Since its thunderous beginnings in the European Fintech ecosystem, the German neobank N26 is often cited as one of the spearheads in the sector. But for several months, the success story has taken a worrying turn. While she is struggling to get out of a succession of governance and compliance crises, her British rival Revolut Caracole in the lead, crystallizing the attention of markets and customer confidence.
The first will be the last
However, everything had started well for the German Fintech. Created in 2013 in Berlin, N26 had managed to attract more than 10 million customers in just 10 years. Its promise: simplify the bank, break the codes of the sector, offer a 100 % mobile experience and exceed the limits imposed by historic players. Mayonnaise takes: in the middle of accelerated digitalization period, N26 becomes a model and raises more than $ 1.7 billion, and reached a valuation of more than 9 billion in the fall of 2021.
The trajectory is however frelated by the rigidity of regulators. From 2021, the Bafin – the German financial gendarme – imposed severe restrictions on its growth. Main source of concern: weakness of anti-flowage devices and shortcomings in risk management. N26 can no longer recruit as he pleases: a ceiling of 60,000 new monthly customers is set until May 2024, a period which should have been used to put the organization back on rails.
Unfortunately, the summer of 2025 confirms the stagnation of governance. A new Bafin report comes to “new gaps” in internal controls. If the precise content is not public, it arouses an immediate reaction from historic shareholders, including Third Point Ventures and Coatue Management. The latter now question the capacity of the two founders, Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal, to put the company from the Aplomb: they demand their departure from the operating head of the company, in exchange for the renunciation of a part of their return on investment.
The Financial Times Already evokes the possible temporary appointment of Marcus MosenChairman of the Supervisory Board, time to stabilize management and find a successor. A compromise seems to be emerging: the founders would renounce their special voting rights, integrate the supervisory board and let an experienced manager take over.
Meanwhile, Revolut Cartonne
This internal crisis comes at a particularly strategic moment for the company. After the growth of the growth ceilings, N26 displayed ambitions for reconquest: development of an “all-in-one” application integrating current account, trading tools and even mobile telephony. The neobank has even recruited nearly 200,000 new customers each month since the end of 2024. She even set out to find new funding to support her expansion and respond to the consolidation of the sector.
But faced with the dazzling boom in Revolut, which goes on fundraising, multiplies banking delegations in Europe and succeeds in establishing itself as a global player in payment, investment and exchange of currencies, N26’s weaknesses become more and more visible. This difference in trajectory does not escape investors: the image of N26 crumbs to the recurrence of regulatory alerts and governance movements.
The situation is all the more problematic since N26 must deal with suspicions relayed by the international press – In particular allegations formulated by the Russian media The Bell, according to which the German Fintech would have been used indirectly to bypass the sanctions linked to the SWIFT system. If these accusations have not been formally proven, they participate in the deleterious atmosphere and feed the distrust of regulators and markets.
In this climate of tension, N26 must therefore take up two challenges: reassure the German supervisory authority and convince investors to support an expansion strategy against the backdrop of internal turbulence. The condition set by large funds (dismissing the founders in favor of experienced crisis management) can open a new chapter, provided that the execution follows and that confidence returns.
For the moment, and unlike Revolut which masters its image and accelerates its development, N26 gives the impression of a drifting company. Is there a pilot on the plane?
- N26 undergoes a major governance crisis: its own investors require the withdrawal of the two founders after a new regulatory alert.
- The German fintech struggles to reassure the bafin, which still points to compliance gaps
- Meanwhile, its historic Revolut rival continues its insolent growth
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