One of Europe’s most popular digital banks is entering the cryptocurrency market in partnership with Bitpanda.
N26, one of the largest online banks in Germany, announced on Thursday its strategic collaboration with Bitpanda, Austrian fintech service provider, to launch crypto trading services on its mobile app.
The bank is renowned for its account opening and lending services which require only a few taps and minutes on a smartphone without the need of any real branch or bank employee.
More Trading Options
N26 is targeting Bitpanda’s home market Austria and later expands into other markets in the next months. The new services will allow clients to exchange, buy and sell 200 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and XRP, among others, giving the highly volatile cryptocurrencies credibility on the world market.
The Berlin-based fintech’s research shows there is “a strong local demand” in the Austrian market, with 40% of N26 users either actively trading or having expressed interest in investing in cryptocurrencies.
According to the bank’s strategy, the service is likely to be expanded to other key markets in the next six months.
The new service is now available on the mobile app. Verified customer accounts can access N26 Crypto from the “Trading” section within their N26 app’s new “Finances” tab and start to buy or sell crypto assets.
N26 co-founder and co-CEO Valentin Stalf said that the integration of its new product in the development serves the needs of clients across the digital asset space despite the recent market turmoil.
To wit,
“While cryptocurrencies have seen a decline in value over the last year, they remain a requested and interesting asset class for investors and a growing part of the financial system.”
Bigger Markets
Under the partnership with Vienna-based Bitpanda GmbH, who is in charge of trade execution and coin custody management, the mobile bank will let customers trade crypto products at a 1.5% transaction fee for Bitcoin and 2.5% for other currencies.
The transaction charge is fixed for standard accounts, with N26 metallic card users receiving additional reductions.
The online banking giant recently made headlines after it announced its closure in the U.S. and the UK market after nearly a decade of operation.
The bank’s main goal is to expand geographically, resulting in coverage of seven million customers in 24 countries, but such positive growth has disrupted the development of other business areas such as cryptocurrency operations and stock trading.
Earlier this year, N26 said that it would launch a cryptocurrency business and even offer brokerage services in an effort to correct the company’s previous mistakes in strategic planning.
Germany’s digital bank N26 had raised $900 million in its latest funding round in October 2021, reflecting the rapidly growing trend of the financial technology sector in the European region.
The funding round valued the financial technology startup at $9 billion, creating new waves in the region with financial products and services such as checking accounts, debit cards based on new technology applications, and has also attracted more than over 7 million customers in 25 countries in the participating region.
N26 joins a number of digital and traditional banks having recently evolved into blockchain technology as customers demand access to crypto trading services.
It is clear that the combination of banking with fintech has given N26 opportunities to provide diversified financial services in innovative ways.
N26 has applied many new technologies, many new strategies, improved management techniques, supported supply chain management innovation, helping N26 achieve competitive advantages that few traditional banks can have. However, the bank might take a slower approach to crypto in comparison to other rivals.
Revolut Ltd. and Vivid Money GmbH, two N26’s leading competitors previously launched crypto trading to its customers.
Even Visa and Mastercard, the two financial giants, already offered customers trade crypto products and Web3 services through their bank accounts.
