Yesterday, the Banca D’Italia or Bank of Italy – the country’s central bank – issued a statement banning N26 from accepting new customers. The central bank said that the decision follows an on-site inspection that “revealed significant shortcomings in respect of anti-money laundering.”
The Bank stated that N26 has taken a number of actions to remedy these shortcomings and the Bank of Italy intends to verify that all the issues that have been detected have been addressed.
The Bank said that N26 may no longer engage with new customers and from offering new products and services to existing customers – mentioning specifically cryptocurrency services.
The ban went into effect on March 28, 2022.
N26 is a Germany-based digital bank with global aspirations. The company exited the US market last year after two years of struggling to attract sufficient business. N26 reports more than 7 million customers – mainly in Europe – operating in 24 different markets.
In 2021, N26 was fined €4.25 million by German regulators for insufficient anti-money laundering controls.
Last October, N26 announced temporary changes to customer onboarding that may slow down the process of opening new accounts.