The licence
N26 Bank AG holds a full German credit-institution authorisation — the same class as Deutsche Bank or Commerzbank. Deposits up to €100,000 are covered by the Entschädigungseinrichtung deutscher Banken (EdB), Germany's statutory DGS.
What the BaFin orders actually are
Two distinct things, often conflated in news coverage:
- 2021 AML growth cap. BaFin limited N26 to 50,000 new customer sign-ups per month over AML control weaknesses. The cap was fully lifted in early 2024 after remediation. This was a supervisory measure — it did not affect existing deposits or the DGS coverage.
- December 2025 capital order. BaFin required N26 to hold additional capital buffers on new mortgage lending in the Netherlands. This is a prudential measure aimed at growth-sector risk management. Again, no deposit impact.
Neither measure is a "fine" in the criminal-finance sense. Both are normal supervisor behaviour when a fast-growing bank outgrows its controls; the responses have been remediation and extra capital, not enforcement penalties.
Verdict
N26 is genuinely safe for deposits. It is supervised by the ECB directly because of its size. The BaFin orders are part of standard regulatory life, not warning signs.