Neon Bank Review 2024: The Best Swiss Digital Bank
| Updated: |(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)
Do you want to save money on your bank fees?
Neon is a great Swiss digital bank that offers an entirely free bank account. As Swiss banks become increasingly expensive, switching to a free bank account is excellent.
With a free bank account from Neon, you can easily save money on your banking fees. You will not find a better deal anywhere else!
Over the years, Neon has been adding new features over time and has become the best digital bank in Switzerland.
Sign up for a free bank account with Neon today!
I have been using Neon for several years and it is now my main account. So, I want to share my experience in this Neon review.
One of the great things about Neon, compared to other digital alternatives, is that your funds are insured! If it goes bankrupt, your money is guaranteed up to 100’000 CHF! You have the same security as if you had a classical bank account.
In this article, we see what Neon is! And whether you should use it? How does it compare to other Swiss banks and neo-banks?
If you keep reading to the end, I even have a special Neon code for you!
| Monthly fee | 0 CHF |
|---|---|
| Users | 100’000 |
| Card | Mastercard Debit |
| Currencies | CHF |
| Withdrawals in Switzerland | 2 Free per month, then 2 CHF |
| Withdrawals abroad | 1.50% |
| Languages | English, French, German, and Italian |
| Custody bank | Hypothekarbank Lenzburg |
| Depositor protection | 100’000 CHF |
| Customers | 200’000 |
| Established | 2017 |
| Headquarters | Zürich, Switzerland |
Neon
All the services you need to pay, save and invest, in a neat package, with extremely good prices!
Use code thepoorswiss to receive 100 CHF in trading credits!
- Pay abroad for free
- Invest with great fees
Neon is one of the earliest digital banks in the Swiss banking industry. It is an entirely digital bank. You will do everything with your smartphone. They do not have any office you can do business at.
Neon started in 2019. But even though the company is only five years old, Neon has reached 200’000 customers in 2024. And they are expanding features very quickly. The company founders are Simon Youssef and Michael Noorlander.
Their main point is to provide free banking to everybody in Switzerland. They can afford excellent prices since they do not have big offices, not many employees, and do not pay huge bonuses to their managers. Unfortunately, most large banks in Switzerland are not free anymore!
Neon has three account types:
- Neon Free, which is the default account.
- Neon Green, which contributes to growing trees.
- Neon Metal, which gives you extra insurance.
There are some limitations as to who can open a Neon account:
- Only Swiss residents can open an account. The identity check system supports people from 19 different countries!
- Foreigners need a B or C permit to open an account. You will need to present your residency card to open an account.
- You must be over 15, which is slightly younger than other banks.
- You need to pay taxes exclusively in Switzerland.
- You cannot be an American citizen.
These limitations are very reasonable. Neon is an account for people living in Switzerland, and most people in this category can open an account!
Unfortunately, the limitation for American citizens is in effect with many small banks that do not want to deal with the complicated regulations for these clients.
Do not pay for a bank account. Use Neon, the new Free Digital Bank.
Is Neon a Bank?
Interestingly Neon is not a bank! Indeed, they do not have a banking license. However, they do not need one! An official bank, the Hypothekarbank Lenzburg (HBL), manages your accounts.
The most significant advantage is that your money is fully insured according to Swiss laws, contrary to other digital banks. So, 100’000 CHF of your account will be protected by law!
Moreover, this also means Neon can focus on its mobile application and products, and the custody bank can focus on managing money!
So, there is no disadvantage to Neon not being a licensed bank.
Neon Features
So, we first look at the features of the Neon bank account.
Neon is a digital bank account, so you must access it with a smartphone. It is available on Android, iPhone, and Huawei (without Google Play Store). And you can even access it on a rooted Android phone. Therefore, you should be good regardless of your phone.
You can see your balance and make payments and transfers from the application. In addition, you will get some basic information on how your account is doing (expenses versus earnings). And all these features work pretty well. I use Neon monthly to pay my bills, and I am pretty satisfied with their system.
With Neon, you can also send money directly to other Neon users. So, if you have people in your contacts with a Neon account, you can send them money directly.
With your Neon account, you will get a Neon Mastercard Debit. Until September 2024, Neon was coming with a Mastercard prepaid card, but this has changed to a Debit card. In practice, this should not change much but Mastercard Debit cards are slightly more widely accepted than prepaid. With this card, you can pay in Switzerland and abroad and withdraw money. And as we will see later, the fees on this card are outstanding!
Neon was the first digital bank to introduce support for electronic bills (e-bills). The support is simple since they simply use the SIX portal for e-bills. But it works well.
The application also lets you freeze your card temporarily. This feature is great if your card is lost or stolen.
Since May 2022, you can have Spaces in your account. It means you can create sub-accounts dedicated to your needs. For instance, many people want to save money for holidays in a different account.
It is important to note that you get a higher interest rate on your Spaces. Currently, you get an interest rate of 0.50% up to 25'000 CHF and 0.25% above that (as of July 2024).
You can also use Neon with Google Pay and Apple Pay to pay from your phone, and you can use Neon with TWINT. That way, you will not need a physical card to pay for your groceries!
Neon uses two-factor security to make your account more secure. You need to activate this feature. And you need to use a strong password to ensure nobody can access your account.
A great thing about Neon is that they are available in English and the three National Swiss languages: French, German, and Italian. These languages make Neon an excellent option for expatriates in Switzerland.
Overall, Neon has more than enough features for any bank user. I do not think anything is missing to make it an excellent bank account.
A significant issue with Neon is that they often cannot scale when many users are on the platform. Almost every month, the platform is overwhelmed on the 25th, when people receive their salary and pay their bills. This means that basic banking features are unavailable when people need them the most.
This is an important issue that Neon acknowledged several times. This issue has already led several people to leave Neon.
This has become significantly better in 2024, but I can still see slowdowns on the morning of the 25th, even though it is not as before.
Neon Fees
Fees is where Neon is shining! Almost everything is entirely free! If you follow a few rules, it will be completely free for you!
First of all, opening an account is free, and there is no management fee! All your payments in CHF will be free as well.
Your Neon MasterCard has no yearly fees either. A free payment card is essential because the essential feature of a payment card is to be free! However, you must pay 20 CHF to deliver your card (unless you get a Neon Green account).
You can also withdraw twice per month for free at any ATM. From the third withdrawal, you will have to pay 2 CHF per withdrawal.
The card is also very interesting abroad! You will not pay any fee for any transaction with the Neon card outside Switzerland or in foreign currencies online. Free transactions in foreign currencies and abroad make Neon an alternative to Revolut.
If you withdraw money abroad, you will pay a 1.5% fee. Generally, you should avoid withdrawing money abroad with any card.
Neon also has a partnership with Wise for outgoing foreign payments. So, you can profit from cheap foreign currency transfers with Neon. With this, transfers abroad cost 0.40% fee on top of the Wise fee. This partnership makes Neon the best Swiss bank account for foreign transfers.
If you only use your card in Switzerland, it will be entirely free! Neon is much better than most Swiss bank accounts!
Neon Limits
Like with most bank accounts, there are some limits to your Neon Bank account.
Most of the limits are related to the card itself. Here are the limits of the card:
- You can withdraw 2000 CHF per day at most
- You can spend 5000 CHF per day online and another 5000 CHF per day in stores
- You can only spend 10’000 CHF per month with the card
These limits are acceptable since they are similar to most payment cards. I have never been over these limits with any of my cards.
There is also a daily transaction limit of 50’000 CHF. In most cases, this will not be an issue. In my life, I only had to do a more significant transaction once (for the downpayment on our house). So, it should be fine for most people. But it is still important to know this limit.
Investing with Neon Invest
Since July 2023, you can now invest directly from your Neon account! Neon has introduced great trading features where you can trade stocks and ETFs directly in CHF without currency conversion fees.
If you want to learn more about this nice feature, you can read my Neon Invest Review.
User Reviews
If you want more points of view than my own, we can take a look at online reviews for Neon.
On the App Store, Neon got a 4.7-star average rating out of about 1.1K ratings. This is an excellent score! On the Play Store, Neon got a 4.6-star average rating out of about 1.6K ratings.
The positive reviews talk about several points:
- Low fees
- Very easy to use
- Nice looking app
The negative reviews also mentions several specific points:
- It takes a few days to activate the app since you will receive the code by mail
- People complain they cannot open an account while being out of Switzerland (but this is well explained on the website)
- The app is sometimes a little slow (with many users).
Given the excellent ratings and positive reviews, I would not worry too much about these negative ratings. Most negative reviewers do not read the conditions and complain they cannot open an account.
So, overall, users are extremely satisfied with Neon! And so am I!
Neon Duo – Joint account
Since 2024, Neon offers joint accounts! Neon is the first digital joint account in Switzerland. We are using this joint account as our main account.
A Neon duo account can be opened for a household of two people where both have already neon accounts. The account costs 6 CHF per month.
The Neon Duo account is entirely integrated inside the Neon application, there is no need for an extra app or set of credentials.
It is really great that neon started offering these joint accounts!
For more information, you can read my article about Neon Duo.
Neon Green – Carbon-Neutral account
Neon Green is the second bank account from Neon. It started in May 2021. The idea of Neon is to be carbon-neutral. And to achieve that idea, Neon will plant trees for all Neon Green users.
Neon Green users can choose between a wooden card and a recycled PVC card. Both of these cards have a very low carbon impact.
For each Neon Green user, Neon will plant five trees every month! They will also plant one more tree for every 100 CHF spent with this account. So, a user spending 3000 CHF monthly on this card would result in 35 trees planted per month!
As of 2023, Neon Green already has more than 8500 users, meaning a lot of trees were already planted. In fact, more than 3 million trees were planted by Neon Green.
Finally, you also get an extended warranty of 3 years for your electric and electronic devices.
The Neon Green account has all the features of the basic Neon Free account, but it costs 5 CHF per month. And you will receive the Mastercard for free (20 CHF for Neon Free).
Neon Green is an interesting approach for people wanting to affect the climate positively. And even at 5 CHF per month, Neon is still an interesting bank account! So, if you want to plant some trees easily, you could opt for Neon Green.
Neon Metal – Extra insurance
In April 2022, Neon introduced a new account: Neon Metal. As its name indicates, the card you will get is in metal, 22g of stainless steel, to be precise.
Neon Metal has all the features of the standard account with extra advantages on top. You can withdraw cash for free in the entire world (except in Switzerland, where you only have five free withdrawals per month).
With Neon Metal, you get several insurances included:
- Three years warranty on electronic devices
- mobile-phone insurance
- ticket insurance
- best-price guarantee insurance
On top of that, you will also get extra insurance as you use your card more:
- Shopping insurance if you spend more than 500 CHF with your card
- Insurance if what you received is not what was advertised, for instance
- Cyber insurance if you spend more than 5000 CHF with your card
- Insurance if one of your online accounts gets hacked, for instance
- Travel insurance if you spend more than 15’000 CHF with your card
- Insurance for your luggage, for instance
These packages cover many more areas I did not cite here and are well covered on the Neon Metal website.
Compared to the basic account, this account is not free. You will pay 15 CHF per month.
Given the amount of insurance you can get with this price, 15 CHF per month is a fair price. If you need some of these insurance policies, Neon Metal may be a great deal.
Medical care outside of Switzerland may also be covered by complementary insurance. Household insurance may cover some issues with your phone, and it is generally possible to get travel insurance on your travels should you decide to.
So, if you are interested in this account, you should check exactly what you need coverage for and see whether 15 CHF per month is a good deal.
Extra features of Neon
Neon does not have any extra features. But you do not need any additional features! Neon already has all the features you need.
Nevertheless, Neon has several partnerships with interesting digital companies. You can access these deals directly from the application:
- Cheap car insurance with smile.direct
- Cheap Robo-advisor with Selma (more information here)
- Cheap Third Pillar with Frankly (my review here)
- Withdraw cash in many shops with Sonect
- Sustainable investing with Inyova (my review here)
It is good that Neon is partnering with innovative companies that care about their customers. This strategy is much better than reinventing the wheel and doing everything. I like Neon’s approach there.
However, these companies are not necessarily the best for your money. For instance, Frankly is far from being the best third pillar available. So, do not choose a financial account only because you have a tiny benefit using it from your bank. Remember that you always need to do due diligence.
Alternatives
We should also compare Neon against some alternatives, both digital and traditional banks.
Neon Bank vs Yuh
|
Best Digital Bank
|
Good to start investing
|
|
5.0
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4.0
|
|
No custody fees
|
No custody fees
|
|
|
|
|
- Swiss broker
- Very easy to use
- Excellent fees abroad
- Excellent fees for all operations
- Expensive for large operations
- No fractional trading
- Technical issues on salary day
- Swiss broker
- Very easy to use
- Fractional trading in stocks
- Good fees for most operations
- Hold multiple currencies in your account
- Foreign transactions could be cheaper
- Expensive for large operations
- Cannot transfer shares to another broker
Yuh is a digital bank created by a collaboration between PostFinance and Swissquote. It is entirely digital, and since no offices are available, everything is done on the mobile app. These two digital bank accounts have much in common.
Both accounts are free by default. You will pay no monthly fee, and all basic operations are free with these two accounts.
Interestingly, both digital banks offer investing features. You can invest in stocks and ETFs with both. They both have similar features for most investors. But Yuh packs a few extra features like fractional trading, savings plans, and themes investing.
However, there are a few places where they differ:
- Neon is significantly cheaper than Yuh when it comes to foreign currency exchange.
- Neon is also cheaper when investing in foreign stocks and ETFs.
- You can hold multiple currencies with Yuh but only CHF with Neon.
- Neon is significantly more transparent about trading than Yuh.
If you want more information, I have a full comparison article of Neon vs Yuh.
Neon Bank vs Migros Bank
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Best Digital Bank
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Good traditional bank
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|
5.0
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4.0
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|
Free
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Free
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|
|
|
|
- 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
Before Neon, I was using Migros Bank. Now, I am using both accounts. We can see how they compare with Neon.
Neon is entirely digital, while Migros is still a traditional bank with offices. However, it does not matter much these days. You can do everything on both banks with your smartphone. Migros has a few more options, like broker accounts. But these are not services you should generally take with your bank anyway.
Both accounts are free.
The cards offered by Migros and Neon are very similar. Neon offers a Mastercard, while Migros offers a Visa. Both cards are free and have the same features. None of these two offers a Maestro.
You will not be entirely blocked with only a Mastercard, either. And with Neon’s Mastercard, you can pay abroad for free, while it would be costly with Migros Bank.
I keep Migros Bank as my primary bank account because it has higher daily limits, and I have my mortgage there. Without my mortgage, I would probably make Neon my main account.
Another advantage of Migros is that you have no limits on withdrawals. So if you use a lot of cash, you should use Migros over Neon.
Neon is superior to Migros Bank. The most significant advantage of Neon is that Neon’s mobile application is much better than the app from Migros. I have had many issues with the app from Migros. I do not like it. And with Neon, you only need a single card, and you can use it abroad! This is why I am using Neon for almost everything these days.
If you would like to learn more, you can read my review of Migros Bank.
Neon vs Zak
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Best Swiss Bank
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5.0
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3.5
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2 free withdrawals per month
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Free withdrawals at Bank Cler ATMs
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0
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0
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- Pay abroad for free
- Cheap international transfers
- Everything from your phone
- Medium limits
- Translated in English
- Difficult to deposit cash
- Expensive withdrawals abroad
- No Maestro card
- Pay abroad for free
- Can deposit cash in account
- Support for e-bills
- Not very transparent fees
- Low limits
- Expensive international transfers
- Expensive withdrawals abroad
- No Maestro card
- No physical card for abroad
- No English support
Another popular digital bank in Switzerland is Zak, from Bank Cler. We can quickly compare both banks.
Both banks are fully digital, and both banks are Swiss. That means they have the same features, more or less, and they have the same security. However, Neon is available in English, which may be important for expatriates.
Neon is much better to pay abroad thanks to its great exchange rate. Indeed, Neon has about a 0.5% surcharge on the interbank rate, while Zak has about a 2% surcharge.
And Neon has an extra advantage for fees. Indeed, by partnering with Wise, Neon can offer affordable international bank transfers.
On the other hand, it is difficult to deposit cash in a Neon account. With Zak, it is easy since you can deposit it at some Bank Cler ATMs.
For me, Neon is significantly better than Zak. If you want to learn more, read my comparison of Zak vs Neon.
Neon vs Revolut
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Best Digital Bank
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Good for travelers
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5.0
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3.0
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Free
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Free
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yes
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yes
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no
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yes
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- Great support in Switzerland
- Pay abroad for free
- Free withdrawals
- Money is insured
- International transfers are not free
- Cannot hold several currencies
- Great worldwide support
- Great transfer fees
- Hold many currencies
- Not transparent exchange rate
- Very limited withdrawals
- Expensive during the weekend
- Poor customer service
- Poor reputation
- Money is not insured
Another option I have talked about before is using Revolut Card. Revolut allows you to do transactions in foreign currencies with no transaction fees.
Since 2020, Neon has offered free payment abroad with the card in any currency. Free payment abroad is awesome! Furthermore, Neon is cheaper than Revolut since they do not have weekend fees, for instance.
Neon has one big advantage over Revolut. Your assets are insured for up to 100’000 CHF. Assets on Revolut are not insured by law. It is because Revolut is not a bank.
Another advantage of Neon over Revolut is that there is no limit on free withdrawals in Switzerland. With Neon, you can only withdraw twice a month, but with no limit. With Revolut, you can only withdraw 200 CHF per month for free.
On the other hand, with Revolut, you can receive money in other currencies for free and hold money in foreign currencies in your account. However, for now, you can only keep CHF on your Neon account, and receiving foreign currencies will not be free.
So you need both a Swiss bank account and a free foreign currency card to minimize your fees! With Neon, I feel you have all the advantages.
Since I started using Neon, I stopped using Revolut. And I will probably close my Revolut account to simplify my accounts.
To learn more, I have made an in-depth comparison of Neon and Revolut.
Neon as a Payment Card
While it is an excellent bank account, it is not the best option as a payment card. If you want to optimize your cash back, you should avoid this card for payments in Switzerland.
The reason is simple: there is no cashback using the Neon card. It is free, but it is not enough to make a good payment card.
In my credit card strategy, I am using my Certo One Mastercard with 1% cashback in three shops. This card is free and has some good cashback.
So, you may use it as your bank account. But using Neon as a payment card is not optimal!
Now, will it change your life? No! It is a small optimization. If you are not using payment cards often, you will be fine with Neon only. And if you do not want to carry several cards, Neon is perfect. On top of that, there is value in having all your expenses in the same place.
How to open a Neon account?
Opening a Neon account is very easy. You can download the app from the App Store (search Neon in any app store!). Then, you can go through the entire process step by step.
At some point, you will need to authenticate yourself via video chat. This seamless process will allow you to open an account in about 10 minutes. Neon will then send you the card by mail.
If you need more information, you can read my guide on opening and using a Neon account.
Neon FAQ
What is Neon?
Neon is a great Swiss digital bank. It is an entirely mobile bank providing modern banking features with no account management fees.
What is Neon Green?
Neon Green is an alternative to the Neon Free account. With Neon Green, Neon will plant trees each month for each user. On top of that, every time you spend money, Neon will plant more trees. This advantage makes Neon Green a carbon-neutral account.
Who can open a Neon account?
Swiss residents at least 15 years old can open an account with Neon. Foreigners from 19 countries with a B or C permit can create accounts.
Is Neon entirely free?
It is almost entirely free. You will only pay if you withdraw more than the allowed free limit or withdraw money abroad. Also, if you send foreign money abroad, you must pay some currency exchange fees.
Is Neon a Bank?
Technically, Neon is not a registered bank in Switzerland. However, your assets are held by Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, a licensed bank. So you have the same security as with any other Swiss bank!
Who is Neon good for?
Neon is great for anyone who wants a digital bank account in Switzerland and does not want to deal with cash too much.
Who is Neon not good for?
Neon is not great if you often get cash since you cannot deposit it for free in your account. Neon is also not good if you want a joint account since they only have individual accounts. Finally, Neon is not great if you want make payments in an office since they are only digital.
Can you deposit cash on your Neon account?
You cannot deposit cash directly to your Neon account. However, there are two ways of achieving this. You can buy TWINT top-ups at Coop or at the Post Office with your cash and then load them to your account. Or, you can generate a QR bill online and then pay yourself at the post office, but this will not be free.
Neon Bank Summary
Neon is a free digital bank in Switzerland. It is entirely free, is used from your smartphone and is an extremely attractive Swiss Bank!
Product Brand: Neon
5
Neon Bank Pros
Let's summarize the main advantages of Neon Bank:
- Extremely cheap bank.
- Free purchases abroad and in foreign currencies!
- Cheap transfers in foreign currencies
- Support of ebills.
- Neon was the first digital bank supporting ebills.
- Protection of your assets up to 100'000 CHF
- Excellent reviews
- Excellent reputation
- Fast-growing company
- Carbon-neutral option with Neon Green
- You can freeze the card from the app
- Can be opened at 15 years old
- Mastercard Debit card
Neon Bank Cons
Let's summarize the main disadvantages of Neon Bank:
- The account takes a few days to be fully activated.
- You cannot deposit cash (bank notes) for free in your account.
- You need to wire funds to your account
- No offices. If you have an issue, you have to call support.
- Technical issues often on the 25th of the month.
Conclusion
All the services you need to pay, save and invest, in a neat package, with extremely good prices!
Use code thepoorswiss to receive 100 CHF in trading credits!
- Pay abroad for free
- Invest with great fees
Neon is an excellent bank for Swiss people. Using it correctly, it is one of the best Swiss banks. You will not have to pay any fees. Neon is currently the best Swiss digital bank. Since they offer free payment with the card abroad, it is even better!
If you are still using an expensive bank such as PostFinance, UBS, or Credit Suisse, you should consider changing to a cheaper bank such as Neon! If you do not want a digital bank, Migros Bank is the next best alternative, but you will pay more.
I opened a Neon account several years ago and am entirely pleased. It replaced my Revolut account for usage in foreign currencies. And since the mobile application is so much better than the applications at Migros, I even switched to Neon as my main bank (with Neon Duo, their joint account).
If you open a Neon account, please use the code "thepoorswiss" during the registration process, and you will receive 100 CHF in trading credits. And I will also receive 15 CHF.
If you want more digital bank alternatives, you can look at my comparison of Zak vs Neon.
If you would like to learn more about Neon, you can also take a look at Neon’s blog. It is worth reading!
What do you think about Neon? Do you use this bank?
Recommended reading
- More articles about Best banks
- More articles about Save
- Freiburger Kantonalbank (FKB) Review 2024
- How to create a Neon account and use the mobile application
- Alpian Review 2024 – Pros & Cons
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Unfortunately neon is becoming worse and worse, I love their rxchange rate either way the card but they making free stuff paid
The other week I bought something and essentially got scammed so I wanted to do a chargeback well you know what neon told me?
You got scammed and want your money back? Well we scam you too and we charge you 25 CHF to issue a chargeback so I got double scammed
Actively looking for alternative tbh as of now as I’m tired of this shi**
Hi C
I think that is the case for most banks and possibly credit cards. These special operations incur fees. You cannot unfortunately get everything for free and everything that is manual will cost something.
I never had to pay for chargeback with viseca or ZKB and also I’m not a free customer so even worse!
Neon were forging a new path, but now slowly going the way of the traditional banks.
Can you disclose how much you get to promote Neon versus Revolut? Your review sounds so tendentiously biased that for transparency & honesty your readers deserve to know that.
Hi George
This is already disclosed at the end of the article:
I only receive these 10 CHF for each successful account, nothing else.
Hi Baptiste
Thanks for the thorough explanation on the different accounts. Now, I am tempted to try out Neo. Where do I find the promo code (as the button just links to the Neo website).
Thanks
Hi cct
The promo code is poorswiss. Unfortunately, I can’t make a link that would then set the code since you will have to download the app and put the code inside, that’s why I have put it on the button.
Hello Baptiste,
Thanks for your detailed information on Neon, and Certo One in the other blog.
Quick question, for me to move completely out of my current bank and have Neon for my banking needs and Certo One for credit needs, I still feel something amiss..
Neon can be used for regular banking needs, including online shopping in Euros.
Certo One for credit needs but only in CHF.
What is the best option for credit needs in Euro or non-CHF currency?
For example, if I need to book a Car or purchase something in Paris but I don’t have enough in my Neon Account at the moment, I need to go back to my current bank’s credit card, which will charge me for exchange rates.
Appreciate your reply.
Best Regards
Hi Murli
There is no awesome option for non-CHF credit card. They are all mostly bad. The idea is to minimize the use of credit cards for non-CHF and then use what you have.
My strategy is simply to use the Certo when I really can’t use the Neon card. Overall, if this does not happen often, this should not make a significant difference.
I was with Neon for a couple of years. While I loved the simplicity of the app, the customer service was poor; Neon takes no responsibility for the banking side of things and simply refers the customer to the Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, which is (in my experience) a traditional, slow moving Swiss bank that is obsessed with paper forms and snail mail. They sent me new KYC forms by post while I was out of the country and threatened to block my account when I didn’t respond promptly; no contact by electronic channels and Neon support wasn’t interested at all.
Hi,
Sorry to hear about your experience.
It’s true that by using Neon, you are dealing with two entities, very separate and very different. If you have a Neon issue, you will deal with Neon but if it’s a banking issues you will deal with HBL and if it’s not clear, you may have to do some back and forth.
Which bank are you using now?
My situation is perhaps not typical, since I’ve emigrated from Switzerland over a year ago and was constantly on the move the two years before that. After the meltdown with Neon, I moved all my day-to-day banking to Wise, based on the realization that I actually needed very little bank: card transactions, electronic payments and the ability to receive money and withdraw cash only very occasionally. The only thing Wise was lacking was a CH IBAN (it can receive CHF very well via the GB IBAN, but some authorities stubbornly insist on that “CH” up front) and I use ibani.com to fill that gap. I kept the Neon account open until I left Switzerland, but used it very little. What’s a bank without trust?
By the way, emigration is a fascinating, challenging financial topic in its own right. I’d be happy to share a few insights and warnings if you’re interested.
Thanks for sharing! It makes sense from a dynamic point of view to go with Wise.
I can imagine it being very challenging and interesting. Since I am quite attached, I have no plans to leave anytime, but I may write articles on the subject in the future and contact you for details.
I’d be interested to hear your experience with leaving. Happy for Baptiste to pass my email on if he doesn’t want it in the thread.
I am too with Neon, I have had similar issues with the customer service in the past. However, I did need support from the parent bank today and surprisingly they were incredibly helpful and fast! Faster than Neon. Was reassuring.
You can discuss here or you can discuss on the forums if it’s less related.
Hello,
very nice post, how do you manage a rent caution account? It seems neon Bank does not have one.
Hi Eu,
I had mine at the cantonal bank in Fribourg last time. You do not have to keep it at the same place as your main bank.
Thanks a lot for your answer, I will check if the caution account is free with my current bank.
How about a business bank account? I need to open an account for a sàrl and Neón says they don’t do business banking.
I don’t know a great business bank account. I used Migros for the blog, but I am not very happy about it.
Thanks. I don’t suppose Wise might start to accept CHF payments in the future…?
Hi Baptiste,
Thanks for your great review!
Only one doubt on the fees: I see that Neon also applies a convenience fee of 0.4% on international transfers / payments abroad in addition to the fees calculated by Wise. Is this right?
https://www.neon-free.ch/en/faq/?faq-category=1&faq-entry=49
Best,
Matteo
Hi Matteo
Yes, for transfers abroad, you will pay 0.40% + Wise Fee. That’s a transfer from the Neon account to an account abroad.
However, this does not apply to payments abroad with card, which I detailed here.
I should detail transfers abroad in more detail in this article.
Hey there,
thank you for your review and thorough explanation!
I’ve just opened a new account with them employing your code.
The only question I still have for them is the following: is it possible to deposit cash into an online bank account?
Hi Learner
Not directly. This is the case with most digital banks. There are two ways:
* You can buy TWINT topup (Coop, Post Office) and load them onto your account from the TWINT app
* Create a QR bill online and pay yourself at the post, but this is not free
Hi Baptiste, very good review about Neon card, thanks. It would be interesting to have a comparison between Neon and Kaspar&, it seems very practical and competitive too in Switzerland and maybe abroad purchases? thanks 👍
Hi Luigi,
It would probably be interesting, but as a rule, I don’t review any product that is not available in of the two languages I master (French and English).
Hi Baptiste,
Neon now offers joint/partner accounts (Beta).
However, they charge CHF3/person/month.
Do you think Neon would still be superior to Migros bank for a couple considering the added fees?
My current setup is PF (CHF5/month), AMEX Cashback 1%, Revolut.
Hi,
Yes, their offer is good. I was expecting it to be slightly cheaper, but it’s also not the end of the world.
I think it’s better than Migros, mostly because of the horrible apps from Migros Bank. But it will not be cheaper since the Migros acount is free.