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Germany's most valuable fintech wants to hit 100 million clients. Top European executive Georg Hauer tells finews.com what to expect in the Swiss market.

Georg Hauer, N26 clinched $100 million in funding this week. What is the neobank doing with it? 

The additional capital will help us to serve what we expect will be a stronger global demand for mobile bank accounts. It's important for us to emphasize that the financing isn't a reaction to corona – we were in talks before the crisis began.

The U.S. is key to our ambitions»

We're using the money for developing new features and extending existing ones, as well as to roll out products that we already offer in Germany, for example. Every country has different needs, so we don't offer the same features everywhere.

And otherwise?

The second area we're investing heavily in are some major markets, in particular Germany, France, but also the U.S. As the world's largest banking market, the U.S. is a key piece of our ambition to create a global mobile bank serving millions worldwide.

How is business in Switzerland going?

We're very happy with the market development, even if our euro-denominated accounts represent a niche product. Client behavior here is, of course, a little different to other markets – though behavior can differ sharply within a single market as well. For example, in regions close to the border like Basel, we're reaching Swiss clients who tend to cross the border for their grocery shopping. 

«Not competing with Swiss banks»

In Zurich, we're popular among expats and frequent travelers. Our focus here is to offer our clients new and additional products – initially, without a banking license of our own. We're not competing directly with traditional Swiss banks. Thus far, we've managed to build a strong community of clients which hasn't been adequately served by the current market.

What new products are you referring to?

I can't say too much, but our clear focus is on bringing key and successful products from other countries into Switzerland. For example, our premium accounts N26 You and N26 Metal are very important for us.

«We want to be clients' main bank over time»

They have priority because we've build up a reliable and satisfied community of expats and frequent travelers in Switzerland who need a flexible euro-based account. Premium accounts are especially helpful for busy travelers because they have an additional layer of insurance baked in and other services like fee-free cash withdrawals of foreign currency.