Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

German digital bank N26 is facing outcry from its staff over management

German digital bank N26 is facing outcry from its staff over management

Staff at the Berlin-headquartered fintech company held two votes this week to elect a board for a works council. N26 filed two court orders to prevent workers from meeting but employees managed to find away around them. N26′s co-founders argue the German works council doesn’t fit with its culture and excludes international employees.

German digital bank N26 is grappling with discontent from some of its employees, who are trying to organize a works council to express their concerns with management.

Staff at the Berlin-headquartered fintech company held two votes this week to elect a board for the works council, which aims to represent workers in meetings with employers. They are now set to begin the process of organizing a works council election.

The move was met with fierce opposition from N26′s management, with the company filing two separate court orders to prevent both meetings from happening. Employees organizing the works council managed to find a way around the injunctions by enlisting the help of German labor unions ver.di and IG Metall.

“Trust and confidence in the management of N26 ensuring the wellbeing of the workforce as a whole is at an all time low,” the N26 workers claimed in a statement on their website. “We have seen that our management is aware of the discontent of employees.”

News of the friction between N26 and its staff was first reported by German fintech news outlet Finance Forward. Among the concerns raised by employees was a lack of transparency when it comes to salaries and high work pressure, according to Finance Forward.

N26′s co-founders Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal have argued for an alternative, saying they believe the traditional German works council doesn’t fit with the fintech group’s culture and would exclude international employees. The company claims it filed the injunctions against employee gathering due to concerns over safety amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The alternative to the Works Council should have a representation of employees who are not only based in Germany, but also all other countries, including Brazil and the United States,” N26 told CNBC in an emailed statement Thursday, adding this alternative should also allow for digital voting and decision making.

“There could also be a shorter term for members of the global employee representation board to ensure that new employees don’t have to wait for several years until they get to elect their representatives. We believe that this will take employee representation to the next, international and inclusive, level.”

But, the company added: “That said, if the N26 team feels that they want to organize the feedback culture in Germany differently via a works council, N26 will of course respect and support this, as well as any step in the formation of an electoral board.”


Cops arrive

In a dramatic turn of events on Friday, police were called to the Berlin bar where N26 employees gathered to form the works council. According to the workers, cops turned up briefly to check safety measures were in place and left once satisfied this was the case.

An N26 spokesperson told CNBC that it had no knowledge of anyone at the company calling the police on workers.

Under German law, workers have a right to form employment councils and hold such meetings. While N26 is not legally permitted to prevent such meetings from taking place, the company is concerned they could leave staff exposed to Covid-19. German public health restrictions require big public gatherings to be no larger than 500 people, and N26 has more than 500 employees in Berlin.

Still, the episode highlights the struggles faced by upstart fintech companies in maintaining a positive work culture while experiencing significant growth.

Last year, Revolut was accused of fostering a toxic work culture as employees were reportedly faced with unpaid work and unrealistic targets. For its part, Revolut admitted to failings on how its staff were treated in the early days of operations and promised to change.

N26 “tries to be a start-up and a grown-up bank at the same time,” Oliver Hauser, union secretary at ver.di, told CNBC on Thursday. “This has a negative impact on the working conditions and lead non-functioning structures and inequality among workers.”

“We have always been committed to treating our employees fairly, and continue to stand by this philosophy,” an N26 spokesperson told CNBC. “Indeed, as a fast-growing business, N26 is larger and more complex than before, and we recognize the need to constantly review, upgrade and recalibrate our approach to employee engagement as our workforce grows with us.”

Later on Friday, Stalf, N26′s CEO, posted a statement on LinkedIn apologizing over the firm’s handling of workers trying to organize a works council. He insisted that N26′s priority “has always been to ensure the safety of our teams” amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

N26 is one of Europe’s leading mobile app-based challenger banks, having attracted millions of users and raised a total of $770 million from investors including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, Chinese tech giant Tencent and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. Other start-ups in the so-called “neobank” space include Britain’s Monzo and Revolut, Brazil’s Nubank and U.S.-based Chime.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
×