N26 Names UBS Executive Mike Dargan as New CEO

N26, a fully-licensed mobile-first European digital bank, announced yesterday, December 15, that its Supervisory Board has appointed Mike Dargan as the next Chief Executive Officer of N26 Bank SE and N26 SE.

Dargan currently acts as the Group Executive Board member at UBS Group AG, and he is expected to take on his role as the new CEO starting in April 2026. For the time being, his appointment is still awaiting regulatory approval by BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator.

According to N26’s announcement, Dargan will succeed Maximilian Tayenthal and Marcus W. Mosen. He is a seasoned international banking executive who has over 25 years of leadership experience in the financial services industry, as well as technology and transformation.

Mike Dargan To Bring Extensive Experience In Banking, Tech, And Digital Transformation

Over the course of his career, he was driven by a deep commitment to customer orientation. This commitment pushed him to shape technology in a way that would meaningfully improve customer experience.

Acting as Group Chief Operations and Technology Officer at UBS, he led global digitization initiatives that revolved around delivering benefits to customers. Before he joined UBS in 2016, he also served as Chief Information Officer for Corporate and Institutional Banking at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, as well as Managing Director and Head of Corporate Strategy at Merrill Lynch in Asia and Europe.

Commenting on his appointment as CEO of N26 Bank and N26 SE, Mike Dargan said that he is honored to begin this next chapter in his professional life.

“Financial services are the lifeblood of any society, and I am deeply passionate about ensuring trust and strong customer outcomes for a digital-only bank. This marks the beginning of something new for me – a new opportunity, a new bank and a refreshed business model. N26 has been a pioneer in digital banking with a strong foundation and a forward-looking strategy, and I’m excited to work with the team to help write the next phase of its journey,” he said.

Meanwhile, N26’s co-founder and departing co-CEO, Maximilian Tayenthal, said that he co-founded N26 with Valentin Stalf in 2013 with a vision to change banking for the better. He added that in the last decade, N26 did exactly that, which allowed it to become a leader in digital banking across Europe.

“As we look to the next decade, I am confident to step back and put N26 in the very capable hands of Mike. Beyond his extensive experience combining banking, technology and digital transformation, he is also fully committed to the N26 vision, making him the ideal person to lead N26 into its next stage of development,” he said.