What is the Best Swiss Bank in 2024?
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Unless you live entirely off the grid and get paid in cash, you need a bank account. But which Swiss Bank should you choose?
There are tons of Swiss banks. After all, Switzerland is the country of banks. However, contrary to popular belief, Swiss banks are not great!
Most Swiss banks are costly and offer poor service. You can find much cheaper and better banks in other countries. Fortunately, this situation is improving with new banks trying to break the status quo.
Which is the Best Swiss Bank in 2023? But first, let’s consider how to choose a bank!
How to choose a bank?
You can use many criteria to compare banks. We see the most important parameters. Of course, your needs may be different from mine. So, the best Swiss bank for me may not be the best for you!
The parameters will also depend on what you need. But here are the things most people need from a bank:
- A checking account to get their salary.
- A debit card to withdraw cash when you cannot use your credit card.
- Possibly, a savings account. But not everybody needs one. I have not used one in years.
You will also need a credit card. However, the best credit cards are not the ones you can get from a bank! I would encourage you to have a separate credit card from your bank account. If you do not know which one to choose, you can read about the best credit cards in Switzerland. So, for our comparison of banks, we will ignore credit cards.
The Base Price
First, you need to consider the price of the bank account. These days, you can find free bank accounts in Switzerland. So there is no reason to pay anything for a bank account!
You need to be aware that some Swiss banks have conditions that make it free. For instance, my current bank, Migros Bank, used to be free only as long as I had 7500 CHF in my bank account (this fee has since been waived). These limitations were not an issue for me, as I generally keep about 10,000 CHF on my account. But it could be an issue for people having less than that.
So, before you choose a bank account, you need to know how much you will keep in your account.
The price of features
The base price of a bank account is essential, but we should also consider the prices of the features.
First, you want a free debit card. You can find several banks with free debit cards, so there is no reason to pay for a debit card! You should not use it too much, of course. You should only use it to withdraw money. And you can use it if you cannot use a credit card.
Of course, you want to be able to do bank transfers in Switzerland for free! You do not want to pay extra money to pay your bills! You will also need bank transfers to send money to your broker (Interactive Brokers, for instance).
You may want cheap bank transfers in Europe in euros. This feature is not mandatory since you generally do not want to use your bank account for this. For this, you probably want to use Neon to save on fees and bad conversion rates.
Finally, you want to be able to withdraw some cash for free! There are always some cases where you will need cash, and you do not want to have to pay to get some money!
The security of the bank
Even if you do not keep much money in your bank account, you want your money to be safe.
For that, you should keep your money in a Swiss bank account. All Swiss bank accounts are insured for up to 100’000 CHF. If your bank goes bankrupt, you still get your money back.
You must ensure the money is kept in an institution with a Swiss banking license. You should not consider small startups that may not yet have a banking license.
If you are serious about security, learn how to secure your online finances!
Access to the bank services
For this one, it will highly depend on you. You need to decide how much access you want to your bank account.
Some people want an actual office with people in case they have an issue. I do not care about that. But that is not the case for everybody!
And also, sometimes, people want a local bank. They feel like they can trust a regional bank more. We have plenty of cantonal banks in Switzerland, and people seem to like them. This would be one of the last points I would use to compare the two banks. But if you want, that is something you can consider! I prefer to look at the ATMs of that bank rather than the bank itself.
Some people want a mobile application, and some, like me, prefer a web application. If you want a mobile or web application, you may want to ensure it works well, but you do not need to use your bank application a lot.
I use my bank account monthly to pay all my bills. Except for that time, I rarely check my bank account. As long as I can do that relatively quickly, I do not care how to do that. But I want to be able to do that from home.
But some people check their bank accounts daily. For these people, it is essential to have a powerful application that works well. If you are one of these people, I encourage you to find reviews of bank mobile apps and maybe demos so that you can get a feel for them.
One important thing is where you can withdraw money for free! The lack of ATMs was a big issue for me with Postfinance. There were no ATMs close to where I worked or lived where I could withdraw cash for free. This could be vital if you withdraw money often!
Features of the bank
Finally, the least important thing about a bank is its features.
You do not need anything fancy with your bank. For instance, I only use four features with my bank:
- Getting my salary in.
- Paying my bills by scanning them with my phone or computer.
- Transfer money to my broker.
- Withdraw cash from time to time.
That is it! And I do not think that people need any more features than that.
But if you need it, you could consider a few things.
One thing many people want to have is electronic bills. I do not like them. Using electronic bills will bind you with a bank. And that is bad. You want to be able to change to a new bank very easily. But some people like it and cannot live with it. So you could use that as an argument.
Some people also want to transfer transactions to their fancy budgeting tools, such as YNAB or Personal Capital. Once again, I do not think this is useful. You do not need any fancy budgeting tool. You need a simple spreadsheet. And you can even have some budget applications for free! I do not understand people willing to pay for a budgeting tool.
Managing your budget with a simple spreadsheet will take you fifteen minutes a month! But if you want, this could limit your bank choice. I do not think it is a good argument, but that is up to you!
Some banks have even more features than that. Some banks try to do your budget for you, for instance. Some banks have features to automate bank transfers between accounts. But do you need that? Ultimately, deciding which feature is worth it will be up to you.
The two Best Swiss Banks
Based on these arguments, here are the two best Swiss banks in 2022:
- Neon is the best digital Swiss Bank
- Migros Bank is one of the best traditional Swiss Bank
I decided to choose one digital bank and one standard bank. Because some people do not yet want to move to a digital bank, I can understand them. And as it turns out, there are still some great Swiss Banks!
Also, digital banks currently have more limitations. So, it still makes sense to have a traditional bank account.
And, of course, there are other Swiss banks than these two. And some of them are pretty good. But I do not want to give you a list of too many banks. That would be a waste of time for you and me! There is more value in a shorter list with two good banks.
The Best Digital Swiss Bank in 2022: Neon
All the services you need to pay, save and invest, in a neat package, with extremely good prices!
Use the poorswiss code to receive 10CHF!
- Pay abroad for free
- Invest with great fees
Neon is an entirely digital bank. That means they do not have any office that you can walk in. Of course, they have some form of customer service. But all your operations will need to go through the mobile app.
Neon does not offer a Maestro card. Instead, it provides a Mastercard prepaid card. You can use this card where you usually use a Maestro card, but there are some exceptions in places that only accept Maestro cards.
Given its wide range of features and low price, Neon is currently the best digital Swiss bank.
If you enter the code “poorswiss” during registration, you will get 10 CHF for free once you use your account. And I will get 10 CHF as well.
The Base Price
Price is where Neon excels! The base price of a checking account with Neon is entirely free! That’s right. You will not pay any management fees! And you do not need a specific amount of money on your account for this to be valid!
Not all operations are free. For instance, you will still have to pay to transfer money abroad or receive money in foreign currencies, but these are exceptional events.
The price of features
The price of features at Neon is also excellent! Pricing is where Neon shines compared to other Swiss banks.
You can make free payments in CHF in Switzerland. These payments are for all our bills and money transfers!
With your Mastercard, you can purchase things online and abroad in foreign currencies for free! These free purchases abroad are probably one of the most significant advantages of Neon.
If you transfer money abroad from Neon, you will profit from their partnership with Wise. So, you will also pay very low fees for transferring money to other countries.
Neon does not offer a Maestro card. Instead, it provides a MasterCard. This is different from most Swiss banks. But Neon offers the MasterCard for free! However, you may have to use cash in places that only accept Maestro.
You can also use your Neon card with Google Pay. So you can pay in many shops.
Finally, you can also withdraw money at any ATM for free! However, you only have two free ATM withdrawals per month. After this, you will have to pay 2 CHF for each withdrawal. If you are like me and trying to avoid cash, you should be more than okay with two monthly withdrawals. I generally withdraw money less than once a month.
The safety of the bank
All Swiss bank accounts are insured for up to 100’000 CHF. But Neon is not a bank. However, your funds are deposited in your name with the Hypothekarbank Lenzburg bank. This bank has a Swiss banking license.
So, as long as you do not have over 100’000 CHF, your money is fully insured!
Access to The Bank
Access to the features of the bank is entirely on your phone. That means that your bank is always in your pocket!
You can use all ATMs in Switzerland to withdraw money, which is great because this is not the case for many banks!
Another great thing is that the website is entirely translated into all national languages and English! The application itself is also available in English! If you are an ex-pat and do not yet speak one of the national languages, this could be very important to you!
Finally, customer service is available by email and by phone. But you will not be able to talk to people in person since they do not have offices for the customers.
Features
Overall, Neon has more than enough features for most people. The mobile application is excellent and very easy to use.
You can scan your bills with your phone to get the reference number! This feature can save you a lot of time, but nowadays, it is almost present in all mobile banking applications.
Also, you can easily download account statements in PDF. This feature is essential if you want to archive them! You can also receive an SMS notification when something happens to your account. This feature could be helpful.
Neon is also the only digital Swiss bank with support for e-bills. On top of that, Neon has a few extra features. For instance, you can send money directly to other Neon users.
The Best Standard Swiss Bank in 2022: Migros Bank
If you prefer a standard brick-and-mortar Swiss Bank, Migros Bank is an interesting option. I am using Migros Bank as my main bank account.
One thing you need to be aware of is that the application is not available in English. If you are an ex-pat and do not speak one of our national languages, I recommend going with Neon instead.
The Base Price
We start with the base price. Checking and savings accounts are free.
The price of features
Most of the features you use are free with Migros Bank.
First, you can make payments for free in CHF in Switzerland. So you can pay your bills and transfer money for free!
The Visa debit card is free. You must pay 30 CHF per year if you want an additional card. Their credit cards are not free either. But they are not great, so you do not wish to use them anyway!
Withdrawing money in all the places I mentioned before is free of charge. You can withdraw money as many times per month as you want! But if you want to withdraw from another ATM, you will pay 2 CHF per withdrawal.
However, SEPA payments in euros are not free! You will pay 0.30 CHF per payment in EUR abroad. I think this fee is a bit disappointing. But it should not be an issue if you do not get too many incoming payments.
You should not use the Migros Bank card to make payments abroad. They will be costly. Neon is much better for this.
The safety of the bank
Migros Bank is a licensed Swiss bank. As such, your money is protected for up to 100’000 CHF. This protection is the best security you can get for your money in Switzerland.
Access to The Bank
Since Migros Bank is a standard brick-and-mortar Swiss bank, you can access its service in offices. That means you can do transactions in the office and get customer support there. Actual customer support is the main difference with a fully digital bank.
There are plenty of Migros Bank offices in Switzerland. If you live in a city, you should have access to one. Otherwise, the nearest town should have one!
And, of course, you will also have access to the bank services through the Migros Bank mobile application. And they also have a desktop application for Windows and Mac.
Finally, if you want to withdraw money, you have many choices! You can withdraw cash with your Migros Bank debit card in:
- Migros Bank offices
- Migros shops
- Migrolino shops
- Migrol shops
- Denner shops
This list makes up many places where you can withdraw money! It takes time to get used to it since people are used to withdrawing cash from banks. But now, I always withdraw money in Migros shops.
Features
For features, nothing is missing with Migros Bank.
All the basic features are here. You can get report statements in PDF, scan bills with your phone, and access electronic bills (e-bills).
However, the mobile application of Migros is much worse than the mobile app of Neon. It is not intuitive at all. And it does not look good at all, either.
The biggest problem is what they call two-factor authentication. You need a second computer, mobile phone, or tablet with the application to validate transfers from the main. This limitation is a big issue for me because my computer runs Linux. And Migros Bank does not support Linux!
For me, this system is a big problem with Migros Bank. I had to install the application on my wife’s phone to use it. It is terrible! If you do not have two phones or a tablet and a phone, you cannot use Migros. Even if you install it on your computer, you must still install it on your phone to confirm transactions.
Swiss Banks Summary
We can summarize our findings with this comparison table of the best Swiss banks:
|
Best Digital Bank
|
Best traditional bank
|
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
|
Free
|
Free
|
|
|
|
|
- Pay abroad for free
- Transfer money abroad for a good fee
- Everything from your phone
- Good mobile application
- Cannot deposit cash easily
- Mobile-only
- High limits
- Good withdrawals
- Can deposit cash easily
- Mobile and desktop applications
- Expensive purchases abroad
- Expensive transfers abroad
- Poor mobile app
And here are the compared fees of both banks:
| Bank | Neon | Migros |
|---|---|---|
| Management fees | 0 CHF | 0 CHF |
| Incoming transfer | 0 CHF | 0 CHF |
| SEPA payment | 0 CHF | 0.30 CHF |
| Foreign currency or abroad payment | About 0.4% | About 2.0% |
| Foreign currency transfer | About 0.8% | About 2.0% |
Alternatives
Of all the banks I considered, these two were the best.
There is one group of banks we need to mention: cantonal banks. Cantonal banks are generally providing great value for money. I did not mention any cantonal bank in this article because they are, by definition, local banks. I would have to make one article per canton. But for instance, the Zuger Kantonalbank provides excellent value, and so does the Freiburg Kantonalbank from my canton, Fribourg.
I have also reviewed other brick-and-mortar banks, such as Raiffeisen and PostFinance. And I also compared some other digital banks like Yapeal and Yuh. But they are not as good as Neon or Migros. If you want me to compare other Swiss banks, let me know in the comments below, and I will see what I can do.
The only honorable mention I would like to mention is Zak. Just after Neon, this is the second-best digital bank in Switzerland. And they have some great features. You can check out my Zak review to know more.
What about the most famous Swiss banks: UBS (my UBS review) and Credit Suisse? These banks are not bad, but they are expensive. I do not believe they provide enough value to justify their price. So, you can get much better value for your money by using the two best Swiss banks I have outlined in this article.
Conclusion
All the services you need to pay, save and invest, in a neat package, with extremely good prices!
Use the poorswiss code to receive 10CHF!
- Pay abroad for free
- Invest with great fees
The two best Swiss Banks for 2022 are Neon and Migros Bank!
The choice of a Swiss bank currently boils down to whether you want a digital bank. If you want a Digital Swiss Bank, you can go with Neon. If you prefer a Swiss Bank with an office, choose Migros Bank.
These Swiss Banks are cheap and offer a good amount of features.
I use both banks. I was with Migros Bank before discovering Neon. Then, I opened a Neon account to test it, and I like it. I pay all my bills on my Neon account.
Today, I would probably use Neon as my primary bank account if I had to choose. The main advantage is the mobile app, which is ten times better. However, there are a few things that keep me at Migros:
- The limits of Neon. Generally, 30’000 CHF per day should be more than enough. But there are some cases where I had to do larger transfers than this, for instance, for my downpayment. So, this limit could be a blocker for some people.
- The fact that my mortgage is at Migros Bank.
Overall, Neon is better than Migros Bank for me, mainly because of the issues I have with the Migros Mobile Application. This would save me a little money by avoiding the 0.20 CHF fee on each incoming payment.
Learn more about these best Swiss banks with my detailed reviews:
If you want to create an account at Neon, do not forget to enter the code “poorswiss” during registration. You will receive 10 CHF once you start using your account. And I will get 10 CHF as well.
What about you? Which of these two Swiss Banks do you prefer?
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Sorry but concerning Neon, I don’t see “Everything on your phone” as an advantage, on the contrary. Having the option to use a web interface is very important to me, and that’s the only reason why I won’t choose Neon. If you can only access your account from an app, you’re effectively trusting Google or Apple with the access to your money.
I also would prefer a web interface, but affordable banks only focus on mobile interfaces these days.
I don’t agree with the recommendation of Migros bank. They are nice, they try their best but they are 15 years behind any other bank in Switzerland. Their app is a bad, disgusting joke. For you to manage your money, you will be bounded to the Migros bank ATMs. They have great mortgage loans with conditions that are not found on any other bank its true but for daily usage, I simply dont agree at all with the analysis done. UBS offers much better service, support and app and the costs are very similar.
It’s true that Migros apps are bad. However, you are not bound to Migros Bank ATMs, you can withdraw money in each Migros shop and Migros-run shop. That means they have many more ATMs than most other banks.
It’s always to people to decide, but you cannot say that costs are similar with UBS. With Migros Bank, you can get an account for free (almost, 20 cents per incoming payment), which you can’t at UBS. And I have never needed any service at a bank, I just need to pay my bills and transfer money. UBS service is not worth the extra price for me.
Hi Babtiste
Can I open a joint account with my wife with Neon? or is there a workaround
thanks
Hi Klaas,
Unfortunately, no. They have said they are working on it but have given no ETA.
The only workaround is to have one account each :)
Hi James,
I m Belgian, actually living in France, wanting, in the actual sad financial state of European countries, to bring my savings ( in Euros) in safety before there is no more left!!! So transfer them into Swiss francs.
So I was searching for a Swiss bank I can open an account as a not foreigner. I will at the moment still keep my french account, ( on which my pension is paid) for daily use, and keep the Swiss one in case I d need a large amount.)As this would be more of a saving so, with very few movement, could you recommend me a cheap but trustworthy one ?
I only started to look for information today, and am certainly not familiar with with Swiss banking.
(I did find CIM bank), where I could open an account on-line as a foreigner without prove of address, and limited deposit. thanks for your help.
Do you have any idea of this bank or would you advise another?
Annemie
Hi Annemarie,
Who is James?
I am not familiar with CIM. If you are worried about safety, you should not stop yourself at cheap. UBS is fairly easy to use for foreigners and this is what I recommend since most other Swiss banks will not accept foreigners (unless they are very wealthy).
Thanks a lot for mentioning that Migros Bank is incompatible with Linux. The thing doesn’t even run in WINE, this has disqualified Migros Bank immediately for me. Such a thing in 2022, it’s shameful. They’re even fully conscious of it, mentioning it on their website…
Yes, they should either have a web app or support Linux!
Hello Baptiste,
I am currently looking for a free bank account that would also allow me to have an account in foreign currencies (ie EUR, GBP). Do you know if this exists in Switzerland?
thank you
Roman
Hi,
I guess it will depend exactly of which foreign currencies you need to hold. For EUR and GBP, you could use Wise or Revolut. But this is not Swiss.
You could also Yuh to hold these but the fees for converting are quite bad.
You could also use IB to hold these, but again it is not Swiss.
Do you need specific IBAN in your names for each currency or only hold them?
Hello Baptiste,
Since it is digital, I assume that I can open an account with Neon and deposit money into the account without going to Switzerland. Correct?
How are my deposits made?
Can I name “payable on death” individuals to my account to receive my money directly outside of a will?
Thanks,
Lew
Hi Lewis,
You can transfer money to your account yes. But you have to be a Swiss resident to open an account.
And you can’t deposit cash into the account.
No idea about payable on death, likely not.
Hi Baptiste,
When you say you have to be a resident to open a Swiss account what does “resident” mean?
If a foreign comes for work for a couple of months and needs to open a bank account for the salary to be transfered, what bank would you recommend?
I was thinking at some but don’t know which are best in this situation. The banks are: Raiffeisen, Revolut, UBS and Credit Suisse Group AG.
Many thanks in advance!
Hi Georgia
As long as you have an address in Switzerland, you should be considered as a resident, at least that’s my take on it.
If you have an address already, most banks should be good. Otherwise, I would try UBS.
You need to have B or C residence permit to open an account in neon. It’s stated in their FAQ.
What about Neon and one real Credit Card? What do you recommand? And would like to collect points for flights, Miles & More. Or is in this case the best way to grab just one real bank and that’s it?
Thanks in advance.
Neon and one real credit card is a good option. In that case, I would do Neon and the Cumulus. Currently, the Miles & More cards are worse than other credit cards, so I recommend avoiding them.
Hello Poor Swiss,
One thing that you might consider asking, when it comes to banking, whether or not your bank will sell gold and/or silver :-)
UBS, for example, used to sell silver bars; some years ago they stopped. And even though they list gold coins on their quotes page (https://secure.ubs.com/global/en/quotes.html, then click “Precious metals”), not all are available for purchase. It also seems that current banking rules prohibit the sale of precious metals to non-customers, so if you want to diversify some savings into PMs, then that should be an extra criteria to take into account.
Hi,
I would actually not use banks to buy gold or silver. Their fees are just too high. I would probably use physical gold stored in a safe institution.
I’d rather not have everything tied to a single bank. Banks should do one thing, banking, and do it well. Investments are not their strong fit.
Hello,
Thank you for your vlog. It is amazing how much work you put in. I wanted to ask, what would be the least expensive option for an expat (me), who is later thinking about converting CHF to EUR (about 100 000 CHF). Or maybe you know about the option in some bank, where I could directly transfer part of my salary in saving account in EUR?
Thank you.
Hi Domas,
Thanks for your kind words :)
I would personally use IB to do such a large transfer. It will be very cheap.