Kildare people holding big sums of money in digital banks like Revolut

Kildare people are now holding hundreds of thousands of euro of cash in digital banks like Revolut and N26.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many to ditch cash and shift to banking apps for everyday transactions in cafes and bars and on buses and trains.
Parents on UK-based Revolut are also regularly sending pocket money as quickly as a text message to children and teenagers.

Even with no physical branches, Revolut now has 1.7m users in Ireland while German-owned N26 has nearly 200,000 subscribers using its virtual banking services.
A spokesperson for Revolut would not reveal how much cash was held in Irish bank accounts in Ireland.
He said: "We are not able to disclose the amount of funds held as it's considered commercially sensitive information."
The switch to digital banks has been staggering as Revolut was only founded seven years ago in 2015 whereas traditional banks such as Bank of Ireland are over 200 years old.
To win new customers, Revolut offers €60 cash to members for each friend they recruit.
It tries to get younger customers onboard with the Revolut Junior aimed at children aged 6-17.
The bank has recently starting offering loans of up to €30,000 such as to buy a car or pay for a wedding or holiday.

N26, which is headquartered in Berlin, said it is popular with young people but also has a lot of people aged 65 and older.
A spokesperson said: "N26 has almost 200,000 loyal customers in Ireland with the majority of those aged between 20-34 years old. However, we're also seeing significant customer numbers across all age groups with our second highest customer age group, 65+.
"This demonstrates that N26 is making banking fairer and more efficient for all customers in Ireland. In relation to the total funds held by Irish N26 customers, we do not disclose this information."

A survey published in December claimed Ireland has the greatest level of trust in digital banking in Europe and has recorded one of the fastest adoption rates globally.
According to the N26/Accenture study, which surveyed more than 47,000 banking customers in 28 markets, digital banking adoption is expected to grow to about 70 per cent in the future, meaning a potential market size of over one billion customers.

The report reveals that Ireland came in fourth place overall for digital banking adoption globally between 2018 and 2020, behind Switzerland, Brazil and Australia, but ahead of the UK and France.