Best Fintech Apps in Austria (2026)
Updated: | Found helpful by 22 others
N26 is the fastest account to open on arrival, at €0 with no minimum income, though it issues a German DE IBAN. Revolut holds 29 or more currencies at the interbank rate on a Lithuanian banking licence, and Wise moves money abroad from 0.43% at the mid-market rate. Bitpanda is the Austrian-licensed one and has sold real stocks and ETFs at a €1 flat fee since January 2026. Trade Republic pays 2.50% on cash since 16 September 2026. Check the licence before the features: N26 and Revolut carry €100,000 cover from Germany and Lithuania, while Wise and the Bitpanda account carry no deposit guarantee at all.
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Sorting changes the order of the provider cards below.
Our overall pick below is Bitpanda, from 1. Bitpanda.
1. Bitpanda
The only Austrian-licensed app that puts crypto, real stocks and ETFs, and metals on one FMA-supervised platform.
Visit Bitpanda- Type
- Multi-asset fintech
- Fees (Best)
- €0 custody, €1 per securities order
Prices as of August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Pros
- Austrian licence, FMA-supervised, tax handled locally
- Real stocks and ETFs at €1 flat since January 2026
- Crypto, stocks, ETFs and precious metals in one app
Cons
- E-money licence, so no deposit guarantee and no investor compensation
- Not a Girokonto: wrong account for salary or a rent direct debit
Best for Austrian residents who want crypto, stocks, ETFs and metals in one FMA-supervised app
N26 Bank SE, Germany
2. N26
A fully English account you can open on a passport before you have an Austrian address.
Visit N26Standard is free. Paid tiers as of August 2026, from n26.com/en-at/plans.
- Type
- Neobank (BaFin, DE)
- Fees
- €0 to €16.90/month
More details
- English support
- Yes, fully English app
- ATM
- 3 free a month, then €2
- Complaints
- BaFin and the German ombudsman, not the FMA
Prices as of August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Pros
- €0 Standard with no minimum income and no activity rule
- Opens on a passport, before you have an Austrian address
- No FX surcharge on card payments
Cons
- German DE IBAN: FinanzOnline's standard field only takes AT
- Documented pattern of automated account freezes lasting days
Best for Residents wanting a mobile-first current account with excellent UX and Apple/Google Pay from day one
Revolut Bank UAB, Lithuania
3. Revolut
Best-in-class multi-currency wallet at interbank FX rates for residents earning in multiple currencies.
Visit RevolutStandard is free. Paid tiers as of August 2026, from revolut.com/en-AT.
- Type
- Bank (Lithuanian licence)
- Fees
- €0 Standard, up to ~€17.99/month
Prices as of August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Pros
- 29+ currencies at the interbank rate on weekdays
- Full EU banking licence with €100,000 Lithuanian cover
- Opens without an Austrian address
Cons
- Weekend FX surcharge, so avoid Friday-evening conversions
- Complaints run to the Lithuanian supervisor, not the FMA
Best for Frequent travellers and multi-currency users who want strong FX and travel perks
4. Wise
Cheapest international transfers at mid-market FX rates with multi-currency account number support.
Visit Wise- Type
- E-money institution (Belgium)
- Fees
- €0/month; transfers from 0.43%
Prices as of August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Pros
- Mid-market rate with the fee shown before you send
- €1,000 to USD costs about €6.21 against roughly €24 at a branch bank
- Local account details in major currencies
Cons
- No deposit guarantee at all: safeguarding, not €100,000 cover
- Not a current account, and complaints run to Ombudsfin in Belgium
Best for Anyone sending money across borders, paying international contractors, or holding multiple currencies
Trade Republic Bank GmbH, Germany
5. Trade Republic
The cheapest way to run an ETF savings plan in Austria, at €0 custody and €0 execution from €1 a month.
Visit Trade Republic- Type
- Broker + cash account
- Fees
- €0 custody; €1 per order
More details
- Cash interest
- 2.50% since 16 September 2026
- Investor compensation
- German, 90% to €20,000
Prices as of August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Pros
- €0 custody and €0 savings-plan execution from €1 a month
- 2.50% on cash since 16 September 2026
- 24/7 phone and chat support in 8 languages since April 2026
Cons
- KESt on cash interest is not withheld, so the E1kv annex is still yours
- No incoming depot transfer, and outgoing transfers drop your acquisition costs
Best for Austrian residents who want a low-cost stock and ETF broker with integrated cash savings
6. Curve
One Mastercard that aggregates all your other cards and lets you switch retroactively after each transaction.
Visit Curve- Type
- Card aggregator
- Fees
- Free tier; paid premium plans
More details
- Card network
- Mastercard
Prices as of August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Pros
- One card consolidates multiple debit and credit cards
- Go Back in Time feature to switch charges retroactively
- Mid-market FX on weekdays
Cons
- Not a bank account, just a wallet layer
- Merchant acceptance issues reported occasionally
Best for Cardholders wanting to consolidate multiple debit and credit cards into a single wallet
bunq B.V., Netherlands
Bunq
Full Dutch banking licence with €100,000 deposit protection, multi-IBAN sub-accounts, and one of the highest EU savings rates.
Visit Bunq- Type
- Neobank (Dutch licence)
- Fees
- €0 to €8.99/month
Prices as of August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Pros
- Full Dutch banking licence with €100,000 DGS protection
- Multiple IBANs and sub-accounts for budgeting
- One of the highest savings rates among EU neobanks
Cons
- NL IBAN, not Austrian AT
- No Austrian-specific integrations such as EPS
Best for Savers and freelancers wanting multiple IBANs, sub-accounts, and a high EU savings rate under Dutch deposit protection
How Do Fintech Apps Compare to Austrian Banks?
| App | Licence | IBAN | Deposit guarantee | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| George (Erste Bank) | Austrian bank | AT | €100,000, Austrian | s Kompakt €3.89/month |
| Mein ELBA (Raiffeisen) | Austrian bank | AT | €100,000, Austrian | Bonus Smart €2.99/month after 12 free months |
| N26 | Bank, Germany (BaFin) | DE | €100,000, German | Standard €0 |
| Revolut | Bank, Lithuania | LT | €100,000, Lithuanian | Standard €0 |
| Wise | E-money, Belgium | BE | None, safeguarding only | €0/month, transfers from 0.43% |
| Bitpanda | E-money and MiCAR, Austria (FMA) | Not a current account | None, safeguarding only | €0 custody, €1 per securities order |
| Trade Republic | Bank, Germany (BaFin) | DE | €100,000, German | €0 custody, €1 per order |
Prices as of October 2026 from the provider price lists cited on this page and on our commercial banks guide. Raiffeisen prices vary by regional bank; the figure shown is Raiffeisen Stadtbank Wien.
Fintech apps beat Austrian banks on price and currency exchange, and Austrian banks win on the AT IBAN, the Austrian deposit guarantee and the Austrian complaint route. George from Erste Bank and Mein ELBA from Raiffeisen cost €2.99 to €3.89 a month, while N26 and Revolut start at €0. The practical answer for most residents is both: an Austrian account for salary and rent, a fintech for travel and transfers.
The bank apps have closed much of the feature gap. Erste Bank und Sparkassen was named Austria's best bank 2026 by Euromoney, which cited George Invest with fractional shares and the Hey George AI chatbot. Raiffeisen builds crypto into its account instead of leaving it to a separate app: the Girokonto Bonus Smart lists Bitpanda access next to Mein ELBA, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
A common three-part setup follows from the table. The Austrian account takes the salary, the rent direct debit and the FinanzOnline refund, because its standard bank-detail field only accepts an AT IBAN. Revolut or Wise handles foreign currencies at the interbank or mid-market rate. A broker such as Trade Republic or Bitpanda holds the ETF savings plan. Keep balances above €100,000 out of the e-money apps entirely, since Wise and Bitpanda safeguard money but do not guarantee it.
Can You Use N26 or Revolut in Austria?
Yes. N26 Bank SE (Germany, BaFin) and Revolut Bank UAB (Lithuania) both serve Austrian residents cross-border under an EU banking licence, with a €0 Standard account and €100,000 deposit cover from their home schemes. The catch is the IBAN: N26 issues a DE IBAN and Revolut an LT IBAN. Both are valid for every SEPA payment, and refusing them breaches Art. 9 of Regulation 260/2012.
Where the foreign IBAN still causes friction is narrow and predictable. FinanzOnline's standard field takes only an AT IBAN, so a tax refund to N26 or Revolut needs the foreign-account route. Some payroll systems and landlords push back, which you can report to the FMA. Austrian EPS online payments run through Austrian banks, so neither app offers them. Complaints follow the licence: an N26 dispute goes to BaFin and the German ombudsman, a Revolut dispute to the Lithuanian supervisor.
Reports that Revolut has started issuing Austrian AT IBANs to residents could not be confirmed on revolut.com as of October 2026, so treat them as unverified and check the IBAN shown in your app. For the full fee, FX and support comparison, read our Revolut vs N26 guide.
What Fintech Apps Offer IBAN-AT?
Almost no fintech issues an Austrian IBAN, and the honest answer in September 2026 is that the AT IBAN comes from a bank rather than an app. Here is where each one actually sits, along with the guarantee scheme behind it:
- easybank easy gratis: AT IBAN, €0 a month once €400 lands in it, Austrian cover to €100,000. The cheapest real Austrian salary account.
- bank99 smartkonto99: AT IBAN at €1.99 a month with no income condition, plus cash service at about 1,700 Post locations.
- Erste Bank George and BAWAG KontoBox: AT IBAN with a fintech-grade app, at €3.89 and from €1.99 a month respectively.
- Bitpanda: Austrian licence, but an e-money and payment-services one. The account is a crypto spending account with no deposit guarantee, not a Girokonto for your salary.
- N26 (DE, still the case for Austrian customers in 2026), Revolut (LT), Wise (BE), bunq (NL) and Trade Republic (DE): no AT IBAN. SEPA works, and refusing a valid euro IBAN breaches Art. 9 of Regulation 260/2012, but FinanzOnline still only takes an AT IBAN in its standard field.
When an AT IBAN Actually Matters
- Salary payments: Some Austrian payroll systems still struggle with DE or LT IBANs despite EU rules.
- Public benefits and tax refunds: Family allowance (Familienbeihilfe) and AMS payments process fastest to an AT IBAN, and FinanzOnline's standard bank-detail field only accepts one, so a refund to a foreign IBAN needs the foreign-account workaround.
- Rent and utility direct debits: Some Austrian landlords and utility providers prefer AT IBAN for SEPA mandates. See our cost of living guide for typical monthly outflows.
The IBAN country and the deposit guarantee are two separate questions. N26 still issues German DE IBANs to customers in Austria in 2026, and that balance is covered to €100,000 by the German scheme. Wise gives you a Belgian BE IBAN but holds your money as e-money: it is safeguarded, with no deposit guarantee at all.
What residents report
- ○ N26 IBAN in Austria: Asked whether N26 offers Austrian IBANs, the answer in the thread was no: Austrian customers still get a German DE IBAN. (r/n26bank, 2024)
- + N26 as a joint account: A couple using N26 as their shared account said the German IBAN never caused trouble for salary or direct debits in daily life. (r/FinanzenAT, 2025)
- − N26 account frozen: A customer in Germany had an N26 account holding about €450 frozen without warning, with support reachable only by chat and no answer for days. The report is from the German market, but the app is the same. (r/Finanzen, 2024)
- ○ FinanzOnline and a foreign IBAN: A Revolut customer got a refund account accepted by entering the Lithuanian IBAN as foreign bank details in the FinanzOnline profile, because the standard field takes only Austrian IBANs. (r/FinanzenAT, 2025)
- ○ Trade Republic tax handling: Users confirmed Trade Republic became steuereinfach in Austria around late April 2025, but warned that the annual tax report has occasionally been miscalculated and is still worth checking. (r/FinanzenAT, 2025)
Paraphrased from public posts, each dated and linked. A small sample, not a representative survey.
What Changed at Fintech Apps in the Last 24 Months?
| Provider | Date | What changed | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| N26 | Since 2021, more in 2024 | BaFin special commissioner over money-laundering controls, with further requirements imposed in 2024 | Automated security freezes remain the main complaint; keep a second account |
| Trade Republic | 24 April 2025 | Became steuereinfach in Austria for securities income | Shares and ETFs: KESt withheld. Cash interest: still not withheld, so it goes on your E1kv |
| Trade Republic | 18 March 2026 | About one hour of failed logins at a volatile market open, reported by WirtschaftsWoche | You could not trade or move cash in that hour; an app broker is not a place for money you need instantly |
| Bitpanda | 29 January 2026 | Real shares and ETFs at a €1 flat fee instead of the old 1.49% spread | A €1,000 ETF purchase costs €1 instead of about €14.90 |
| Revolut | 2026 | Rolling out Austrian AT IBANs to Austrian users | Payroll and FinanzOnline friction with the LT IBAN should fall; check which IBAN your account shows |
Two changes matter most for Austrian users, and both are about tax rather than fees. Trade Republic has withheld Austrian KESt on securities since 24 April 2025, which ended the yearly E1kv work for shares and ETFs, but not for the 25% on cash interest. Bitpanda cut the cost of buying real shares and ETFs to a €1 flat fee on 29 January 2026.
The risk side has not moved. N26 still works under BaFin requirements over its money-laundering controls, and the outage at Trade Republic on 18 March 2026 shows that an app can lock you out at the worst moment. Neither is a reason to avoid these apps. Both are reasons to keep your rent and salary on a second account with a deposit guarantee.
What Happens When a Payment Goes Wrong?
This is the section that decides which app should hold your rent money. A wrong debit has to be refunded without delay whoever your provider is, and where the bank is at fault it also owes the resulting charges and interest. What differs is who enforces it. An N26 complaint runs to BaFin and the German ombudsman, a Revolut complaint to the Lithuanian supervisor, and a Wise complaint to Ombudsfin in Belgium. Only an Austrian licence puts the case in front of the Austrian Bankenschlichtung, which is free for consumers and works in German.
The second thing to check is what happens if the provider itself fails. N26, Revolut, bunq and Trade Republic all sit under a national deposit guarantee at €100,000, from Germany, Lithuania and the Netherlands respectively. Wise, Bitpanda, Monese and Paysera do not: they are e-money institutions, and your balance is safeguarded in segregated accounts, which is a different and weaker promise. The practical rule for Austria is simple: keep the rent and the salary at a bank with a deposit guarantee, and use the e-money apps for what they are good at.
One structural risk is worth naming because it is documented rather than anecdotal: N26 has a recurring pattern of automated security freezes that lock users out for days, and BaFin has had a special commissioner at the bank since 2021 with further requirements imposed in 2024. That is not a reason to avoid the app. It is a reason not to make it your only account.
Review scores show the same split between the app and the edge cases. N26 has a Trustpilot score of 4.1/5 from 41,494 reviews as of September 2026, against 1.3 on app.n26.com. Most users never meet a freeze; the ones who do write about it.
| The rules behind this page | ZaDiG § 80 |
|---|---|
| Law | ZaDiG 2018, § 80: what the bank owes you for an unexecuted, defective or late payment |
| Regulator | FMA account section, and the OeNB for payments |
| Free tool | Bankenschlichtung, the banking ombudsman, free for consumers |
| Your right | An unauthorised debit must be refunded without delay and the account restored (§ 67 ZaDiG 2018). Where a payment is not executed, executed defectively or executed late, the bank is liable for it and owes the charges and interest you incurred (§§ 80, 82 ZaDiG 2018). Report it as soon as you notice, and at the latest within 13 months of the debit (§ 65 ZaDiG 2018). Taking the complaint to the banking ombudsman costs you nothing. |
| Applies since | 1 June 2018 |
Entity References
Full factual profiles for each brand covered on this page:
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you receive Austrian salary into N26?
Yes, technically. N26 issues a German DE IBAN, which is valid for SEPA payments across the EU. The practical friction is elsewhere: FinanzOnline's standard bank-detail field only accepts an Austrian IBAN, so a tax refund needs the foreign-account workaround, and individual payroll systems still push back. Refusing a valid euro IBAN is unlawful under Art. 9 of Regulation 260/2012, and you can report it to the FMA.
Do you need an AT IBAN to work in Austria?
Officially no. Art. 9 of EU Regulation 260/2012 bans IBAN discrimination within SEPA, so a German DE IBAN from N26, a Lithuanian LT IBAN from Revolut or a Belgian BE IBAN from Wise must be accepted. In practice FinanzOnline, some payroll systems and some landlords still expect an AT IBAN. The cheapest fix is a second Austrian account: easybank easy gratis is €0 once €400 a month lands in it, and bank99 smartkonto99 costs €1.99 with no conditions. See our account opening guide for step-by-step setup.
Are fintechs regulated by the FMA?
It depends on the licence. Bitpanda holds an Austrian e-money and payment-services licence and is supervised by the FMA. N26 is licensed by BaFin in Germany, Revolut Bank UAB by the Bank of Lithuania, and Wise Europe SA by the Belgian NBB. All passport into Austria under EU rules, but the complaint chain follows the licence: an N26 dispute runs to BaFin and the German ombudsman, a Revolut dispute to the Lithuanian supervisor, and a Wise dispute to Ombudsfin in Belgium. Only an Austrian licence puts your case in front of the FMA and the free Austrian Bankenschlichtung.
Which fintechs support ELBA or EPS?
Austrian payment systems like EPS (eps-Überweisung) and bank-specific online banking like ELBA (Raiffeisen) require participation from Austrian banks. Fintechs generally do not support EPS natively, which matters when paying Austrian e-commerce, taxes, or municipal services. Revolut and Wise can still pay via SEPA, but some Austrian government portals only accept EPS or credit card.
Is money on Wise covered by a deposit guarantee?
No. Wise is not a bank: Wise Europe SA holds a Belgian e-money licence, so your balance is e-money with no deposit guarantee. Wise safeguards it instead, which means it holds customer money apart from its own funds. That protects you if Wise fails, but it is not the €100,000 promise a bank account under a national deposit guarantee carries. N26, Revolut, bunq and Trade Republic do carry that cover. Use Wise for transfers and currencies, and keep savings and large balances at a bank.
Is Bitpanda safe?
Bitpanda is Austria's largest fintech, is FMA-supervised and keeps customer assets segregated. Two limits matter. It holds an e-money and payment-services licence, not a banking licence, so the Bitpanda payment account carries no deposit guarantee: your money is safeguarded in segregated accounts instead of covered to €100,000. Crypto holdings have client-asset segregation but no investor compensation either. The account is also not a Girokonto, so it is the wrong place for a salary or a rent direct debit. On the crypto side, the FMA authorised Bitpanda GmbH under MiCAR on 9 April 2025. On 14 August 2026 it published a final €70,000 fine against the company for MiCAR breaches in a marketing communication, the first MiCAR penalty the FMA has made public.
Official Sources
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