Finom vs N26 Business: Invoicing & Cashback vs Real Banking License

Finom offers five plans. Solo is free (one user, basic invoicing, DE/FR/NL/IT/ES IBAN). Basic costs EUR 9/month annually, Smart EUR 24/month, Pro EUR 119/month, and Grow EUR 249/month. Higher tiers unlock higher cashback rates, more SWIFT transfers, and multiple seats.

N26 Business has three plans. The free tier (N26 Business) carries no monthly fee and covers unlimited free SEPA and instant SEPA transfers. N26 Business Smart costs EUR 4.90/month and adds priority support and insurance. N26 Business You costs EUR 9.90/month with travel insurance. N26 Business Metal is EUR 16.90/month with premium cards and concierge. None of the N26 plans include invoicing, team seats, or SWIFT outgoing.

For a freelancer on a tight budget, both have a viable free option. Finom's free plan adds invoicing; N26's free plan is genuinely full-featured for day-to-day domestic banking with no strings attached.

Finom's defining feature is its integrated invoicing suite. From any paid plan — and with limited functionality on Solo — you can create, send, and track invoices directly in the app. Finom supports e-invoicing standards including XRechnung (required for German government clients from 2025) and SDI (Italy). Invoices can be sent by email, payment link, or as compliant electronic documents. The platform also handles recurring invoices and payment reminders.

N26 Business has no invoicing capability whatsoever. N26 is a bank first; any invoicing needs to be handled with a separate tool such as Lexoffice, Debitoor, or Sorted.

Finom also integrates directly with DATEV, Lexoffice, and Sevdesk for bookkeeping. N26 offers CSV export but no direct accounting software integration.

If invoicing is part of your weekly workflow, Finom removes the need for a separate SaaS subscription. N26 does not address this need at all.

Finom's cashback programme is one of its headline features. Solo earns 0.5% on card spend; Basic earns 1%; Smart earns 2%; Pro earns 3%. Cashback is credited monthly with no category restrictions on eligible business card spend. For a business spending EUR 3,000/month on the Pro plan, that is EUR 90/month back — potentially offsetting the EUR 119/month plan fee.

N26 Business offers 0.1% cashback on all Mastercard purchases on the free plan (via the Mastercard rewards programme), with slightly higher rates on the paid tiers through partner cashback. This is modest compared to Finom's programme.

Where N26 wins is on SEPA transfers. All N26 Business plans include unlimited free SEPA and Instant SEPA transfers, no caps, no per-transfer fees. Finom imposes monthly SEPA allowances depending on plan (e.g., 20 outgoing on Solo) and charges per transfer beyond the limit.

For businesses making many domestic euro payments, N26's unlimited SEPA is valuable. For businesses with significant card spend, Finom's cashback programme is more rewarding.

Finom supports outgoing SWIFT transfers across all 19 currencies from every plan, including the free Solo tier. The number of free SWIFT transfers per month depends on the plan: Solo includes a small monthly allowance, while higher plans bundle more. Finom reaches 10 EU countries for account opening.

N26 Business does not offer outgoing SWIFT transfers on any plan. N26 is SEPA-only for outgoing payments. Incoming wires from non-SEPA countries can arrive, but N26 cannot send money outside SEPA. N26 operates in 24 European countries and has no SEPA volume caps.

For freelancers or small businesses with international clients paying in USD, GBP, or other non-euro currencies, this is a decisive difference. Finom handles international inbound and outbound; N26 is strictly limited to the SEPA zone for outgoing payments. N26 card spending works at the Mastercard interbank rate with no FX markup, which helps for travel, but that is distinct from wire transfers.

This is perhaps the most important structural difference between the two platforms. N26 holds a full German banking license supervised by BaFin and the ECB. Customer deposits are protected up to EUR 100,000 per depositor under the German statutory deposit guarantee scheme — the same protection offered by Commerzbank or Deutsche Bank.

Finom is an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licensed by the Dutch DNB. Customer funds are safeguarded — held separately from Finom's own funds at BNP Paribas — but are not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme. This means that in the highly unlikely event of Finom's insolvency, safeguarding provides strong but not absolute protection.

For freelancers holding significant operating balances in their business account, N26's deposit insurance is a meaningful advantage. For most day-to-day transaction volumes, Finom's safeguarding regime at a major custodian bank is practically very secure. Both are regulated and supervised; the protection mechanism differs.