A Comparison of Wise or N26 as FinTech Account – The era of stashing all your cash under your mattress to escape high banking fees and hoping you don’t get robbed is more than over. Nowadays there are digital bank accounts that come with many advantages.
Thanks to financial technology or for short FinTech and an open market economy with many competitors, anyone can find an account to manage your financial funds that suits your needs. Big companies, such as Revolut, Wise, and N26 are offering all their services online. You don’t even need the physical card to pay any more, you could just use the Google pay or Apple pay app.
It’s this complicated software that allows for fast and safe payments. The fast withdrawal casino UK is one of the bigger online casino companies that use this technology. The speed of payout and withdrawal is literally a matter of time. This implies that the winnings of having been dealt a good hand in a poker game will be transferred to your account with lightning speed. The process of withdrawing from your stash for a spin on the roulette is equally as fast.
In this article, we will compare two major digital accounts, that practice what they preach. The low fees and exchange rates are truly mind-blowing inexpensive and therefore extremely beneficial for digital nomads, ex-pats, travelers, businesses, anyone basically. Is this the Walhalla platform for holding more than 53 different currencies?
Wise
Founding story
Formerly called TransferWise founded in 2011 by two Estonian friends; Taavat and Kristo. Both of them got paid in a different currency than they owned in their bank accounts. Meaning receiving funds, transferring them, or any other banking services they executed were accompanied by inhumane, towering fees. Knowing they weren’t the only ones with these issues, they decided to build a Fintech company and the rest is history…
Basic principles
As the founding story already elaborates, this platform is made for people who are dealing with different paper money.
Digital nomads, who are working around the world, can get paid in euros and transfer them into the currency applicable to the country they call home for that specific period.
Multi-currency account
The wise card can hold up to 54 different currencies. You can pay worldwide in these currencies, if you don’t hold a particular currency in your account, the wise card will automatically convert the ones you have into that specific currency. On top of that, the system only exchanges between accounts with the best rates. Amazing.
Exchange rate
The exchange rate they exercise is one of the highest as Wise promises to match the mid-market rate. As the name suggests, this is the price between the buying and selling tariff at any given moment in time.
Transaction fees
Transaction fees within the same currency are always free of cost. Where multi-currencies are used, the mid-market rate is used plus a fee with a maximum of 1%, with no extra hidden fees… Incredible, isn’t it? These are the best conditions I have ever heard of. Bravo, guys, I absolutely love it.
The account is free up to 54 currencies and if your total amount is less than 15000 euros. Otherwise, you are charged 0,40%.
Receiving money
Receiving money in the bigger currencies is free except for the dollar, when it is received by wire transfers you pay 7,50 USD.
Card fees
The transfer-wise borderless account debit card costs 7 EUR, the first two ATM withdrawals are free with a maximum of 200 EUR. After that, you’ll pay 2% on the amount and 0.50 EUR from the third withdrawal.
N 26
Founding story
In 2013 Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal started this online bank in Germany. This in a reaction to change the banking system for the better regarding exchange rates, extortionate fees and to finally to make access when traveling to your bank account easier.
Basic principles
Where a wise account is pure for holding foreign currencies and interchange between them, N26 focuses on banking features. You can even create a savings account. The interest can be as high as 1,48%. In comparison with the standard bank, this is extremely high. Unfortunately, at this time it’s only eligible for customers residing in Germany and Austria.
Multi-currency account
The digital account only provides balances in two currencies so far; EURO and GBP. Though paying is free with all cards in any currency. No hidden costs here!
Exchange rate
N26 is partnered up with Wise to profit from their incredible high mid-market rate and the low fees. This proves again that both options are very interesting. The choice you make just depends on your personal preference.
Transaction fees
See Wise
Receiving money
See Wise
Card fees
You have 4 different options when it comes to choosing an account:
- N26 standard is the free account;
- N26 Smart is 4,90 euro/month
- N26 You is 9,90 euro/month
- N26 Metal is 16,90 euro/ month
The free account is called standard, as the word implies this account can be used for standard actions. All cards offer free payments worldwide in any currency. With the You and Metal account you can even make limitless free withdrawals in any currency worldwide without any extra charge. That’s definitely a winner!
Depending on the account you get different benefits. Check the website for more info.
Similarities
Both providers have options for personal and business use. You don’t need to have a debit card to start purchasing online. Instead, both offer Google pay and Apple pay apps. In other words, you can open up an account, download one of these two apps and start playing with your digital card. Super convenient!
Conclusion
Both fintech companies have been around for a few years and that is exactly the reason why I selected them for this comparison. They are part of bigger financial institutions, N26 for example holds a German license and is a member of the German deposit protection scheme. Entailing that all your deposits up to 100 000 Euro are insured in case of bankruptcy.
Your balance on Wise is guaranteed by the law of the electronic money institution. In other words when Wise would cease existing your money is unaffected and will be returned in full. In case the Barclay bank crashes, where wise keeps his customers funds, the return of your money wouldn’t be guaranteed. But what are the chances?
I hope this article has informed you sufficiently and will help you in making a solid choice.