French customers want to sue N26

A lawyer accuses the bank of "completely arbitrarily" blocking money when bank customers needed it.

In France, more than 50 customers apparently want to sue the Berlin-based neobank N26. Their accusation: the bank allegedly blocked their money completely arbitrarily when they needed it. The case is due to be heard in court in April. In a Facebook group with 685 members, customers claim that N26 simply closed their account and withheld their money. This is reported by Finance Forward. According to the report, a lawyer told the French news channel RMC"We've never seen anything like it: That a bank, on its own initiative and completely arbitrarily and without authorization, blocks the money of a customer who needs it to carry out everyday transactions."

According to the allegation, customers have not received three to four-digit sums back for months. Meanwhile, N26 apparently speaks of a "routine check" in connection with the fight against money laundering. Customers would see their money again. In France, there are only a few hundred account closures per year for every 2.5 million customers.

The current cases could be an indication that N26 is tightening its measures against money laundering: The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) had already called on the neobank to take stronger measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in May 2021. In November, the supervisory authority ordered that the bank may only accept 50,000 new customers per month from November 6.