wiLLBe Review 2024 – Pros & Cons
| Updated: |(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)
wiLLBe is a digital bank account from the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB). Since the recent interest rate rises, the wiLLBe account has become very popular in Switzerland, even though it is from Liechtenstein.
So, is this account good for a Swiss resident? This article provides an in-depth review of its advantages and disadvantages.
By the end of the review, you will know whether you should use wiLLBe as a bank account.
| Monthly fee | 0 CHF |
|---|---|
| Users | 100’000 |
| Card | None |
| Currencies | CHF, EUR, USD |
| Withdrawals in Switzerland | Not possible |
| Withdrawals abroad | Not possible |
| Languages | German and English |
| Custody bank | Liechtensteinische Landesbank |
| Depositor protection | 100’000 CHF |
| Established | 2022 |
| Headquarters | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
wiLLBe
wiLLBe is a bank account provided by the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB). This account offers both cash accounts and investment accounts. However, I will focus on the cash account in this review.
The Liechtensteinische Landesbank is the oldest bank in Liechtenstein (from 1861) and is owned mainly by the state. It is a large bank with over a thousand employees and a good reputation and rating.
If you wonder why I am talking about a bank account from Liechtenstein, it is essential to know that this country uses the same currency as Switzerland, Swiss francs (CHF). The two countries share many policies, so it is not outlandish to use a bank from Liechtenstein when living in Switzerland.
So, we can now delve into the wiLLBe account in detail.
wiLLBe Features
wiLLBe is a fully mobile bank account with two main features:
- A cash account: wiLLBe Cash
- An investment account: wiLLBe Invest
We will focus on the cash account because it is pretty popular among Swiss residents. If people are interested, I may also do a full review of the investment feature. A savings account is a good short-term investment.
You have accounts in three currencies: CHF, EUR, and USD. What made wiLLBe very popular is its interest rates. As for April 2023, they offer the following interest rates:
- Up to 50’000: 1.10% on CHF, 3.55% on EUR, and 4.75% on USD
- Up to 150’000: 0.80% on CHF, 3.25% on EUR, and 4.45% on USD
- Above 150’000: 0.25% on CHF, EUR and USD
For a while, the wiLLBe account had the highest interest rate and the best CHF limits, which made it popular in 2023.
Another interesting feature (for a savings account) is that withdrawals are not limited. This is important because many high-interest rate accounts had several limitations on withdrawals.
You can send money from your account to other IBANs with regular bank transfers.
This is about all the features that wiLLBe has. Since it is a savings account, you do not get a debit or credit card. You also cannot deposit cash. On the same note, you cannot withdraw cash at an ATM. So, you must do a bank transfer if you want your money back.
These features are fine for a savings account, but this is not meant to be your main account since you cannot pay bills from it. It is intended to save cash and invest money.
wiLLBe Fees
We can now look at the fees of the wiLLBe savings account.
The fees are simple: the wiLLBe savings account is free.
If you send CHF to an EUR or USD account, you will pay about 0.15% markup. This is an excellent markup, significantly better than Swiss banks.
So, the wiLLBe savings account is very cheap and can even provide great currency exchanges.
User reviews
Before using any service, we should see what its users think about it.
Users of wiLLBe rate it 3.3 stars on TrustPilot. Unfortunately, the website has only 24 reviews, which is not much. However, these reviews can reveal some interesting things.
All the negative reviews are about being rejected by the app. The app does not clearly state the reasons for rejecting an application. To open an account, you must reside in Liechtenstein, Germany, Switzerland, or Austria. However, it means that these people are not customers of wiLLBe.
On the other hand, all reviews from actual customers are positive. People seem to like the app, the simple onboarding, and the features.
The app gets a 4.5 rating (out of 68 reviews) on the Apple Store and a 4.2 rating (out of 240 reviews) on the Play Store. These are good ratings. Again, negative ratings are mostly about not being able to create an account.
Overall, actual users of wiLLBe are happy with the service.
Is wiLLBe safe?
If you consider depositing significant money into a bank, consider its safety.
Since we are only talking about the savings account, we only have to look at what would happen to this cash if wiLLBe or the LLB were to go bankrupt.
The LLB guarantees deposits of up to 100,000 CHF. Your money should be safe from bankruptcy below that amount. This is the standard Liechtenstein deposit insurance.
It is also worth noting that the LLB has an excellent Moody’s rating of Aa2, making it unlikely to fail.
We should note that wiLLBe is very recent, starting in 2022. This means the app has yet to prove itself. As a result, the LLB may close it if it does not work for them. This is not a big problem because the money will be safe, but if you plan to use that account for many years, it is essential to consider it.
Overall, wiLLBe seems to be pretty safe for your cash.
Alternatives
It is challenging to compare wiLLBe because very few accounts like this are available in Switzerland.
The goal of wiLLBe as a savings account is to get the most interest rate with the lowest limits. So, we should not compare the other fees or features because they are not relevant here.
For instance, we can compare wiLLBe and Neon. Neon only has an interest rate of 0.75% up to 25’000 CHF. This is lower than wiLLBe and has a lower threshold. Moreover, you are limited to 50’000 CHF of monthly withdrawal. Both will be free. So, wiLLBe is better than Neon as a savings account.
We can also compare wiLLBe and Yuh. Yuh has an interest rate of 1.0% and an interest rate of up to 100’000 CHF. Both apps are free and have no withdrawal limits. Again, wiLLBe is better than Yuh as a savings account.
As a savings account, wiLLBe is a great candidate. I do not know of a better account available in Switzerland. However, some people will likely not like that it is not Swiss.
FAQ
How much can withdraw per month from wiLLBe?
There are no withdrawal limits on your wiLLBe Savings account.
Do you get a card with your wiLLBe acount?
No, you can only use wiLLBe through the app.
Summary
wiLLBe is an account by the LLB, in Liechtenstein, with a nice interest rate, low fees and good withdrawal limits. We review it in details.
4.5
wiLLBe Savings Pros
Let's summarize the main advantages of wiLLBe Savings:
- High interest rates
- No withdrawal limits
- Good currency conversion rates
- Good deposit insurance guarantee
- Available in three different currencies
wiLLBe Savings Cons
Let's summarize the main disadvantages of wiLLBe Savings:
- No card with the app
- Not possible to convert currencies from within the account
Conclusion
wiLLBe is an excellent savings account from the Liechtensteinische Landesbank. It provides good interest rates with no withdrawal limits. It even provides good currency conversion rates for EUR and USD.
If you are looking for an excellent place to keep cash as a short-term investment, wiLLBe is a good candidate. This could apply, for instance, if you want to keep cash for a future downpayment or if you want to keep a significant portion of your portfolio cash.
Some people may even want to put their emergency funds into such an account. Since there are no withdrawal limits, it is not the wrong place for that.
If you are looking for other places like this, you can check my list of short-term investments.
What about you? What do you think about this account?
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Very interesting! Quick question – you basically open a bank account in Lichtenstein and get a LI IBAN with the account, correct?
Many thanks for confirming.
Best
Bart
Correct :)
Hi Baptiste, thanks for the article!
Do you think it make sense to keep the “emergency fund” in EUR or USD for a resident in Switzerland?
What would be the downsides? (I imagine tax declaration but not sure I am missing anything in the picture..)
Thanks a lot!
Elisa
Hi Elisa,
No, I don’t think it makes sense :)
Your emergency fund is supposed to be safe. So, if you are keeping it in USD, what happens if the USD loses 15% against the CHF? Your emergency lost 15% as well, and your capacity against emergency is also lower. And generally, you only find that when you need it since otherwise you will not think of checking its value in CHF.
Tax declaration will not be much more difficult, you just convert the amount to CHF to declare it.
Hi Baptiste
That interest rate on USD/EUR seems really attractive. Is there any other bank available for Swiss residents with higher interest rates?
Cheers
Maciej
Hi Maciej
I don’t know any Swiss banks with such interest rates on EUR/USD. Usually, Swiss banks get a huge premium on these two interest rates. For instance, Yuh has a measly 0.75% on both and Swissquote has 0.1% on EUR and 0.20% on USD on the smallest balances.
Ok, but looking at the CHF-USD pair dynamics do you think it is better to have 4.75% in USD or 1.5% in CHF?
Cheers
Maciej
Cash is a short-term investment, so always in CHF for me. If you want returns, why not invest in stocks. You will have much better in the long term.
I was thinking about keeping financial pillow in USD (since you can pay it out whenever you want)
Cheers
Maciej
I would say it depends on what you are going to do with your financial pillow. If it’s meant for emergencies, it may be dangerous to introduce currency risk. If it’s for a long-term opportunity, it may be fine. What is it for?
Well, it’s emergency fund (financial cushion) – the classical equivalent of 3-6 months of expenses, but it’s for the long term. Actually, I’m having troubles to imagine in which cases we would need it, since Swiss insurance systems (health and personal liability for example) make us feeling fairly secure in terms of unexpected expenses. The only cases I can imagine are ransom for kidnapping or helping some distant family with sudden debt.
Cheers
Maciej
Hi Maciej
If you are having troubles imagining when you would need it, maybe your emergency fund is too large? I agree that in Switzerland, we do not need a huge one. And in a case such a kidnapping, I would argue that even if you have to liquidate your stocks, it does not matter. You generally do not want to protect against events that so unlikely.
I wanted to open an account, but was rejected because I was born in the US. Attempts to explain and prove that I do not hold US citizenship were met with an explanation that they cannot support this “special case”. That’s fair enough, but given that other financial service providers that this blog talks about do manage to support this case (eg neon, truewealth etc), I think this is a red flag about the robustness of the service.
Hi Arianna
Thanks for sharing and sorry to hear that. This is unfortunately the case for many services that US citizens have a hard time opening accounts. I am not sure quite qualifies as red flag entirely but they could make it better indeed.
Will Be has asked for a referral code. Do you have one Baptiste? Support your work… :)
I don’t have one, but thanks for thinking of me!
that’s great I’ve been looking for a high interest savings account and did not know about this one. thanks for sharing!
I am glad you like it!