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A new partnership between the digital bank and the mobile payments fintech aims to make cashless payments easier for self-employed workers.
As the world continues to become more cashless, two major fintech players have joined forces in a bid to make digital payments easier for freelancers and self-employed workers.
Berlin-based neobank N26 has teamed up with digital payments company SumUp to help customers access the tools they need to make cashless payments easier.
N26’s chief growth officer, Alex Weber, said freelancers and self-employed workers are an important part of the global workforce. “We are thrilled to partner with SumUp, a leader in digital payments, to provide our valued business customers with the right tools to help their businesses thrive in today’s increasingly digitised world,” he said.
Speaking about the partnership on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today (20 April), N26’s chief operating officer, Adrienne Gormley, added that customer demand for contactless payments has really increased in the last year.
The partnership means that eligible N26 business account holders will be able to purchase a card reader from SumUp at a discounted price, enabling them to accept card and mobile wallet payments from their customers.
N26 has been growing in popularity in recent years, having surpassed 7m customers across Europe and the US at the beginning of 2021. Last summer, the challenger bank launched its business account for freelancers and self-employed people in Ireland.
‘A vital lifeline’
While digital and cashless payments have been growing steadily over the years, the Covid-19 pandemic has seen this trend accelerate. Recent data from Finaria suggests that digital payments in Europe are set to jump by 70pc by 2025.
A SumUp survey of its own business customers found that 34pc of respondents have introduced additional payment methods such as remote payments and 23pc have started an online shop.
SumUp partnerships lead Carolin Wies said digital payments have been “a vital lifeline” throughout the pandemic for business owners and that the partnership will further help with this. “It comes at a time when safety concerns are paramount, with both customers and business owners shifting to cashless payment methods,” she said.
The offer will be available from today (20 April) for customers with an N26 Business, N26 Business Smart, N26 Business You or N26 Business Metal account in several European countries including Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden and others.
To access the offer, customers will need to go to the Explore tab of their N26 app and click on the SumUp icon within the partner offers section.
