The Swiss National Bank (SNB) raised its key annual interest rate to 0.5 percent, pushing it above zero percent for the first time in eight years. moneyland.ch inquired at major Swiss banks to find out whether they plan to finally begin paying more interest on savings account balances again.
The good news: All of the questioned banks say that they will stop charging negative interest rates. But for now, only a handful of banks are actually raising their annual interest rates.
These Swiss banks are raising their interest rates:
- WIR Bank: From December 1, 2022, WIR Bank will pay more interest on retirement and savings account balances. The rate will be 0.15 percent for savings accounts, while savings accounts for seniors will earn 0.25 percent. Interest earned on bonus savings account balances ranges from 0.2 to 0.6 percent.
- Graubündner Kantonalbank: The GKB is raising interest rates for some long-term savings. From October 1, 2022, savings account holders will receive 0.25 percent interest for tier four savings in Sparpyramide tier-based savings accounts, and the Sparen 3 pillar 3a retirement account.
- Luzerner Katonalbank: From October 1, 2022, conventional savings accounts from the LUKB will yield 0.3 percent interest per annum on the first 100,000 francs (0.25 percent for the portion exceeding that amount). The Blu youth savings account will yield 0.5 percent (zero to 20,000 francs), 0.3 percent (20,000 to 100,000 francs), and 0.25 percent (portion exceeding 100,000 francs). The Sparen 3 retirement savings account will yield 0.2 percent interest.
- Valiant: From October 1, 2022, customers will receive 0.25 percent interest per annum for savings and retirement account balances.
- Yuh: Banking app Yuh already saw its interest rates raised back on September 1 – around one month before the SNB’s announcement. Yuh pays an interest rate of 0.25 percent on up to 25,000 francs. The 0.25 percent rate also applies to up to 25,000 euros. A higher rate of 0.5 percent interest per annum applies to the portion of US dollar account balances which falls below 25,000 dollars.
These Swiss banks are not yet raising their interest rates:
- Aargauische Kantonalbank: An interest rate increase is not yet certain, but the bank will announce its plans with regards to interest rates for customers on September 29, 2022.
- Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank: On October 1, 2022, the BLKB will only phase out negative interest rates.
- Basler Kantonalbank: The BKB has not announced any interest rate increases.
- Bank Cler: The bank has not yet decided on rate increases, but in its reply, it stated that these may occur in the foreseeable future.
- Berner Kantonalbank: A possible raising of interest rates is currently being reviewed, but has not been officially decided.
- Credit Suisse: The major bank already adjusted its negative interest rates back in July, but has not raised positive interest rates yet. The bank says that changes to its interest conditions on short notice may occur.
- Migros Bank: The Migros Bank does not currently plan on raising its interest rates for savings.
- Postfinance: The postal bank is not ready to share information about interest rate increases with moneyland.ch.
- Raiffeisen: Raiffeisen assumes that the higher key interest rate will result in better conditions for its customers. But other than phasing out its negative interest charges, it has not yet raised interest rates.
- St. Galler Kantonalbank: The bank has not announced an interest rate increase, but will communicate possible changes to its banking conditions for customers in the coming days.
- UBS: UBS will only terminate its negative interest charges on October 1, 2022.
- Zürcher Kantonalbank: The ZKB writes that it will only consider raising its interest rates if and when the Swiss National Bank raises its key interest rate again. This means ZKB customers cannot expect higher interest yield until at least the end of the year.
In the mid-term, we can expect to see practically all banks begin to pay interest again – at least on savings accounts. The last time the key interest rate went up in Switzerland, savers generally began to receive more interest.
But interest rates from banks tended to follow increases in the key interest rates by a wide delay, and changes were much less pronounced than those of the key interest rate. These two patterns are once again apparent at Swiss banks: Many banks have said that they will wait for further increases to the key interest rate before adjusting their rates. At the banks which have already announced changes to their interest rates for savings, the increases are smaller than the 0.5 percent raise in the SNB’s key interest rate.
But there are also many savings accounts which already paid some interest before the SNB’s rate hike. So migrating to a bank which is raising its interest rates does not make sense in every case. You can find out how much interest different Swiss banks pay using the moneyland.ch savings account comparison.
Inflation negates interest earnings
Benjamin Manz, CEO of moneyland.ch, explains that even with 0.5 percent annual interest, consumers are still making a loss at the bottom line. “Currently, the high inflation rate completely nullifies these small increases in interest yields.” The real interest rate – meaning the interest earned after subtracting inflation – is still negative.
None of the banks which moneyland.ch contacted shared any plans to pay higher interest on private accounts. “When you consider the slow pace with which banks are increasing interest on savings accounts, it is safe to assume that earning interest on private account balances will remain an anomaly for some time,” says Manz. He recommends holding savings in savings accounts instead of private accounts.
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