The German-based mobile bank recently launched its offering in the UK.

In an exclusive interview with Specialist Banking, Alexander revealed its ambitious UK plans.

“In the UK we should have several million customers in the next five years.

“We’re not here to have a couple of hundred thousand customers and [not be] very relevant.”

When asked how N26 will stand out from other UK digital challenger banks, Alexander said it was about building a brand that people trusted and a product that people loved to use.

“I think our approach to delivering that is one that leverages on synergies from more of this global perspective.

“We think that because we’re trying to build this first global mobile bank – we’re launching in the US next year – and we’re going to launch in many more markets in the next [few] years … maybe in the next 10 years we can serve 100 million customers, and become kind of the Spotify of banking, where it’s a global brand in financial services.

“Then you do two things: you bring the best talent to the team globally from the best talent pool and you can deliver this global innovation in the local market context.

“That’s where we’re coming from, we’re saying: of course, for us the UK is a very important market, but in order to bring the most innovation [in] to the market, we’re leveraging [our] global ambition and also our global team and resources.

Alexander added that, in banking, you didn’t need to be in 192 countries to serve a vast majority of the banking population.

“What’s interesting is if you’re in Europe, UK, US and maybe eight to 10 additional markets, you’re already serving 80% of the retail banking population,” he claimed.