- Choose by how you use it: everyday spending, travel, savings or freelance activity.
- Check the status first: licensed bank (deposits guaranteed up to €100,000) or payment institution.
- Work out the real yearly cost, not just the advertised €0.
Start from how you use it, not the price
The best neobank depends on what you actually do with it day to day.
For a simple current account, clarity matters most: N26 is often the most comfortable pick. For travel and foreign-currency payments, Wise (real exchange rate) and Revolut (built-in exchange) stand out. To save and ring-fence your money, bunq and its sub-accounts are built for it.
Many Belgians combine: a main Belgian account for credit and direct debits, and a neobank for travel, online payments or savings.
Compare neobanks side by side →Status and deposit guarantee: the point not to overlook
Not all neobanks offer the same protection.
A neobank with a banking licence (N26, Revolut, bunq) guarantees your deposits up to €100,000 via its home country's scheme. Wise is an electronic money institution: it ring-fences your funds in separate accounts, but that does not grant the deposit guarantee.
It is not 'less safe' in terms of credit risk, but the mechanism differs: worth knowing before leaving large sums there.
See the Top 5 neobanks →Frequently asked questions
Do you need a Belgian IBAN?
Not necessarily: SEPA rules require an IBAN from another euro-area country to be accepted like a Belgian IBAN for euro transfers. For a few rare cases (some public administrations), keeping a Belgian account in parallel remains handy.
Can you receive your salary there?
Yes, all provide an IBAN a Belgian employer can pay a salary into.
Is a neobank enough on its own?
For everyday use, often yes. But for a mortgage or an in-branch adviser, a traditional Belgian bank is still needed.
Maxime suit le secteur des néobanques et de la fintech belge depuis près de dix ans. Ancien conseiller en agence devenu analyste indépendant, il ouvre et teste lui-même les comptes qu’il compare, décortique les grilles tarifaires ligne par ligne et traque les frais cachés derrière les offres « gratuites ». Son objectif : aider les Belges à payer moins et choisir une banque qui colle vraiment à leur usage, sans jargon ni argument commercial.