Are neobanks really such a good idea?

I’m a big fan of sub-accounts to keep budgets for different categories well separated. To do this, I’ve tried a few different banks. bunq didn’t work reliably and had very unfriendly support. I used to really like N26, but what I didn’t find very funny was that when downgrading from a more expensive to a cheaper plan, you can’t keep the IBANs for the sub-accounts. Then I found vivid. I hated the app’s color scheme from the start, but the features were okay, especially since I could link different virtual credit cards to different accounts. Unfortunately, the support wasn’t particularly good here either. And now, existing accounts are being closed because vivid is parting ways with Solaris Bank. New IBANs again. So, I’m moving on, or rather, going back to ING. They don’t have sub-accounts quite the way I need them, but I’ll figure out a different way to manage my budgets.

The fact is that with every neobank, you have to pay for the really interesting features, and in return, you don’t always get great support. The ING account might not be as sleek as those of the neobanks, but it’s free, and the support is usually good. I’ll keep my vivid account after upgrading it, but I won’t pay for it. Sometimes, the boring and old-fashioned offerings turn out to be not such a bad idea in the medium to long term.