Download this e-book and optimize your finances and save money by using the best financial services available in Switzerland!
The best financial services for your money!

Download this e-book and optimize your finances and save money by using the best financial services available in Switzerland!

Download The FREE e-book

Swissquote Review 2023 – A great Swiss Broker

Baptiste Wicht | Updated: |

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)

Are you wondering if Swissquote is any good?

Swissquote is one of the most well-known Swiss brokers, and many investors are using it. It has many features that make it attractive for people looking to invest in the stock market.

But is Swissquote any good? Many people are asking this question, and we have the answer. We compare Swissquote to some of its competitors to see how it stacks up.

This in-depth review answers precisely that question. We see what Swissquote is, what you can do with it, how much it costs, and much more!

By the end of this review, you will know whether Swissquote is a good broker for you!

About Swissquote
Custody Fees 0.10% per year
Inactivity Fees 0 CHF
Buy Swiss ETF 5-190 CHF
Buy American Stock 5-190 USD
Currency Exchange Fee 0.95%
Languages English, French, German, and Italian
Mobile Application Yes
Web Application Yes
Custodian Bank Swissquote
Established 1996
Headquarters Zürich

Swissquote

Best Swiss Broker
Swissquote
4.5
Very affordable

Everything you need to start investing in the stock market! Open an account with Swissquote and get 100 CHF in trading credits with my code MKT_THEPOORSWISS

Pros:
  • Swiss broker
  • Easy to use
Invest with MKT_THEPOORSWISS code
The MKT_THEPOORSWISS code is only valid for active Swiss accounts.

The Swissquote broker is part of the Swissquote Group Holding SA company. It is a Swiss banking group operating in many countries. The Swissquote broker was founded in 1996, making it a well-established company. They have 722 employees at the time of this writing.

While the group offers services in many countries, this review will focus on its services in Switzerland. This service is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

Swissquote has a banking license and is listed on the stock market. This listing makes Swissquote very transparent since it must reveal detailed financial reports.

At the time of this writing, Swissquote has more than 400’000 users. It offers access to stocks, bonds, funds, Contracts For Difference (CFDs), and more. They have access to 60 stock exchanges over the world. If you are a passive investor like me, they have more features than you would ever need.

They also offer some services outside of the stock market, like cryptocurrencies. But I do not cover this part in this review. Instead, I want to focus on their trading features. They have separated the two features on their tools too.

So, let’s delve deeper into what Swissquote offers as a broker.

Swissquote Account Types

Swissquote has four different account types:

  1. Trading. This account is the one that interests us for this review since it offers access to trading in the stock market.
  2. Forex. An account for foreign exchange traders.
  3. Robo-Advisory. You can also use Swissquote as a Robo-Advisor.
  4. Crypto-Assets. A special account where you can trade many cryptocurrencies.

This review focus solely on the Trading account type. As a passive investor in the stock market, this is the only account you need.

Swissquote Fees

In the long term, you need to reduce your fees. Investing fees are extremely important. Therefore, we must look at the fees of the Trading account at Swissquote.

You will pay 0.025% in custody fees for the account. This fee is charged each quarter, with a minimum fee of 20 CHF. Fortunately, there is a maximum of 50 CHF per quarter. So, the maximum fee you will pay is 200 CHF per year.

If you have more than 1’000’000 CHF in assets, you will pay an extra 0.03% management fee per year. This extra fee is not negligible if you plan to retire on your investments, but this is still significantly lower than big Swiss brokers.

As far as Swiss brokers go, this is a reasonable fee. But this is still not negligible. This custody fee is the only fee you will pay outside of trading fees. They have no extra account management fees or inactivity fees.

Let’s start with Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) since they are the best instrument for passive investors in Switzerland. With most brokers, ETFs have the same trading fees as stocks since they are traded similarly.

However, with Swissquote, there is a slight difference. For some ETFs, called ETF Leaders, you will pay a flat fee of 9 CHF per trade on the Swiss Stock Exchange. If the ETF is listed in USD, you will pay 9 USD (and the same logic for GBP and EUR).

In the ETF leaders, you find many good ETFs by Vanguard, iShares, UBS, etc. So, as long as you buy your ETF on the Swiss Stock Exchange, you should be okay with the flat fee. For ETFs on other stock exchanges, the fees will be the same as for stocks.

Then, you pay a fee for each stock exchange based on the transaction value. The fees are the same for buy and sell operations. For instance, here are the fees for the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX):

And here are the fees for American stock exchanges (NYSE or Nasdaq):

These fees are not cheap, especially for small transactions. For instance, if you buy 1000 CHF shares, you will pay a 2% fee! 2% is a huge fee, and you must be careful about it. But if you buy for 10’000 CHF, you will pay 0.3% in fees. 0.3%is still a considerable fee, but it is acceptable.

And when we compare Swissquote with other Swiss brokers, these fees are on the low side.

We also have to consider the currency conversion fee. At Swissquote, you will pay 0.95% of the exchange value if you convert CHF to another common currency like EUR and USD. The fees may change if you use other, more exotic currencies.

Once again, this is a significant fee. You need to be careful about this fee. You pay this fee every time you buy or sell an ETF in EUR or USD. Over time, this can quickly accumulate to a significant amount of money lost to fees.

Finally, the last fee we will look at is the Swiss Stamp Tax Duty fee. Since Swissquote is a Swiss broker, you will have to pay this fee for each stock market operation. This fee is 0.075% for Swiss shares and 0.15% for foreign shares. This fee is the same for each Swiss broker.

Overall, Swissquote is not cheap. Several of its fees are relatively high, mainly currency exchange and trading fees for small transactions. However, compared with other Swiss brokers, these fees are affordable. Indeed, Most Swiss brokers are even more expensive than Swissquote.

In fact, for transactions on the Swiss Stock exchange, Swissquote is among the cheapest Swiss brokers. The only place where it does not shine is for foreign currency exchange.

Opening an account at Swissquote

Swissquote on desktop
Swissquote on desktop

Let’s see what it takes to open an account at Swissquote.

Opening an account at Swissquote can be done entirely online. But you may have to wait until you get someone on call for the video identification, which can take a while (more than 10 minutes), depending on when you call.

Other than that, the account opening process is very straightforward. You will have to give your personal information and answer questions about your financial knowledge. These are the same questions every broker will ask you—nothing surprising here.

There is no minimum for opening an account. So, you can start trading with very little money. It is good, but be careful about the 60 CHF per year minimum custody fee. If you invest with very little money, this could be expensive.

If you open an account, don’t forget to use my code MKT_THEPOORSWISS to get 100 CHF in trading credits (only for Swiss residents).

So, overall, opening an account at Swissquote should be pretty straightforward.

Trading with Swissquote

Swissquote on mobile
Swissquote on mobile

Swissquote offers several options to trade stocks:

Overall, there are enough options for everybody. The web interface should work for most people. And many people will also appreciate the mobile applications that let you do everything you need.

The only downside is that the web interface is a little complicated because of all the crammed features. But once you find the features you need, you should be fine to use them. If you want to invest passively, you will only need a small fraction of the features available.

Is Swissquote safe?

If you invest a significant amount of money with a broker, you must ensure it is safe.

Swissquote is regulated in Switzerland by FINMA. Its other entities are also regulated in other countries.

Swissquote has been well-established since 1996 and has been profitable for several years, so its risks of going bankrupt are slim. But it is still important to know what would happen if your broker went bankrupt.

Since Swissquote has a banking license, your cash will be protected by Esisuisse for up to 100’000 CHF. Your securities should be fully guaranteed since they are supposed to be held in the custodian bank account in your name. It is a good level of protection.

As for technical security, you can opt for a second-factor authentication (2FA) for your account. I strongly recommend everybody to do that to improve the security of their account. I have not heard of any security issues within Swissquote, which is a good sign.

So, overall, investing with Swissquote is safe. As for investing in general, keep in mind that investing involves risks of loss regardless of the platform.

Swissquote Reputation

Looking at a broker’s reputation before investing in the stock market is essential.

As a source of review, I always use TrustPilot. So, let’s look at the reviews of SQ on TrustPilot. On average, users are rating SQ at 3.2 stars, which is not a great result. So, let’s see what people are saying about this broker.

First, we should take a look at people complaining about the broker. We can group the complaints into several categories:

Overall, I am a little worried about the reviews on the customer service and account opening. The other complaints do not worry me since they come from people who have not done their research properly before opening an account at Swissquote. And we must remember that most internet comments come from unsatisfied people. So, negative comments have to be taken with a pinch of salt even though they still come from some truth.

The good point is that most reviews (36%) are rated five-star. Overall, positive reviews are saying:

Interestingly, positive reviews strongly focus on the platform itself and its usability. It is good that many people report that the platform is easy to use.

Overall, I would say that the user reviews of Swissquote are good but not great.

Alternatives to Swissquote

It is essential to compare a broker to its alternatives. There are many brokers available to Swiss investors. But I think it is important to mention Interactive Brokers as the best alternative to Swissquote.

Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers

For transparency, it is important to mention that I do not use Swissquote.

I believe Swissquote is the best Swiss broker available. If you are looking for a Swiss broker, I would recommend them.

However, I use Interactive Brokers, a broker from the United States. So, we can compare both platforms.

Both brokers are very well-established and regulated. The protection is good on both sides, with a slight advantage for Interactive Brokers protected by U.S. SIPC.

Where everything starts to differ very strongly is in the fees.

Let’s start with the custody fees. Swissquote has a 200 CHF yearly custody fee for an extensive portfolio. At IB, you will pay 0 CHF in custody fees! You can save 200 CHF per year with IB.

For trading on the Swiss stock exchanges, Interactive Brokers is slightly cheaper than Swissquote, but not by a large margin. Where IB shines is in American stock exchanges. For instance, if I buy 10’000 USD of Microsoft shares, I will pay about 0.40 USD on IB (yes, 40 cents!). On Swissquote, this would cost 30 USD. In this example, IB is 75 times cheaper than Swissquote!

On top of that, since IB is a foreign broker, you will not pay the Swiss Stamp tax. With IB, you save 0.075% on each Swiss operation and 0.15% on each foreign operation.

Finally, currency exchange at IB costs about 2 USD, while they cost 0.95% at Swissquote. So, unless you convert less than 200 USD, IB will be much cheaper for converting money.

So, if you are ready to use a broker that is not Swiss, you should consider Interactive Brokers. You can read my review of IB to know more. But as far as Swiss brokers go, Swissquote is excellent.

For more details, read my full comparison of Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers.

FAQ

Is Swissquote safe?

Swissquote is a well-established broker, regulated by the FINMA. In case of bankruptcy, your assets are segregated and will be available to you.

Can you convert currency with Swissquote?

Yes, you can convert between many different currency pairs.

Swissquote Summary

Swissquote is a great Swiss broker. It has excellent fees and a good reputation. It provides you with all the features you need to start investing.

Product Brand: Swissquote

Editor's Rating:
4.5

Swissquote Pros

Let's summarize the main advantages of Swissquote:

  • Cheap compared to other Swiss brokers
  • Relatively fast account opening
  • A very vast range of investments
  • Long experience
  • Well-established company
  • Good security
  • Easy to use

Swissquote Cons

Let's summarize the main disadvantages of Swissquote:

  • Expensive currency exchange fees
  • Expensive when compared to foreign brokers
  • Video identification can take a while to complete

Conclusion

Best Swiss Broker
Swissquote
4.5
Very affordable

Everything you need to start investing in the stock market! Open an account with Swissquote and get 100 CHF in trading credits with my code MKT_THEPOORSWISS

Pros:
  • Swiss broker
  • Easy to use
Invest with MKT_THEPOORSWISS code
The MKT_THEPOORSWISS code is only valid for active Swiss accounts.

Overall, Swissquote is a good, well-established, and affordable Swiss broker. They offer access to many stock exchanges and many investing instruments. And they compare well with other Swiss brokers.

So, Swissquote is the best Swiss broker. If you want to invest with a Swiss broker, I can only recommend going with Swissquote.  Swissquote will be a great platform to grow your money with the stock market.

If you use my code MKT_THEPOORSWISS when you open an account, you will get 100 CHF in trading credits. So you are saving 100 CHF in fees! However, this code is only valid for Swiss residents.

If you are interested in Swiss brokers, in particular, I compared the best brokers. This article should help you choose, but you need to know the cost differences between Swiss and foreign brokers.

If you also want to consider foreign brokers, I recommend Interactive Brokers as the best broker for Swiss investors.

What about you? What do you think of Swissquote?

The best financial services for your money!

Download this e-book and optimize your finances and save money by using the best financial services available in Switzerland!

Download The FREE e-book
Photo of Baptiste Wicht

Baptiste Wicht started thepoorswiss.com in 2017. He realized that he was falling into the trap of lifestyle inflation. He decided to cut his expenses and increase his income. This blog is relating his story and findings. In 2019, he is saving more than 50% of his income. He made it a goal to reach Financial Independence. You can send Mr. The Poor Swiss a message here.

Recommended reading

75 thoughts on “Swissquote Review 2023 – A great Swiss Broker”

  1. Hi TPS, thanks for the review!

    In general, what is the use-case for having a *Swiss* broker? E.g. how can one quantify the benefits (if any) of holding assets within Switzerland? The high costs must be justified somehow.

    One potential use case for me is: accessing Swiss bonds. E.g. Swiss confederation bonds are not available on ibkr.

    At the moment interest paid on Swiss confederation bonds are not higher than fix-term, or fiduciary deposits. Interestingly, Swissquote offers all of the above though.

    Do you have any experience/suggestions in merit?

    1. hi Marco,

      The use-case is that many people prefer Swiss brokers because they feel they are safer. I don’t think it’s really the case, but that’s what people think.
      I would personally not buy Swiss bonds directly with a broker, but rather with a bank. But yes, they may have access to more bonds at Swiss brokers.
      Another use case is that Swiss brokers allow for share registration. So you could be registered as a shareholder and receive some advantages (some companies offer these).

  2. Dear All,
    Many thanks for this information.
    How do you deal with tax declaration in Switzerland if you use IB? I have heard they don’t provide a proper tax statement following the Swiss standards, which might make the filling of the tax declaration cumbersome. Any insight on that would be more than welcome.
    Best regards,
    Nicolas

  3. Hi, Yuh is co-owned by Swissquote and I think it is much much cheaper compared to Swissquote. I have accounts in both but haven’t really used them. Maybe you could do a comparison?

    Thanks for the great content!

      1. Thanks Baptiste.

        I agree Yuh is not good with foreign exchanges, I prefer Revolut, but I will also check Neon, I’m hearing it a lot lately.

        I think a comparison between Yuh and Swissquote would make sense, especially for someone who just wants to start with investment, since with Yuh you will not have custody fees at all.

        Thanks for all the great info you share!

  4. Hello the poor swiss!
    Thanks a lot for all your reviews, they are very useful!!
    I have just opened an account in Swissquote, but did not yet transfer any money/deposit.
    I have read this article and realize that, due to the fees, it may be better for me to try IB.
    Do you know whether I would get any fees if I close now the account with Swissquote?
    What is your recommendation here?
    Thanks a lot in advance for your answer!
    Kind regards

    1. Hi Diana,

      I don’t think there are any fees in closing your account and they also don’t have inactivity fees, so keeping your empty account should be free.
      I would recommend trying it out and then seeing which you prefer for some time before taking a decision.

  5. Hi Poor Swiss,

    thanks for the great content. Somehow an irrelevant question but wanted to try.

    Is there a lower limit on the amount of profit that someone should declare in the tax declaration (profit coming from stock trading) in Switzerland?

    Reason of my question: I have performed some trades in an online trader in year 2021 but earnings are very small < 100 chf. It seems very time consuming to insert each individual trade to the tax declaration.

    Thanks for any answer.
    Dimich

    1. Hi Dimich,

      I believe there is no lower limit no. But you won’t be taxed on 100 CHF of capital gains. On the other hand, if you are talking about dividends, then you should declare them since there is no limit on income.
      And you should also declare the positions since you are taxed on wealth as well.

      1. Hi Baptiste, thanks for your answer. You are right, dividends are declared as taxable income. However, I do not find any place where I can declare this. I believe it should be declared cumulatively one time for all paid dividends. Probably the same for profit from selling stocks.

        The only option I find in baltax is to declare owned positions at the end of 2021 (as you said this is wealth).

        Let me know if you have any advice.

      2. Hi Dimich,

        At least for Fribourg, dividends are declared at the same place where stocks sells and buys orders are declared.
        My advice is to declare all operations :)

  6. Hi The Poor Swiss

    Thanks for your amazing content, your articles are always very helpful to me!

    I’m about to start investing and I think I’ll choose Swissquote because I feel safe with a Swiss broker.

    One of the downsides of SQ is the currency conversion fee, as you say in your review. But can’t this fee be avoided by simply using Revolut to convert the money from CHF to USD an then transfer it to SQ as USD? Or am I wrong?

    Thanks for your help! Cheers, Louis

    1. Hi Louis,

      Thanks for your kind words.

      I agree that the currency conversion fee is a big downside of SQ.
      For USD, I am not sure you can wire USD from Revolut to SQ, but you can try. And keep in mind that Revolut has a 1250 CHF per month limit on free conversions. After that, you won’t save that much.

  7. Hi TPS!

    I was wondering if you had any experience with FlowBank as a Broker. They seem to be a pretty solid newcomer in the space (fee and tech wise). I’d love to hear what you think.

Leave a Reply

Your comment may not appear instantly since it has to go through moderation. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *