How to Open a Swiss Bank Account
Filed Under (Asset and Wealth Protection, Offshore and Private Banking) by editor on 01-05-2009
Tagged Under : anonymous account, bank secrecy, low opening deposit, migros bank, numbered bank account, open swiss bank account, retail banking switzerland, swiss bank, swiss bank account minimum deposit, swiss bank guide, swiss private bank, swissquote bank, switzerland bank, UBS
One recurring question we hear almost every day in the wealth management business is “How Can I Open a Swiss Bank account?” Whilst a minority of those asking the question might really be candidates for Swiss private banking, the majority seem to have watched too many Bond movies! This article is a brief introduction to Swiss banking to help you decide which of these categories you fit into.
First of all let me point out that if you are looking for a secret bank account, there are places that are much more discreet, much more under the radar than Switzerland. You’ll find, for example, nine alternatives to Swiss banks which also have that “private banking feel” listed in the Practical Offshore Banking Guide 2009, which is available free to Q Wealth members. This instantly-downloadable pdf guide also explains the truth behind some of the services associated with Swiss banking like anonymous numbered bank accounts (yes, it is still possible to open numbered bank accounts legally as of 2009! – details in the guide)
But what if you have your heart set on a real Swiss account? Opening a bank account in Switzerland is in theory not too difficult – but like all banks anywhere in the world, Swiss banks do reserve the right to refuse customers. Needless to say the recent hoo-hah from the G20 and the OECD has not made it any easier to open Swiss bank accounts. All banks are scared of being accused of money laundering and this has made it much harder, especially for non Swiss residents, to open bank accounts.
Then, you need to choose a Swiss bank according your requirements. If you want traditional private banking service and a free lunch each time you visit your banker, expect to invest at least a million as your opening deposit. Some of these real Swiss private banks are so discreet they don’t even have signs outside their offices, let alone websites.
You can, however, open accounts at more run-of-the-mill Swiss banks with a very low opening deposit or minimum figure to open accounts. Swiss banks like Migros or Swissquote Bank (which is really more of a discount brokerage, E-Trade style) have no minimum opening deposits whatsoever and you can start the process all by yourself – no need to pay an intermediary. The disadvantage is that, well, there is no particular advantage if you see what I mean… this is not traditional Swiss banking at all! There is nothing private about these banks. Swissquote, for example, will require you to waive bank secrecy before you can even open account!
If you have a Swiss work permit and wish to open a local Swiss bank account, that changes things significantly. In order to pay your salary in, your employer will probably require that you have a bank account. But Swiss working papers make all the difference. Some of the documents you will need, according to expat website AngloInfo, are:
- Passport or identity card
- Recent utility bill (electricity is best)
- Residence permit
- A copy of your work contract
- Cross border workers from France or Germany, a copy of your permis frontalier (cross border work permit)
It is not necessary to make an appointment to open a current account, says Anglo Info. Opening an account can be done in a day and means of payments (like cash cards) will usually arrive within a week to ten days of the account being opened.
In general banks all over Switzerland are open from Monday to Friday from 08:30 to 16:30, and are closed at weekends and on public holidays.
You may, however, not need a Swiss bank account at all. Household bills and invoices are more commonly paid through the post office, with a so-called Bulletin de Versement (bill slip). Bill slips are attached to each bill that you receive by the post.
Below are some links to major Swiss retail banks. Remember these are not the same as Private Banks. If you are a non-resident looking to open a Swiss bank account, you need to be looking at Private Banks since they are the ones that accept non-resident business. To sign up for our free newsletter on Asset Protection and Private Offshore Banking, visit our Q Bytes page.
Major Swiss Banks
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You might want to update the Swiss banking requirements for Switzerland. Things are a lot tougher now for US citizens.
I am an American citizen/resident and I had no problem opening a Dynamic Savings Account (currently paying 1.75% interest) via mail with SwissQuote Bank, S.A. (https://www.swissquote.ch) earlier this year. I was approved even after the whole Swiss banking scandal became a household topic.
They only required a notarized copy of my American passport and the completion of a two-page application. No proof of residence or origination of funds were required. Their account setup was fast and simple and they even called me on their dime to see how the account was working for me. Their service has been better than any local bank that I have ever used and I can keep any amount of funds with them as there is no minimum balance, no initial deposit requirement and no maintenance fees associated with this account. As the U.S. economy continues to self-destruct, I feel secure in knowing that I have a legitimate non-U.S. Dollar offshore bank account where I can build my savings privately, securely and confidently.
There seems to be a popular online myth that SwissQuote requires its clients to “waive bank secrecy” in order to open an account. I know from first-hand experience that this inaccurate and, in fact, SwissQuote provides the same level of banking secrecy that all Swiss banks are required by law to provide according to the Swiss Banking Act of 1934. This misunderstanding apparently comes from an incorrect reading of Section 4 of the SwissQuote EU Tax Information Notice. Note how only those EU clients who expressly request in writing that SwissQuote send tax information to the client’s home country on their behalf instead of withholding it anonymously at a potentially higher rate are affected:
“Swissquote Bank’s customers may choose between automatic deduction at source from payments of the affected interest and voluntary declaration of those interest payments. If customers have not expressly chosen declaration, Swissquote Bank will make the deduction from payments of affected interest, and will transfer the deduction to the Federal Tax Administration, which will
redistribute it to the tax authorities in the customer’s country of residence. No information on these customers will be sent to the tax authorities, and banking secrecy will thus be completely preserved…For customers who have expressly opted for declaration by completing the declaration form provided by Swissquote Bank, the bank will declare the interest payments covered by the Agreement to the Federal Tax Administration giving, in particular, the customer’s name and address, and his or her account number. The Federal Tax Administration will then send this information to the tax authorities in the customer’s country of residence. The customer therefore expressly waives banking secrecy in this particular context.”
I am able to maintain an account in Euros and/or Swiss Francs and I can make purchases/withdraw funds worldwide using their Swiss-issued MasterCard or Visa. This credit card which has an annual fee of CHF100.00 actually acts like a debit card since the “credit limit” on the card is equal to 50% of the account balance. Wiring money to the account is as easy as withdrawing funds since SwissQuote provides its account-holders with its SWIFT Code SWQBCHZZXXX and an account number formatted similarly to the sample IBAN number CH4408781000012345600. Online services such as Montreal-based AlertPay allow users to easily and inexpensively wire money between multiple bank accounts so this eliminates the need for users to pay for exorbitant bank wire fees.
All in all, I would highly recommend SwissQuote to anyone who is interested in obtaining a Swiss bank account with no upfront cost and without the hassle of paying an online broker hundreds of dollars to setup an account that actually costs nothing except for a little time and effort.
request for company account to be opened in swiss, pls assist us.
Thanks
It is better to be proud but to be powerful, because the powerful persons them use fighting and battling, to kill to some body, a proud person them use to lawyer person, to can right to some body powerful with out making fighting and killing many innocent persons, as a like the powerful Swiss bank directors, them use fighting and battling, to can be thief’s, the Swiss people, them going straight to a country, to can assassinate to some body proud owner, for the Swiss people to can be thief, the Swiss people them are nasty powerful people, in the moist there it is the believing that a proud person them must to be more expensive that power, that a proud bank client, he may be, them can right to some body Swiss bank worker and director, as powerfully, with a single fine lawyer, after the proud person he prove, he does a legal owner and client from the Swiss bank, the nasty thief director from the Swiss bank, them can reject that Cain as proud, a lawyer he can sent to a powerfully nasty director for being thief, from some body proud person, it is an adoption of the Swiss system it is not a rule, as suppose to be the Swiss system them are out of communism, them are out of politics, as suppose to be the Swiss bank system. them are a neutral system, to make safe of some bodies legal money, yes the Swiss bank system them are have the rights to make investigation of the legal process, of the some client banked money, if it is the decision from the Swiss bank system, but after that investigation, the Swiss bank system them doesn’t have the right to stole that legal proud money, as by example there it is the believing that many Swiss bank workers, them find that, the money in the Swiss bank from the American business men mr. Howard Hughes, and his son Ludwig he owned a legal clean money, but it is clean only for his son and relatives, but the Swiss workers them want to stole that money to the mr Howard Hughes son, after them find out, it is clean money, them want to stole that money, the Swiss worker them want to say it is them clean money for them also, the Swiss workers them are fighting to many relatives from mr Howard Hughes, to stole, it is the believing that the nasty Swiss bank workers, them want to send to kill to many from the Howard Hughes family, for the Swiss nasty workers to can be thief’s, the international police them must to make notice of that, plus the united nation them must to make notice of the Swiss thief people, for them to make the properly changes, the Swiss nasty bank workers them want to kill any relative, many them are in the puberty and them are in any Cain race, the Swiss bank workers them want and to avoid, to any witness public, of that robbery. It is the believing that the mr Howard Hughes money it can be change from a bank to another, it like from Swiss to Italy or to Jewish bank for better safe and in the most for proud.