N26 expands into share and ETF trading, directly challenging Trade Republic with competitive offerings and a partnership with Upvest.

The smartphone bank N26 is expanding its product range: the Berlin-based start-up will offer customers in Germany the opportunity to trade shares and ETFs in future, as the fintech announced in Berlin on Wednesday.

The neo-bank is not only competing against established financial institutions, but is also intensifying its competition with the Berlin start-up Trade Republic.

N26’s competitor Trade Republic was launched in 2015 as a neo-broker with share and ETF trading (exchange-traded funds) and recently expanded its product portfolio with a credit card and a fixed-term deposit offer.

N26 co-founder Valentin Stalf said: “We are now launching in Germany with over 200 shares and 100 ETFs.” The range will then be expanded to over 1,000 shares and over 1,000 ETFs over the next few months. We are operating in a market in which one in six consumers already invests in shares.

Upvest Partnership

Share and ETF trading is technically implemented through a partnership with the company Upvest. The Berlin-based fintech offers banks the brokerage and custody of investment products via a program interface (API). N26 had initially enabled customers in Austria to trade ETFs since January.

With a flat fee of 90 cents per trade, N26 undercuts its competitor Trade Republic by a few cents.

Trading with Cryptocurrency

Depending on the account model, N26 offers up to four percent interest on fixed-term deposits, bringing it into line with the offer from competitor Trade Republic.

The increase in interest rates for call money accounts will come into effect on April 9.

Since January 2023, N26 has also enabled customers in Germany to trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Stalf said that the use of the crypto offering depends heavily on the price of Bitcoin. “If the price rises or even reaches an all-time high, then there will be more trading.”

Business Performance

The N26 CEO expressed his satisfaction with the current course of business: “We are on the right track with our business figures towards the black. As announced, we will achieve profitability on a monthly basis in the second half of the year.”

N26 is active in 24 countries in Europe – including Switzerland – and employs around 1,500 people, including around 1,000 in Berlin.

©Keystone/SDA