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Before moving to Europe, I spent the better part of a year researching what banks would be the best for international travel and living worldwide. What bank would make banking for travellers easy? I checked all the Canadian banks to see what low rates and overseas advantages were able to be given. I thought I had found the Holy Grail when I came across HSBC.
HSBC
The Hong Kong and Singapore Banking Corporation boasted that it had hundreds of offices all over the world. After several meetings with some of the bankers and account managers at the office in downtown Red Deer, Alberta, I decided to open an account as I was told that I would be able to open an account in Europe as well and connect them easily for free. That way, I would be able to easily move money between Europe and Canada without any problem. This makes banking for travellers easy, right? Wrong!
After months of preparing my accounts to be able to do just that mixed with loads of promises from the bank manager, I finally arrived in Austria. I called the location in Vienna to set up an appointment and there was no answer. I periodically called throughout the day and then throughout the week to no avail. I finally decided to call one of the locations in Germany as I was meant to end up there anyway Turns out there are investment and holdings locations all over Europe, but not many, if any, banking locations outside the UK within Europe.
With that, a whole year of planning and prepping was all for naught. I transferred my money to my girlfriend’s account and went back to researching for a new bank that would have the maximum benefit for travellers.
The Search Commenced
The next thing I knew, I was back to combing through information for dozens of banks. This time not limiting my search to Canada, Germany, and Austria. Instead, I decided to look all over Europe and North America.
North American banks have a very heavy reliance on and encouragement of credit. You’re going into debt, makes them money. If you carefully build your credit by immediately paying it off they will give you larger lines of credit. This system has been the pitfall of many young men and women. Plummeting them into debt.
Therefore, I decided against going with a North American bank and continued to pursue research into European banks. A few months later, I found what I was looking for: N26.
A Bank For Travellers
I have found that banking for travellers is something that was always riddled with complications and annoyances. N26 took all that away. In their free account, N26 Standard, you have access to 3 extra spaces(free subaccounts) as well as a 100% online banking system. It gives you 5 free withdrawals from an ATM per month and a debit MasterCard to use both in-store and online.
Every Account also comes with an overdraft (if you are eligible) starting at 1,000 for new members but after a time increasing up to 10k. I believe every account also comes with “rules” which you can set to send a certain amount of money from the main account to one of the spaces on a certain day of the month. Rules may only be eligible for Smart and above, though.
If you go with the Standard business account, you also get 0.1% cashback and deposit protection up to 100,000 Euros.
N26 Smart & Business smart
If you upgrade to the N26 Smart account for 4.95 Euros (dollars in the US) a month you have unlimited withdrawals in the Eurozone, 10 spaces (including shared spaces), with only a 1.7% fee for withdrawals in foreign currencies. Not only that but starting at the Smart account, you start getting access to exclusive offers from their partnered brands. Smart also has MasterCard 3D Secure for added authentication and a Deposit Guarantee Scheme for up to 100,000 Euros/Dollars.
N26 You & Business You
The third tier is N26 You. At 9.90 a month, this is where banking for travellers gets kicked up a few notches. N26 You comes with travel insurance that covers emergency medical expenses, luggage loss and delay, Trip curtailment or cancellation, compensation for delayed flights, winter sports emergency coverage, and Mobility insurance. The unlimited withdrawals are also upgraded to fee-free payments and withdrawals worldwide. With the recent pandemic, they have also included pandemic and epidemic insurance in their travel insurance.
You also have zero foreign currency fees, 0.1% cashback, and travel insurance for business and pleasure with the business account.
N26 Metal & Business Metal
The final tier for personal accounts is N26 Metal. For 16.90 per month, Metal upgrades your travel insurance to cover cell phones for up to 1000 Euros and car rental insurance as well. On top of this, metal also offers you exclusive experiences and hand-picked offers from their partners.
With the business account, you get everything with the previous and personal accounts as well as 0.5% cashback on all purchases.
In Conclusion:
Now although banking for travellers can be an absolute pain I believe N26 is the best bank for both travellers and businesses that rely heavily on travel. Just the travel insurance that comes with the You and Metal make it worth it.
However, there is no possible way I have seen or tried every bank. So do you have any bank recommendations for travellers? If so what are they? Do you agree with my assessment of N26? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below!
