German smartphone bank Number26 will expand across Europe, opening its mobile-only account to consumers in France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia, and Spain, according to a release. The expansion brings the total number of countries where Number26 is active to eight, following its initial launch in Germany and Austria earlier this year.
The markets we chose to enter now are perfect examples of a bad user experience and overpriced retail banking products,” said CFO and founder Maximilian Tayenthal. “It’s here we start to build the first true pan-European bank.”
The move into new markets comes six months after the startup scooped EUR10 million in funding from Valar Ventures, marking the second European fintech investment by Peter Thiel’s fund, which had previously invested in Transferwise. The Number26 bank account features account opening in eight minutes via a video phone chat and the presentation of a passport. The account comes with a MasterCard and offers individual security settings, convenient financial management tools and push notifications for every transaction.
The company claims to have opened 80,00 accounts since it opened for business in Berlin at the start of the year.
“Our vision from the start has been to build Europe’s first bank account for the smartphone,” commented CEO and founder Valentin Stalf. “We see traditional banks as having failed to adapt to the demands of the digital generation.”
