Germany’s financial regulator, BaFin, has removed a cap on
the number of new customers that digital bank N26 can onboard, effective June
1. The cap, originally set in 2021, restricted N26 to onboarding a maximum of
50,000 new customers per month, which was later increased to 60,000 last year.
Removing Onboarding Cap
The lifting of the cap follows a period of extensive
discussions between N26 and BaFin aimed at enhancing measures to combat
financial crime and money laundering. This decision comes in the wake of a €9.2
million fine imposed by BaFin on N26 for systematically submitting suspected money
laundering reports late in 2022.
Over the past two years, N26 reports that it has invested more
than €100 million in compliance, infrastructure, and team development to
address money laundering issues as it prepares to increase customer onboarding.
The bank has introduced advanced technology, including intelligence-based
models to assess fraud potential before account opening and self-learning
transaction monitoring systems.
Maximilian Tayenthal, Co-CEO and COO, N26, commented: “Our
infrastructure and our use of modern, intelligence-based technology enable us
to detect and combat fraud and money laundering in real time. We want to play a
pioneering role among European banks in this field over the next few years.”
BaFin lifts N26 customer onboarding cap https://t.co/Ln1YHCcKvU
— Finextra (@Finextra) May 28, 2024
Introducing Joint Accounts in 21 European Countries
Earlier, N26
launched joint accounts in 21 European countries, including Austria,
Belgium, Spain, and Sweden, allowing users to manage shared finances via its
app without paperwork, as reported by Finance
Magnates.
These accounts provide dedicated IBANs, enabling users to
track expenses, filter by participant, and manage monthly budgets for shared
costs like rent. Each participant has full legal ownership and access to smart
insights for transparent financial management. This new feature complements
N26’s existing Shared Spaces, which allows creating sub-accounts with close
contacts.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.
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