The N26 Black card might not provide exactly what you expect

The level of service is not the same as what other same-colour cards offer. I regret to have to say it, since I’ve been a proponent of N26 for a while. I think it is still a great EU-funded innovation machine, but as it ages it gets closer to the deception techniques other banks are familiar with.

Still makes you look like a poser, but won’t actually cover you.

In the current case, there’s “World Elite” written on it, and they do brand it as such, but it lacks a concierge while this is part of “World Elite” on MasterCard’s website, and the health insurance is nothing like what “Premier” or “Gold” competitors offer.

First of all, the calling hours: you can only call the insurance from 9 to 14 CET. I did try to call before leaving for my own long-duration trip. Had to wait 20 minutes before an operator took the line, and they spoke very poor French or English. Keep in mind that we’re talking about the number you’re supposed to call in case of a medical problem, while abroad with roaming fees.

The worst thing was that they told me they would not accept covering fees if a single travel segment in the whole trip was not paid with the Black card.

I also have to add that the N26 MasterCard cards are not as reliable as others. In China, it happened several times that both a standard and Black N26 card would fail both payment and withdrawal, while a Fortuneo Gold MasterCard worked without any issue. I had obviously warned both banks of the trip beforehand. When contacted, N26 support replied that “they currently experienced difficulties processing payments” and that they were “working on it”. You can figure how reassuring that is when you have to get money out to pay for your ferry leaving the next morning… After complaining, I was able to get the Black fee waived for that month, merely compensating the fee incurred by using a backup card.

Don’t get me wrong: 5.90€ a month for unlimited fee-free payments and withdrawals in currencies is still a great deal! And I am certain you should have an N26 account in any case. Switching to Black will be paid off as soon as you withdraw over 350 € in a month, which should happen if you go to any country where card payments are not so prevalent.

EDIT November 2018: the above paragraph does not hold true anymore. First of all, the monthly fee has been raised to 9.90 €, so the payoff point is now at 580 €, which is quite a lot considering how most countries accept card payments, how cheap those that don’t are, and that you have a 12-months commitment. But most importantly, the TransferWise Borderless account is a much better solution (if you like it, here is a free initial transfer). If you’re a French resident, this article has more info:

Les fintechs du digital nomad français·e

But please, don’t rely on the insurance provided by Allianz, and make sure you have a backup card (if possible a Visa, so you can use both networks —99% of places that accept one will accept the other, but for these 1% it’s nice). Most other French credit cards issuers use Europ Assistance. When I broke a bone in the middle of the night in Japan, I was quite happy to have a perfectly fluent operator on the phone within 30 seconds with my Fortuneo Gold MasterCard, whose health insurance is tied to me as a cardholder and not to the trip. I was immediately confirmed all expenses would be covered after my national health insurance initial coverage, recommended a nearby hospital, and asked if I wanted repatriation options to be considered.

Some currencies are better backups than others. This is US$280 in tugriks. Makes you feel mafia, but takes up some room in your soles.

Whichever card(s) you travel with, I definitely recommend keeping around 200€ (or US$) split in several 50€ notes and kept safe in different weird locations of your pack and clothes as an ultimate backup in case of lack of ATM or synchronised payment provider failure. Never rely only on computers when you’re getting lost 😉

In any case, enjoy your trip! 😃

Plus, you might sometimes have a hard time understanding how that stupid machine is supposed to work.

EDIT 24/05/2018: changed the first sentence from “Unfortunately, the N26 Black is a scam” to “The N26 Black card might not provide exactly what you expect” in the hope that Medium’s inferred title stops driving all the angry righteous men on Earth from explaining how my apparent misuse of the word “scam” is worth their rage. The irony of them increasing the SEO of an article they seemingly hated so much was amusing for a while, but I have more important things to cope with.