Germany is well - known by its strong, conservative, longstanding banking system. But starting from this year it will also be known as a motherland of banking innovations and revolutions. The German startup which is called Number26 is creating a history today. They are trying to build a new financial experience in Europe and expend their services even further.
What make it so special is that one can create a bank account in about 8 minutes using only smartphone or tablet. You can complete three simple steps without even leaving home:
Download the iOS or Android app;
Make a video phone call
Show the passport to a representative.
That’s it. You can transfer money to your bank account and to get a Master Card. Although, Number26 created an idea and implemented it, they do not hold the customers money. It is a Wirecard Bank (official partner of Number26) that has a banking license and which creates banking account (IBAN) for the customers. So, don’t be afraid of the online fraud.
You may ask: «What is so special in fast registration, nowadays a lot of banks are trying to make it easier?” However, there are galore of other options that simplify your banking experience. Let’s take a look at some of them.
First of all, you can set up real-time push notifications on all transactions on your bank account. For example, Number26 will send you a notification when your card is still in the card reader or you lack of money for the further purchasing. Secondly, the smart statistics on your phone will show you not only how much you have spent but also will plan your budget for the next period. Thirdly, you can send money to your contacts via text message or email.
However, all that have been mentioned before is a tip of the iceberg. What is really brilliant is that Number26 do not take fee for account management or for issuing a MasterCard. They get money from cuts on all the transactions that MasterCard is making for startup’s clients. Imagine it, you do not even need to pay for the international transfers.
A smart technology allows you to keep it safe with a fingerprint protection option. For instance, you can block the card or deactivate an online payments in one tap in your Application.
Moreover, Number26 develops its product and are trying to add more innovative features. Just take a look at withdrawing system. The card can be cash out in thousands of grocery stores in Germany. It will be also available in France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia and Spain soon. The company also enabled customizable overdraft.
On the top of that, company are planning to create a financial hub, which will include not only bank transfers, but also will provide credits to the customers, integrate savings and insurance products into the app. And it seems possible to do for the startup that has already created almost as much buzz as PayPal had done at the start of their journey. 80.000 clients for less than a year do mean something, doesn’t it?
In a nutshell, you have to understand that for a traditional consumer banking sector, the Internet has enabled people to bank online and through mobile apps for some time, but the experience often feels as though it was built for another era. Number26 is going all-in with a service that focuses on user-friendliness, innovative approaches and was built with smartphones in mind. And it shows how the bank of the future could look like.
