The main reason I invest in startups if to learn something new from smarter founders and teams and apply that knowledge for my ongoing business.
The side goal is to earn money.
Even though my tickets are very small, I am very happy to be part of something. And especially during the pandemic of Covid-19 I had 3 startups in my portfolio which were helping to fight this public enemy.
Revolut and N26 are new generation banks on App only. The initial idea of Revolut was travel card with free currency exchange. N26 has also this feature. Later on, with my personal experience I found out that you may be be charged up to 3% markup if you paid Revolut vs N26 in Thailand on the weekend. Other features of both apps are: free wire transfers, free cards, insurance.
Revolut
N26
Free withdrawal in Spain
200€
5000€
User experience
Clear winner. Super easy and intuitive.
The could just copy the Revolut here 🙂 especially that the card number could be visible in the app
Customer support
in app. with delays
old school email writing.
Apple Pay
NO
YES
Cryptocurrencies
BTC, ETH, LTC
none
I have been using both services for more than 15 months. I would say the Revolut was better in the beginning, but then were were two reasons why i switched to N26
I reached the spend limit in Revolut and lifting 3 times was pain in the ass, and finally i was too bored to do that again.
I need more than 200€ of cash every month.
Which is better?
If I could choose only one, i would choose N26 just because of the withdrawal. In general having both is good option and sometimes convenience especially if that card is dominant card in your country – so you can send money easy for your nanny or split the bills with friends.
Thailand, Malaysia (Russia and Ukraine)
Revolut puts a Markup on those currencies (THB, MYR, RUR) for purchases and ATM. So if you travel to those countries – definitely get the N26. N26 ads only 1.7% markup for ATM transactions, but with N26 black card this is 0%. (if you take 4k € / year in one of those countries, the cost of the Black card pays off. Not to mention other perks such as insurance)
I have invested in Billion To One a startup that is trying to make prenatal testing easy/cheap and safe. Even though i stopped my first ”fund” of startups, I have chosen to invest in this particular one because i believe and support their mission:
Our mission is to make prenatal diagnostics safe and affordable for all.
If there will be 1% advance in prenatal testing made and i will lose all my investment – I will be happy with the outcome