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Germany ’ s biggest all-digital bank , N26 , is headed up by young entrepreneur and banking whizz Valentin Stalf . He founded the bank in 2013 in Munich through the Rocket Internet accelerator programme and has since seen it grow from a small startup to one of the most impressive neobanks in Europe .
N26 left the UK marketplace citing Brexit as the cause – and is now focusing on Europe . N26 ’ s direct competitors are Revolut and Monzo , and it has seven million customers across 24 countries .
San Francisco-based SoFi was founded in 2011 by celebrated CEO Anthony Noto .
SoFi , which stands for ‘ Social Finance ’, initially launched with a US $ 2mn loan programme that could connect newly graduated Stanford students with alumni . The four founders were Mike Cagney , James Finnigan , Ian Brady and Dan Macklin .
By October 2020 , SoFi acquired full-service national bank status and now has a valuation of $ 5.26bn . However , in early 2021 , pre-IPO predictions suggested SoFi was worth almost double that at $ 9bn .