Review UBS Bank 2025 – Avantages et inconvénients

UBS

UBS has a long history. It started in 1862 as the Bank of Winterthur. In 1912, it merged with the Toggenburger Bank to form the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS). In 1998, it merged with the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBS), another large union bank.

From this point, they became UBS only, not an acronym anymore. The bank results from more than 300 financial firms merged over time. In 2023, UBS even integrated Credit Suisse (the second largest bank at the time). These firms now form a financial giant.

In 2021, UBS had about 3 million customers in Switzerland. They offer many services:

• Savings and checking accounts
• Vested benefits and third pillar accounts
• Investment funds
• Broker accounts
• Mortgages
• Private wealth management

In this article, I will only focus on UBS’s banking packages.

Keep in mind that I have never used UBS myself. This review results from all the information I could find from UBS and its customers.

It is important to note that UBS accepts US citizens. Because of some complex regulations, many Swiss banks not accept US citizens (or even foreigners). This makes it one of the best banks for non-residents.

Banking features

We look at the features UBS offers for bank accounts. To access the banking features, you have several choices:

1. The e-banking web application
2. The mobile applications
3. Directly in the offices

From the applications, you can do everything you expect from a bank account:

• See your balance and transactions
• Pay your bills
• Transfer money to other accounts
• Pay e-bills

That’s about all you need from a bank account.

Contrary to many banks, UBS has straightforward banking packages. Their banking package is called UBS Me. They have different versions of the package based on your situation:

• UBS Me for Young People and students for people between 12 and 30 years old
• UBS Me for families and couples
• UBS Me for cross-border workers
• UBS Me for young professionals (below 32 years old)
• UBS Me for individuals (everybody else)

The features are the same between the different versions, but the prices differ slightly. This review will cover the UBS Me for individuals (the default version).

With your banking package, you get a CHF private account and several savings accounts (if you want). You will also get a debit card and a credit card included in the package. You can choose between Visa and Mastercard for your cards. You can also use your account with TWINT.

One thing that many people like is that everything is available in English. Both the applications and the support are available in English. English availability is excellent for people who do not speak one of the Swiss national languages.

Overall, UBS Me should have more than enough features for anybody.

Banking fees

We must take a look at the fees for the banking packages.

First, we start with the monthly account price. As you can expect from UBS, their banking packages are not free. First, we must distinguish two versions of the packages:

• Standard. You will only get statements by email or on the phone
• Traditional: You get paper statements.

The default price is 13 CHF per month for the standard package and 18 CHF for the traditional package. I hope that most people are using digital statements and should avoid paying 60 CHF per year for paper statements, so we will focus on the standard package.

If you have more than 10’000 CHF on your account or a mortgage with UBS, you will get 5 CHF off your base price. So the Standard package will only cost you 8 CHF per month (96 CHF per year).

With these fees, several things are included:

• Send money to and from your account
• Pay your bills and e-bills
• Pay with your card in shops that support the PostFinance card
• Withdraw cash in all UBS ATMs

If you withdraw money from another ATM, you will pay 2 CHF to withdraw Swiss Francs in Switzerland, 5 CHF for a withdrawal in EUR in Switzerland, and 5 CHF for any withdrawal abroad.

You can also get modules to get more withdrawal for free at other ATMs:

• Module Switzerland: 2 CHF per month for two free withdrawals in Switzerland per month.
• Module Worldwide: 5 CHF per month for four free withdrawals in Switzerland and two free withdrawals abroad per month.

I think there are enough UBS ATMs so that you do not have to use any of these modules.

If you use your card abroad or in foreign currencies, you will pay a surcharge of 1.75% on top of the exchange rate. This fee is expensive, and you should not use these cards for that purpose.

Finally, if you have more than 250’000 CHF on your account, you must pay a 0.75% negative interest rate.

These fees are better than I expected. You can get a good banking package for 8 CHF per month, less than 100 CHF per year. I would probably not pay for it, but it is not horrible.

User Reviews

We should look at what other users think of UBS.

Usually, I use Trustpilot to get information about a product. But in that case, there are barely 100 reviews of UBS on Trustpilot. They got a terrible average score of 1.5 stars out of 5. However, I do not think we can judge a bank of 3 million customers with 100 reviews.

Many people complain about the fees, but most of the bad reviews are of awful quality and should be ignored.

Looking at the good reviews, it seems like people with private wealth management services are pretty satisfied with UBS’s services.

Unfortunately, I have not found a good source of UBS reviews.

On the other hand, I know many expatriates who use UBS because it accepts foreigners more than other banks. All these people I know are satisfied with UBS’s offer.

I would say that reviews of UBS banking services are very mixed. However, I have not been able to find enough information on the subject.

Security

We also need to look at the security of using UBS as a bank account.

Currently, UBS customers are protected like any other Swiss bank by the Esisuisse deposit protection scheme. So, if UBS goes bankrupt, customer assets are protected for up to 100’000 CHF.

However, since Esisuisse has a limit of 6 billion CHF and UBS has more than three million customers, the guarantee would only be, on average, 2000 CHF per customer. This total limit is a disadvantage of Esisuisse since larger banks are less protected than small ones.

Now, in practice, things would likely be different. And we have a recent example to prove that. Indeed, in 2008, UBS almost went bankrupt due to the subprime crisis (the so-called Great Recession). And the Swiss National Bank (SNB)  bailed them out with 60 billion CHF.

Today, UBS is considered a bank that is too big to fail. These banks have stronger restrictions to avoid issues. These restrictions do not mean that UBS is safe from bankruptcy. This does not mean that the SNB would bail them out a second time. But I would be surprised if the SNB would not help if turmoil arose again.

So, from a regulation point of view, UBS is relatively safe. From a historical point of view, they are not safe since they already had to be bailed out. However, it is considered much safer these days than in 2008.

From a technical point of view, they have high standards of security. They have options for multiple authentication factors in their digital access. And their website contains a lot of information on cybersecurity, which is a good sign.

I would say that it is currently safe to have your assets at UBS. However, I do not think this is the safest bank.

Alternatives

UBS vs radicant

Banque digitale la moins chère

radicant

4.5

radicant est une excellente banque numérique avec toutes les fonctionnalités nécessaires, à un prix incroyable.

Utilise le code POORCH pour recevoir 50 CHF sur ton compte en utilisant la carte !

Pros:

• Taux interbancaire

Utiliser le code POORCH Notre review

Pour recevoir la récompense, saisis le code dans les 7 jours suivant le premier dépôt et effectue 3 transactions avec la carte dans les 30 jours suivant l'entreé du code.

If we compare UBS and radicant, UBS will significantly more expensive. radicant is great for paying abroad and in foreign currencies, or simply for having a free bank account. On the other hand, with UBS, you have access to many ATMs and offices and could deposit cash if necessary.

UBS vs Neon

We can quickly compare UBS with Neon Bank:

Meilleure banque digitale
Neon	UBS
4.5	3.0
Gratuit	8 CHF par mois
Payer à l'étranger bon marché Une application mobile qui marche	Support en présentiel Limites élevées Dépôt de cash gratuit
Pas de bureau Frais d'ouverture de 10 CHF Limites moyennes	Cher en général Cher à l'étranger Transferts internationaux trop chers
Utilise le code thepoorswiss	Plus d'infos

Meilleure banque digitale

Neon

4.5

Gratuit

• Payer à l'étranger bon marché
• Une application mobile qui marche

• Pas de bureau
• Frais d'ouverture de 10 CHF
• Limites moyennes

Utilise le code thepoorswiss

UBS

3.0

8 CHF par mois

• Support en présentiel
• Limites élevées
• Dépôt de cash gratuit

• Cher en général
• Cher à l'étranger
• Transferts internationaux trop chers

Plus d'infos

Overall, UBS is pricier, but you will get access to their offices, and you can deposit cash easily in your account. You also get higher limits.

Neon is my favorite Swiss bank. You can read my Neon Review for more information.

UBS vs Migros Bank

We can also quickly compare UBS with Migros Bank:

UBS	Banque Migros
3.5	4.0
8 CHF par mois	3 CHF par mois
Bien établi Bien pour les expats Beaucoup de fonctionnalités	Très bon marché Toutes les fonctionnalités dont vous avez besoin
Compte assez cher Très cher à l'étranger Très cher pour les transferts internationaux	Pas disponible en Anglais Très cher à l'étranger Très cher pour les transferts internationaux
Learn more	Learn more

UBS

3.5

8 CHF par mois

• Bien établi
• Bien pour les expats
• Beaucoup de fonctionnalités

• Compte assez cher
• Très cher à l'étranger
• Très cher pour les transferts internationaux

Learn more

Banque Migros

4.0

3 CHF par mois

• Très bon marché
• Toutes les fonctionnalités dont vous avez besoin

• Pas disponible en Anglais
• Très cher à l'étranger
• Très cher pour les transferts internationaux

Learn more

There are very few differences between these two bank accounts except for the price. UBS is more well-known, and some trust it more than other banks. Furthermore, Migros Bank is pretty bad if you only speak English.

You can read my review of Migros Bank for more information.

FAQ

Résumé de l’UBS

Compte bancaire UBS

UBS est la plus grande banque de Suisse. Ils proposent plusieurs comptes bancaires différents, pour des besoins différents.

Marque du produit: UBS

Note de l’éditeur/éditrice :
3.5

Avantages

• Toutes les fonctionnalités dont vous avez besoin.
• Bonne réputation.
• Banque de confiance.
• Pas extrêmement cher.
• Bonne sécurité technique.

Inconvénients

• Comptes bancaires relativement coûteux.
• Ils ont dû être renfloués dans le passé.

Conclusion

Globalement, je ne vois pas d’avantage significatif à utiliser la banque UBS par rapport à d’autres banques bon marché. Leurs prix ne sont pas exorbitants puisque le paquet bancaire de base devrait contenir tout ce dont vous avez besoin pour 96 CHF par an. Néanmoins, elles ne présentent pas de caractéristiques supplémentaires que les autres banques moins chères ne proposent pas.

Je ne vous recommande donc pas de passer à l’UBS si vous utilisez une autre banque moins chère. En revanche, je ne passerais pas nécessairement d’UBS à une autre banque plus abordable.

De nombreuses personnes, notamment les expatriés, sont plutôt satisfaites de cette banque. Elle est plus facile à utiliser pour un étranger qu’une banque locale ou numérique. Par rapport à d’autres banques, elle dispose également d’une bonne assistance en anglais.

En outre, beaucoup pensent que leur argent est plus sûr chez UBS. Je ne suis pas sûr que ce soit le cas. Rappelons que la BNS a dû renflouer UBS lors de la dernière crise financière. L’avenir nous dira s’ils ont appris de leurs erreurs.

Si vous voulez une banque physique, je recommande toujours la banque Migros. J’ai un compte ici, et je suis satisfait de leurs services. Si vous avez plus de 7500 CHF, vous pouvez avoir un compte sans frais de gestion. Et ils ont toutes les fonctionnalités dont vous avez besoin. J’ai une revue complète de la Banque Migros si vous êtes intéressés.

Si vous voulez une banque numérique, vous devriez regarder Neon. C’est mon principal compte bancaire en ce moment. La création d’un compte est simple et toutes les fonctionnalités dont vous avez besoin sont disponibles directement dans l’application. Cependant, vous ne pouvez pas vous rendre à un guichet et parler à quelqu’un. Si vous voulez plus d’informations, vous pouvez lire mon avis Neon.

Et vous ? Que pensez-vous d’UBS ?