N26 says it has lured in 250,000 customers in US in five months

N26 has lured in 250,000 customers in the US since its launch across the Atlantic in August last year.

The Berlin-based fintech, founded in 2013, launched its US service with Californian bank Axos, offering a checking account and a Visa debit card.

Nicolas Kopp, US CEO, N26, said: "We're incredibly proud to have reached a quarter million US customers in our first five months and we are just getting started. We have big plans to offer millions of future N26 users a feature-rich, easy-to-use banking experience."

N26 did not break out how many customers are switching their accounts from the traditional banks.

But Kopp said that N26, which is backed by Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder, was pinching funds from some of the traditional banks in the US.

In an interview with CNBC, Kopp said: "We track where the money comes from when people fund their accounts, and I definitely see some of the big-name banks crop up quite frequently."

N26 says it has five million customers globally.

N26, which doesn’t offer credit cards or lending products in the US, is one of a number of European digital financial services companies looking to crack the US market.

Funding Circle has been active in the US market for a number of years while OakNorth expanded into the US market in February last year.

Monzo has appointed a dedicated US CEO to spearhead its launch across the Atlantic.

Revolut has also been expanding in the US, announcing its plans in 2018, although it has as yet not fully launched its operations in the country.