N26 GmbH, a Berlin-based challenger bank, has raised another $100 million from existing investors in an extension of its recent Series D funding round, bringing the total raised in the round to $570 million. 

N26 said the new round, which values the bank at about $3.5 billion, will be used to accelerate product development and strengthen its footprint in core markets, according to a press release.

The funding comes at a critical time as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many banks in Europe, Asia and the U.S. to close branches temporarily to slow the spread of the virus and millions of people have lost their main source of income due to job cuts. 

"In the last month, we've seen many people move away from cash toward contactless payments and e-commerce," Nicolas Kopp, U.S. CEO at N26, said in the release. "We are also encouraged to see that many of our U.S. users are putting their salaries into their N26 accounts, signaling that N26 is serving as a primary banking solution for them."

N26 officials are seeing shifts in how customers use their Space sub-accounts and how they spend since the onset of COVID-19, with more users saving for dining and housing expenses and less on vacations and special occasions like weddings, according to a spokesperson.

Also customers are spending more on e-commerce purchase and less for ATM withdrawals and POS purchases, as many retail stores or closed or only allowing online purchases for pickup and consumers are staying home to avoid exposure to the virus. N26 customers are also dining out less as restaurants have been forced to close in-store dining, and more people use third-party food delivery services like DoorDash or UberEats.