life Why startup founders should always pay themselves a fair market salary 7 Join the conversation Subscribe newest oldest Notify of new follow-up comments new replies to my comments Jeff BurkeThe real test for all these startups comes with the next recession. And btw, any new entrant gets 5 mill users, these are the bottom feeders swinging from app to app, it means nothing. StuartThe fact that N26 reassured users that they would “not experience any changes… regardless of the 31 October outcome.” means nothing. Many companies put a brave face on things (to do otherwise would be a bit Ratner), but have subsequently changed their tune. CarPhone Warehouse, John Lewis, Norton Motorcycles, all come to mind. Umar SaeedMore like COA (cost of acquisition) being the real issue as you end up burning a whole lot of cash fast! You cannot sustain a business model where numbers are all the talk, without looking at the underlying cost of each user. Michael StothardA lesson we often have to learn the hard way… Ian McDonaldI do notice that they are in the USA, and last time I checked that wasn’t in the EU. Michael StothardHa yes quite StuartThey haven’t got a licence there, they have had to partner with Axos Bank. Less than ideal but for a market the size of the USA, worth a punt.
“We want 10m American users” — How Europe’s digital banks are taking on the US By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more
Another challenger bank is trying its luck in the UK. This is how it hopes to sweep the market By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more
Member Digital banks Monzo, Revolut, Starling and N26 compared By Isabel Woodford and Kim Darrah Click here to read more