N26 bug: can't confirm transactions

When you make a SEPA transfer or a standing order with N26, you must confirm the transaction in the app. Sometimes, that doesn’t work. The “Tap to confirm or cancel” (Hier klicken um das anzunehmen oder abzulehnen) button appears, but when you click it, nothing happens. This YouTube video shows the problem.

This issue has been happening for years. This is happening on my Samsung S9, but it happens on other devices too. There are hundreds of reports about this issue¹.

Fixes that did not work for me:

• Restarting the app
• Restarting the phone
• Unpairing and repairing the app (under Settings > Security)
• Reinstalling the app
• Switching from Wi-Fi to mobile
• Turning off power-saving features for the N26 app
• Creating a new transaction on the N26 website

In the end, I recreated the same transaction directly in the N26 app, instead of using the website. I was able to confirm this one. There are still two “stuck” transactions, but at least I was able to send money.

The long term solution is to switch to another bank. N26 hasn’t fixed this issue in over 3 years. I don’t expect them to fix it anytime soon. If you don’t insist on English language support, DKB and ING are solid alternatives.