What N26 is
N26 is a Berlin-based digital bank founded in 2013 by Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal. It operates through N26 Bank SE, which holds a German banking license supervised by BaFin, and serves customers in 24 European markets entirely through its app. At the end of 2025 it had 5.6 million revenue-relevant customers and more than $11.9 billion (€10.5 billion) in deposits.
How N26 makes money
In 2025 N26 Group reported ~$567 million (€501.6 million) in revenue and ~$396 million (€350.5 million) in gross profit. Net fee and commission income, mainly Smart, Go and Metal subscriptions and card interchange on ~$193 billion (€170.7 billion) of transaction volume, was ~$208 million (€184.2 million) (53% of gross profit). Net interest income from deposits, treasury assets, overdrafts and consumer loans was ~$188 million (€166.3 million) (47%). Investing and crypto trading, offered with Upvest and Bitpanda, add commissions.
From growth cap to first profit
N26 grew quickly after its 2015 launch and obtained its own license in 2016. In 2021, the year it raised $900 million at about a $9 billion valuation, BaFin limited new customer intake to about 50,000 a month over anti-money-laundering weaknesses and later fined the bank for late suspicious activity reports. The cap was lifted in June 2024. N26 posted its first quarterly profit in Q3 2024 and its first full-year net profit, ~$1.81 million (€1.6 million), in 2025, after a ~$47.5 million (€42.0 million) loss in 2024. Preliminary Q1 2026 net income was ~$11.1 million (€9.8 million).
Who runs and owns N26
Both founders left executive roles in 2025 after BaFin raised new governance concerns. Mike Dargan, previously group chief operations and technology officer at UBS, became CEO in April 2026, and Andreas Dombret chairs the Supervisory Board. N26 is privately held by its founders, employees and investors including Valar Ventures, Earlybird, Insight Partners, Tencent, Allianz X, Coatue, Third Point Ventures and Dragoneer.
Competitors
N26 competes with Revolut, Bunq, Trade Republic, Monzo and Wise among fintechs, and with incumbents such as Deutsche Bank, ING, BNP Paribas and Santander that have improved their apps. Revolut is far larger, so N26 focuses on being a regulated primary account in Germany, France, Spain and Italy.
