Trade Republic Hands Its 200,000 Portuguese Customers a Local IBAN and 3% Interest
The Berlin-based digital bank has begun issuing PT50 account numbers to its Portuguese users, unlocking domestic direct debits and instant transfers as it chases 300,000 customers by year-end.
Trade Republic, the Berlin-based digital bank (banco digital) that built its Portuguese following on commission-free investing, has started issuing local IBANs to its customers in the country — the PT50 account numbers that anchor domestic transfers and direct debits. The switch turns what was effectively a cross-border app into a direct rival to Portugal’s traditional retail banks.
Until now, Trade Republic customers in Portugal held German IBANs (beginning DE), a detail that quietly excluded them from everyday local plumbing: some landlords, utilities and public bodies reject foreign IBANs for débitos diretos (direct debits), and transfers did not always settle instantly. With a Portuguese IBAN, users gain SEPA instant transfers within the country and the ability to domicile recurring bills — water, electricity, gym memberships — directly on the account.
The company says it now serves roughly 200,000 customers in Portugal, double the figure of a year ago. Its regional leadership is targeting 300,000 by the end of 2026 and 400,000 to 500,000 by the close of 2027. That trajectory would make Portugal one of the neobank’s faster-growing southern European markets, alongside Spain, where it has run a similar local-IBAN playbook.
The pitch: 3% and no monthly fee
Trade Republic is leaning on price to win the current-account fight. New customers earn 3% annual interest on cash balances up to €50,000, with anything above that remunerated at the European Central Bank (Banco Central Europeu) deposit rate, currently 2.25%. The account carries no maintenance fee — a pointed contrast with the monthly charges most Portuguese banks levy on accounts that fall short of salary-domiciliation or minimum-balance conditions.
Existing users are not forced to migrate. Those who keep a German IBAN can continue as before, but they forgo the new perks: direct debits and instant local payments are reserved for the Portuguese account. The bank is notifying customers through email and in-app messages, letting each decide whether to make the switch.
A branch, but few staff
The local IBAN follows Trade Republic’s decision to open a Portuguese branch (sucursal), a supervisory step that lets it operate under domestic banking rules rather than purely passporting from Germany. The operation remains overwhelmingly digital, run through the app and telephone support, and the firm has signalled no significant hiring in Portugal.
Pablo López, who oversees the market, framed the launch as a shift from a foreign product to a genuinely local proposition, arguing that Portuguese customers now get a “superior value proposition” and simpler tax reporting than they would juggling an overseas account. Holders of foreign digital accounts have long had to declare them to the Portuguese tax authority; a domestic IBAN removes that friction.
For consumers, the arrival sharpens an already crowded field of app-based banking in Portugal, where Revolut, N26 and the incumbents’ own digital arms compete for younger and internationally minded savers. For the incumbents, it is another reminder that deposit pricing — long a comfortable margin — is now a battleground.
