wiLLBe Review 2024 – Pros & Cons
| Updated: |(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)
wiLLBe is a digital bank account from the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB). Since the recent interest rate rises, the wiLLBe account has become very popular in Switzerland, even though it is from Liechtenstein.
So, is this account good for a Swiss resident? This article provides an in-depth review of its advantages and disadvantages.
By the end of the review, you will know whether you should use wiLLBe as a bank account.
| Monthly fee | 0 CHF |
|---|---|
| Users | 100’000 |
| Card | None |
| Currencies | CHF, EUR, USD |
| Withdrawals in Switzerland | Not possible |
| Withdrawals abroad | Not possible |
| Languages | German and English |
| Custody bank | Liechtensteinische Landesbank |
| Depositor protection | 100’000 CHF |
| Established | 2022 |
| Headquarters | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
wiLLBe
wiLLBe is a bank account provided by the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB). This account offers both cash accounts and investment accounts. However, I will focus on the cash account in this review.
The Liechtensteinische Landesbank is the oldest bank in Liechtenstein (from 1861) and is owned mainly by the state. It is a large bank with over a thousand employees and a good reputation and rating.
If you wonder why I am talking about a bank account from Liechtenstein, it is essential to know that this country uses the same currency as Switzerland, Swiss francs (CHF). The two countries share many policies, so it is not outlandish to use a bank from Liechtenstein when living in Switzerland.
So, we can now delve into the wiLLBe account in detail.
wiLLBe Features
wiLLBe is a fully mobile bank account with two main features:
- A cash account: wiLLBe Cash
- An investment account: wiLLBe Invest
We will focus on the cash account because it is pretty popular among Swiss residents. If people are interested, I may also do a full review of the investment feature. A savings account is a good short-term investment.
You have accounts in three currencies: CHF, EUR, and USD. What made wiLLBe very popular is its interest rates. As for April 2023, they offer the following interest rates:
- Up to 50’000: 1.10% on CHF, 3.55% on EUR, and 4.75% on USD
- Up to 150’000: 0.80% on CHF, 3.25% on EUR, and 4.45% on USD
- Above 150’000: 0.25% on CHF, EUR and USD
For a while, the wiLLBe account had the highest interest rate and the best CHF limits, which made it popular in 2023.
Another interesting feature (for a savings account) is that withdrawals are not limited. This is important because many high-interest rate accounts had several limitations on withdrawals.
You can send money from your account to other IBANs with regular bank transfers.
This is about all the features that wiLLBe has. Since it is a savings account, you do not get a debit or credit card. You also cannot deposit cash. On the same note, you cannot withdraw cash at an ATM. So, you must do a bank transfer if you want your money back.
These features are fine for a savings account, but this is not meant to be your main account since you cannot pay bills from it. It is intended to save cash and invest money.
wiLLBe Fees
We can now look at the fees of the wiLLBe savings account.
The fees are simple: the wiLLBe savings account is free.
If you send CHF to an EUR or USD account, you will pay about 0.15% markup. This is an excellent markup, significantly better than Swiss banks.
So, the wiLLBe savings account is very cheap and can even provide great currency exchanges.
User reviews
Before using any service, we should see what its users think about it.
Users of wiLLBe rate it 3.3 stars on TrustPilot. Unfortunately, the website has only 24 reviews, which is not much. However, these reviews can reveal some interesting things.
All the negative reviews are about being rejected by the app. The app does not clearly state the reasons for rejecting an application. To open an account, you must reside in Liechtenstein, Germany, Switzerland, or Austria. However, it means that these people are not customers of wiLLBe.
On the other hand, all reviews from actual customers are positive. People seem to like the app, the simple onboarding, and the features.
The app gets a 4.5 rating (out of 68 reviews) on the Apple Store and a 4.2 rating (out of 240 reviews) on the Play Store. These are good ratings. Again, negative ratings are mostly about not being able to create an account.
Overall, actual users of wiLLBe are happy with the service.
Is wiLLBe safe?
If you consider depositing significant money into a bank, consider its safety.
Since we are only talking about the savings account, we only have to look at what would happen to this cash if wiLLBe or the LLB were to go bankrupt.
The LLB guarantees deposits of up to 100,000 CHF. Your money should be safe from bankruptcy below that amount. This is the standard Liechtenstein deposit insurance.
It is also worth noting that the LLB has an excellent Moody’s rating of Aa2, making it unlikely to fail.
We should note that wiLLBe is very recent, starting in 2022. This means the app has yet to prove itself. As a result, the LLB may close it if it does not work for them. This is not a big problem because the money will be safe, but if you plan to use that account for many years, it is essential to consider it.
Overall, wiLLBe seems to be pretty safe for your cash.
Alternatives
It is challenging to compare wiLLBe because very few accounts like this are available in Switzerland.
The goal of wiLLBe as a savings account is to get the most interest rate with the lowest limits. So, we should not compare the other fees or features because they are not relevant here.
For instance, we can compare wiLLBe and Neon. Neon only has an interest rate of 0.75% up to 25’000 CHF. This is lower than wiLLBe and has a lower threshold. Moreover, you are limited to 50’000 CHF of monthly withdrawal. Both will be free. So, wiLLBe is better than Neon as a savings account.
We can also compare wiLLBe and Yuh. Yuh has an interest rate of 1.0% and an interest rate of up to 100’000 CHF. Both apps are free and have no withdrawal limits. Again, wiLLBe is better than Yuh as a savings account.
As a savings account, wiLLBe is a great candidate. I do not know of a better account available in Switzerland. However, some people will likely not like that it is not Swiss.
FAQ
How much can withdraw per month from wiLLBe?
There are no withdrawal limits on your wiLLBe Savings account.
Do you get a card with your wiLLBe acount?
No, you can only use wiLLBe through the app.
Summary
wiLLBe is an account by the LLB, in Liechtenstein, with a nice interest rate, low fees and good withdrawal limits. We review it in details.
4.5
wiLLBe Savings Pros
Let's summarize the main advantages of wiLLBe Savings:
- High interest rates
- No withdrawal limits
- Good currency conversion rates
- Good deposit insurance guarantee
- Available in three different currencies
wiLLBe Savings Cons
Let's summarize the main disadvantages of wiLLBe Savings:
- No card with the app
- Not possible to convert currencies from within the account
Conclusion
wiLLBe is an excellent savings account from the Liechtensteinische Landesbank. It provides good interest rates with no withdrawal limits. It even provides good currency conversion rates for EUR and USD.
If you are looking for an excellent place to keep cash as a short-term investment, wiLLBe is a good candidate. This could apply, for instance, if you want to keep cash for a future downpayment or if you want to keep a significant portion of your portfolio cash.
Some people may even want to put their emergency funds into such an account. Since there are no withdrawal limits, it is not the wrong place for that.
If you are looking for other places like this, you can check my list of short-term investments.
What about you? What do you think about this account?
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Hello Baptiste,
very nice review, thanks!
Is it possible to open and manage a wiLLBe cash account with your pc-browser, or you must install the app?
Thanks in advance and best regards.
Thanks elVi!
No, you have to create the account from the app. Then, you can login from your computer but that still requires your phone as a second factor.
Hello Baptiste,
Do you know if they take any withholding taxes (like they do in CH) on the interest earned and when they pay the interest?
Thanks for the article, very useful finding!
Hi Valentin
I do not know about the withholding taxes. But the interest is credited every 3 months.
Hi Baptiste,
I’m not sure to understand, does it mean I can open an account with willbe, deposit my CHF cash, then convert them to USD and enjoy 4.45 % interest rate?
Maybe I am missing smth but seems to be much better than any other short term investment plans. Is there really no risk at all if I stay under the 100k limit?
Thanks for the blog!
Jean
You can also do that with IBKR. If you have more than 10k you get 4.83%. However, you have the risk of currency fluctuation
Hi Jean
You can. But then you are missing something important indeed. currency risk. You are likely to lose money if you ever need to convert back to CHF later. And this loss may be greater than the interest rate difference. Generally, interest rate arbitrage is a bad idea for most.
Hello Baptiste,
What are the fees for transferring money into or out of WillBe accounts? Wouldn’t it be considered an “International” transfer to move money from a Swiss bank to a Liechtenstein bank?
There are no fees
Hi Gokul
Normally, it should be free for CHF transfers between Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Their banking systems are well integrated and they both use CHF.
Hi Baptiste,
Due to the ECB reducing the EUR interest rates, the interest rate on wiLLBe EUR deposits has been lowered to 3.55% (no more 3.8%)
Thanks, Alessandro! I have updated the rates. The article was written before the rate change.
Dear Baptiste
I’m using the Zuger Kantonalbank here in Switzerland, I think its the best today. With the Digital Banking Account(fix) the monthly fee is 0, even with a debit card. You can use it as a normal bank account, and You’ve got the opportunity to open (also free):
-Mietdepot Konto (Zins 0.4%)
-Savings Konto (Zins 1% till 200.000 CHF)
-2nd/3rd Pillar Konto
Only disadvantage that you have to do everything online/phone, not in the bank itself. But everything can be managed without visiting the bank itself.
Maybe You could consider it and write down your opinion about it.
Savings Konto Sparkonto Plus
– 1,0% bis CHF 200’000.–
– 0,4% darüber
2nd/3rd Pillar Konto (In case of leaving Switzerland moving the savings to Zug)
– 3rd Pillar Konto: In case of leaving Switzerland, the Quellensteuer will be defined in Zug, which is the best among Schwyz.
-2nd Pillar Konto Freizügigkeitskonto: Also the 2nd Pillar Tax is one of the best in Switzerland, maybe after Schwyz.
Best Regards
Peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for sharing.
I may do a few more cantonal bank reviews in the future, but there are too many to cover them all. They are usually quite good for savings/checking accounts, but quite bad for second pillar and third pillars, unless you don’t want to invest them.
Seems like a good place to store some money, but personally I would keep my “emergency fund” at a place where I can use it *on the same day* for anything (Yuh, Neon,…).
However, my emergency fund is also rather small and really meant for emergencies; not for the occasional urge to buy a new BMW. :)
Hi Peter,
Yes, I think it’s better to store cash above the emergency. It could be good for cash for a downpayment indeed.
I would not put my emergency fund outside of Switzerland. But mine is also small, so I don’t really care about interest rate.
Only takes a day or two to get the money back to your checking account. I use it for emergency funds while the higher yield savings accounts that are cumbersome for less urgent money.
Any referral code to be shared?
I don’t have any code nor link for willbe.
Hi Baptiste,
I was wondering can you withdraw your EUR or USD as well let’s say to your Revolut?
Hi Erno
For EUR, you can make a EUR transfer directly and that should in theory be free, of low fees with SEPA.
For USD, you can probably make a transfer, but it’s unlikely to be free and may not be received in USD.
Somebody would have to test that to be sure.
Not sure if Revolut and Wise do work. I thought there was some stuff about a “proper” bank. If you can add the account to Willbe, then you can transfer out
Hello Baptiste, I am surprised to see you cannot convert currencies between the accounts. I am a wILLBe user and I can definitely do an internal transfer between my accounts in CHF, USD, and EUR held with them. The conversion fee is then really competitive at 0.1% over FX (even vs Wise, or Revolut). One can also pay out the converted currency, which meshes pretty well with accounts like Yuh where one can hold those currencies and wILLBe allows one to save on the conversion fee.
Hi Dominik
Thanks for sharing. I had heard from several users of the app that you cannot convert directly on the app. I will edit this since it is apparently not the case!
I can confirm this as I converted CHF to EUR within Willbe without problems. Really great conversion rate. Of course if you do more than 2k or so IBKR gets cheaper.
I also easily then transferred it to my Yuh account
Thanks for the the confirmation!