N26 partners with Stripe to make bank account top-ups instant for over 7 million clients

Challenge

To use an N26 account, a user needs to add funds to it. For N26, it’s vital that this top-up process is frictionless so that clients can be successfully onboarded and gain value from the platform fast. N26 was already offering traditional methods (such as SEPA transfer) to add funds to an account. However, it decided to turn to an external partner to add new payment methods for faster, more convenient top-ups.

Solution

N26 turned to Stripe, which it runs on AWS, to offer credit card, debit card, and digital wallet top-up options directly within the N26 app. As a bank, N26 knew it had to choose a provider it could trust, and one that its security, legal, and engineering teams would have confidence in. “We chose Stripe for its security and compliance in addition to its technology-first mindset which is strongly aligned to ours,” comments Laurens Debeyter, Head of Strategic Project Management. “We have always been impressed with Stripe’s commitment to investing in innovation and their team’s openness to co-create solutions with us.”

Results

Once fully onboarded and all compliance checks were
completed, N26 was able to launch its first MVP with Stripe within 6 weeks, from kicking off development to having the first user top-up their account. “Stripe’s strong documentation and easy-to-use APIs allowed our technical teams to move significantly faster than we normally can with other external vendors.” The result was a frictionless onboarding experience, enabling N26 customers to create and begin using their new bank account in only 8 minutes.

A partner for international expansion in Europe and the US

N26 now operates in 25 markets and looks to Stripe as a key partner in its geographic expansion. “Working with Stripe has been a strategic choice. Thanks to Stripe’s global footprint and the set up of how Stripe operates, including data separation and separate login environments, adding a new payment method has often been as easy as flipping a switch.” Stripe has been an especially strategic partner as N26 became the first European online-only bank to enter the US market. “Something we really value in our relationship with Stripe is their ability to advise and support us on choosing the right payment methods for each market and how to bring them to life seamlessly.”

Reducing friction and providing a digital banking experience which is simple and transparent has always been our goal. Thanks to Stripe, our users are able to instantly add funds to their account using the payment methods they prefer. Knowing that top-ups via SEPA transfers can take 1+ day on average, this is a significant time saving for our users.