Italian financial regulator apparently restricts new customer business at N26

After the decision on a Europe-wide new customer limit, Neobank has to cope with another setback.

It was only in the fall of 2021 that Neobank N26 had to cope with a bitter setback: The German Bafin had imposed a new customer limit on the fintech - and it was Europe-wide. The start-up is now only allowed to accept 50,000 new customers per month.

Now comes another hurdle: Italy's financial regulator has apparently banned N26 from accepting new customers, the website Finance Forward reports. Accordingly, Italy is already listed in the "Markets closed" section on N26's support website.

For Italians, there is now a waiting list. They get the following message: "Thank you for your interest and trust in N26. We are currently improving our experience and need to ask you for some patience. Please join our waiting list and we will get back to you soon to welcome you."

N26 has also already confirmed the order, according to the media report. It said the authority is calling for anti-money laundering improvements for the Italian market. However, it said the complaints have already been addressed to a large extent and the company is working with the regulator to implement improvements in a timely manner.