N26 Switzlerland Review (2024)

As of October 2024, N26 remains a popular choice for Swiss residents looking for a bank account in EUR. Our review of N26 covers the app, its features, and the ease of account opening, which is fully online and takes only 10 minutes. With both free and paid account options, N26 positions itself as an attractive alternative to Swiss neobanks like Yuh or Alpian. Although the account is exclusively in EUR and comes with a German IBAN, N26 is ideal for frequent travelers or those making regular transactions within the Eurozone.

N26 Switzerland Review – The Best EUR Bank Account in Switzerland ?

N26 (previously Number26) is a German neobank created in 2013. It’s been granted an EU banking licence.

With more than 500.000 customers in France and more than 1.5 million in Europe, N26 launched in Switzerland in September 2019, then opening its 26th market.

N26 is an alternative to Alpian and Yuh Bank, which offer multi-currency accounts in CHF, EUR, USD, and GBP.

N26 currently offers 3 types of private accounts in Switzerland:

Account Opening with N26 Switzerland – 10/10

N26 allows you to open a mobile bank account within a few minutes from your smartphone.

What are the bank account requirements

This neobank is very interesting for expatriates in Switzerland, travellers and students doing an exchange in Europe.

The Business offer is suitable for freelancers doing business with other European countries.

How to open an account with N26 Switzerland

N26 promise a bank account in 8 minutes :

1. Request your account here and get €30 FREE
2. Download the N26 app
3. Verify your identity via the application
4. Add funds to your N26 account (recommended)
5. It’s done! You account is opened

The opening process is quick and simple, but if you’re not sure, continue reading.
Unlike large Swiss banks, N26 will not ask you to provide paper documents. Everything happens in the mobile app.
This video shows you how to verify your identity with N26:

N26 Switzerland ID Check

The N26 account allows you to make all the standard transactions (bank transfer, direct debit, etc.) like with any Swiss bank account. But, there is a main difference: the N26 account is in EUR.

The virtual MasterCard is free. If you want a plastic – physical – MasterCard you’ll to subscribe for N26 Smart (€4.90/month) and you will receive it by mail  within 5 to 10 days.

Our opinion on the account opening with N26 Switzerland

Usability and customers reviews of the N26 app – 9/10

N26 being a neobank, a lot has be done to ensure a great user experience:

• The app is fast and intuitive
• Menus are clear and well organised
• Essential features are always visible

The N26 app is rated 4,7 on the Apple Store and 4 on Google Play (65 000 reviews) :

N26 Switzerland App Store Reviews

N26 Switzerland Google Play Reviews

The app is on par with Revolut for example and deserves a 9 out of 10.

Review of N26 Switzerland App Features – 7/10

As a neobank, N26 offer all their services through a mobile application. That means it’s possible to do almost everything from your smartphone:

• Access your payment history
• Make new payments
• Create and share spaces (from the Smart plan)
• Block or freeze your card
• Change the daily and monthly limit of the card
• Change your personal details
• Contact the customer service by Chat
• Change your subscription
• …

The list of features is very complete but some specific to Switzerland are missing:

• eBill not available
• TWINT not available
• Scan of invoices not available

In Switzerland, several neobanks offer eBill and TWINT. Yuh has the advantage of having an integrated TWINT application: Yuh TWINT

And some others can be improved:

Spaces allow you to share sub-accounts and to save money

N26 Spaces

Card settings are very useful

Unlike Revolut, card settings are very precise, N26 allows you to block online payments or block cash withdrawals.

N26 Card Settings

We can only regret that N26 is not available in CHF and does not offer TWINT and eBill, otherwise it would certainly be the ideal neobank for Switzerland.

N26 Switzerland Credit Card Review – 5/10

N26 only offers a free virtual Debit MasterCard in Switzerland.

To get the “plastic” card you need to pay €4.90/month and get the Smart plan, which is actually a downgrade from the initial N26 offer that was including a plastic debit card for free.

N26 Switzerland Debit Card

The virtual debit MasterCard is still a very good option for online shopping and travelling using your smartphone, since it can be linked to Apple Pay or Google Pay.

N26 Fees in Switzerland – 7/10

The N26 Standard account is free and includes a virtual debit MasterCard.

N26 MasterCard fees

N26 includes a free virtual debit MasterCard with the Standard account. It used to be a free “plastic” card:

N26 Debit Card Mastercard

The N26 virtual card is free when used as a payment method, that means for online shopping and mobile payments. There is no fee for payment in foreign currencies and N26 applies the Mastercard’s exchange rates without adding any extra fee or commission.

Cash withdrawals are not always:

1. Up to 3 free cash withdrawals in EUR in Switzerland, then €2 each
2. Cash withdrawals in CHF in Switzerland are subjected to 1,7 % commission
3. Up to 5 free cash withdrawals in EUR in Europe, then €2 each
4. Cash withdrawals in other currencies are subjected to 1,7 % commission

N26 MasterCard limits

N26 has 2 types of limits for payments and withdrawals:

• Card payment limit: maximum of €2,500 per day and €20,000 per month
• Cash withdrawal limit: maximum of €2 500 per day and €20,000 per month

Bank transfers in Switzerland in CHF

Not possible. The N26 account is only available in EUR, it is not suitable for payments in CHF within Switzerland.

For free transfers in Switzerland, it is better to use Swiss neobanks like Neon, YUH or ZAK.

SEPA transfer fees in EUR

Like most neobanks, N26 offers free SEPA transfers in EUR within the SEPA zone. You can create a SEPA payment within seconds from the app.

International SWIFT payments

For bank transfers in foreign currencies (other than EUR), N26 use the services of Wise (TransfertWise) and currently includes 18 foreign currencies (GBP, USD, YEN, Yuan…).
Fees applied by TransfertWise are between 0.5% – 1.5% of the amount transferred,

MoneyBeam: instant money transfert

MoneyBeam is a service created by N26 that allows you to instantly transfer money to another N26 account, for free.

Our opinion about the N26 fees in Switzerland

N26 fees are very clear and transparent. They did not add extra complexity like Revolut.
You get a EUR account, and they allow you to withdraw EUR for free in Switzerland as long as you are a Swiss resident.  SEPA transfers are also free.

But since they “downgraded” the Mastercard to virtual card and kind of force you to get the Smart plan is you want one, we feel that N26 pricing is not cheap anymore, and the free plan is not complete.

N26 Transactions’ Speed – 9/10

A wire transfer from a Swiss bank to another Swiss bank is instant, it usually takes a few seconds before showing up on the other account. But N26 is not a Swiss bank and offer different features.

The main purpose of the N26 account is to deal with EUR payments and SEPA bank transfers. Other currencies are handled by Wise (TransferWise).

Our experience is that EUR bank transfers with N26 are very fast, they usually take about 1 hour, sometimes 1 day. Which is far better than large banks in the EURO zone and better than Revolut.

N26 is not the fastest for SEPA transfer: Bunq – a neobank based in the Netherlands – offers instant SEPA transfers!
This is a 9/10 à N26 on this criteria

N26 Switzerland Customer Service Review – 7/10

N26 – Livechat available from monday to sunday – 07:00 to 23:00

With N26, the LiveChat is available quickly within a wide time range. The virtual assistant gets you to wait (usually less than a minute) until a human takes over the conversation.

The N26 agents are well trained and can usually solve any issue very quickly.

(*) Coincidence or irony, the name of the N26 virtual assistant is Neon.

N26 Customer Service Chatbot

N26 Customer Service Livechat

This is a screenshot of the N26 TrustPilot Rating we took in July 2020. It was at 4.2 out of 12 167 reviews:

N26 TrustPilot Rating in July 2020

And less than 3 years later, this is the new N26 TrustPilot Rating: only 3.2 out of 27’157 reviews:

N26 TrustPilot Rating in June 2023

There has been a sharp rise of unhappy customers (29% bad reviews) reporting account closed, issues with customer service and more.

It is not our experience even if we noticed that N26 have increased their compliance procedures over the years, which can be annoying at times. -3 points.

Our Final Opinion on N26 Switzerland

Since N26 is only available in EUR, this account may not be ideal if you are looking for a solution primarily for use in Switzerland. However, it is an excellent option if you travel regularly within the Eurozone, particularly to France and Germany. One of the main advantages is the free EUR withdrawals at ATMs in Switzerland, which sets N26 apart from many other Swiss banks.

If you need an account in EUR, N26 remains an attractive option, with a quick account opening process and easy-to-use features. Despite having a German IBAN, it is a viable alternative for your frequent EUR transactions.

In conclusion, if you need an account in EUR, N26 can be a solid choice. However, other neobanks like Alpian and Yuh may better meet your local needs, offering multi-currency options and Swiss IBANs.

Yuh vs N26 – Which is the Best EUR Account

Here is our quick decision chart for choosing between Yuh and N26, both accounts are useful for making payments abroad:

To find out how each criterion is judged, read our article Yuh vs N26 – Comparison of October 2024

Neon vs N26 – Which is the Best Bank Account for Travel

Here is our quick decision chart for choosing between Neon and N26, both accounts are useful when traveling:

To find out how each criterion is judged, read our article Neon vs N26 – Comparison of October 2024

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about N26 Switzerland

No, the N26 account is more suitable for use in the EURO zone.