Swiss Bank Account News

How to Open a Swiss Bank Online Account

Current account for non-resident clients. This is a small and relatively young bank, but a Swiss bank fully regulated by the Swiss Banking Commission with excellent online banking services and physical branches. Please consider that this account differs from all of other accounts in the sense that it is not opened with a large and long-established bank but your account is insured up to CHF 100'000, equivalent to $90,000 or EUR 68,000 or £63,000.

·  Low minimum balance

·  Great online banking

·  Lots of investments accessible online

·  You can use it as a current account

The bank 20-year-old Swiss bank with brick-and-mortar branches in Geneva and

Minimum balance : The bank expects you to deposit at least 10,000 Swiss francs (equivalent to $9,000 or EUR 6,800 or £6,300) within a month of opening the account and maintain this balance for as long as you keep the account. You do not need to make a deposit the day you open the account but it's a good idea.

Contrary to all other accounts, you can use this account as a current account to receive and send money as long as:

1. You always maintain the minimum balance on the account
2. You can give a detailed explanation of the nature of your business and general economic background before opening the account
3. You can provide, if requested by the bank, documents to explain the nature of a specific transaction and show that it is not breaking any Swiss law

We reserve the right to turn down applications to open the account if we cannot get a clear understanding of the nature of your business and future use of this account.

The amount considered for the minimum balance is not just the cash but the total of all invested assets on your account, including any bonds, stocks, precious metal or mutual funds.

You can open this account by mail or in person.

If you open by mail, the documents needed are an apostil led photocopy of your passport, a utility bill to prove your address and detailed documents about your economic background and the origin of the money. Start and order your account right now.

If you open in person, the documents are the same (utility bill and documents about the economic origin of the funds) but you don't need an apostille - just your passport will do. You need to take an appointment.

Internet banking : Powerful online banking system in English, French and Italian. The system uses military-grade encryption with a small electronic device that generates a new number every 20 seconds.

Mail retaining : You can ask the bank to keep all bank mail for 100 Swiss francs a year (equivalent to $90, EUR 68 or £63). To read your mail, you can either ask the bank to send it to a specific address several times a year, or come and read it in person.

Credit Cards : You can have two different bank cards with this account, provided you have enough money on your account:

Swiss Travel Cash Card Recommended - A 100% Swiss electronic version of the Travellers Cheque, you prepay this card with up to €10,000, US $10,000 or 10,000 Swiss francs and then use it to withdraw cash at over 1 million money dispenser (ATMs) across the world using the Maestro network. There is just no relation between your account and the card. The card is issued by a Swiss company. No annual cost - you pay 1% of whatever amount you load into the cards and nothing more. You can log on to the Internet to check your balance and where the money was spent. Cost to withdraw cash at ATMs outside Switzerland is 5 Swiss francs per withdrawal (equivalent to $4.48 or EUR 3.41 or £3.13).

International Visa and MasterCard credit cards

These cards are accepted all over the world. Your credit limit is calculated daily as half the balance on your account. All cards are denominated in Swiss francs but work worldwide. Annual costs for an entry level card (Swiss franc silver MasterCard) cost 200 Swiss francs a year (equivalent to $179 or EUR 136 or £125).

Investments : You can make your money grow with fixed-term deposits in all major currencies, with guaranteed interest rates. You can also buy any bonds, shares or funds traded on a major stock market. You can also do forex and futures investments entirely online. 

Depositing money by bank transfer or in cash is free. Withdrawing in cash at the counter costs between 0.15% and 0.75% depending on the amount and the currency).

Bank transfers out of your account, if ordered online, costs 0.035 % of the sum for transfers sent to a bank in the EU with a CHF 15 minimum (equivalent to $13 or EUR 10 or £9.40) , and 0.05% of the sum with a CHF 25 minimum (equivalent to $22 or EUR 17 or £16) for the rest of the world.

Depositing cheques costs between CHF 60 (equivalent to $54 or EUR 41 or £38) for EU cheques and CHF 100 (equivalent to $90 or EUR 68 or £63) for the rest of the world.

Setup fee : The one-time setup fee to open this account is 899.00 Swiss Francs (equivalent to $805 or EUR 612 or £564).