Digital bank N26, the Berlin-headquartered mobile banking platform, has published new data showing a significant rise in investment activity among its youngest customers.
According to N26’s figures, assets under custody held by its Gen Z customers, defined as those aged between 18 and 29, grew by 45% during the first half of 2026, outpacing growth recorded across any other age group on the platform. This cohort now represents 28% of all equity and digital asset investors using N26, and customers under 35 collectively account for half of the platform’s total investor base.
A voluntary survey conducted among N26 customers who made their first investment on the platform during the first half of 2026 found that 89% of Gen Z respondents considered themselves first-time or beginner investors, while just 3% classed themselves as experienced. This points to the growth being fuelled largely by newcomers entering capital markets for the first time, rather than existing investors simply trading more.
N26 attributes part of this shift to the accessibility of mobile-first platforms, which the company says are helping to lower the barriers, whether real or perceived, that have traditionally been associated with investing.
Portfolio data from N26 also sheds light on how this younger demographic is choosing to invest. Exchange-traded funds made up close to 60% of Gen Z customers’ non-digital asset invested capital, making ETFs by far the most popular asset class among this group, roughly double the proportion allocated to individual shares and nearly six times the share invested in professionally managed funds.
That said, Gen Z investors on N26 are not entirely avoiding individual companies tied to major market narratives. Among the most-bought individual stocks by Gen Z customers in the first half of 2026 were NVIDIA, Rheinmetall and SpaceX.
N26 director of business, financial empowerment Ausra Cesnaite said, “Europe has a well-established savings culture and policymakers are now looking for how more of that money can be put to work in capital markets. Our data suggests that younger Europeans might be responding by changing the way they think about building wealth.
“Many of the Gen Z customers investing through N26 consider themselves first-time investors or beginners. By embedding trading into a mobile-first banking experience, digital platforms like N26 are making investing more accessible to a broader audience as part of their everyday financial habits.”
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