Less than one year after launching its Coop Finance Plus neobank, Swiss retail group Coop decided to withdraw the neobank from the market in August of 2024. Eight months later, Coop has begun encouraging Coop Finance Plus users to migrate to Valiant.
Comparison service moneyland.ch compiled the most important information about the Valiant offer for Coop Finance Plus users.
Overview of the Lila Set bank package from Valiant
Valiant is offering Coop Finance Plus users its Lila Set bank package, which is also available to new and existing Valiant customers.
The most important features of the Lila Set package are:
- A private account and debit card with no basic account or card fees.
- Cash withdrawals at supermarket tills (including Coop supermarkets).
- Incoming and outgoing bank transfers and standing orders within Switzerland, and fee-free SEPA transfers.
- No foreign transaction fee for purchases from foreign merchants using the debit card. Valiant’s currency exchange rates apply to currency conversions.
- Other services, such as a savings account, pillar 3a account, and Twint can be added to the package on request.
Valiant’s bank package targets customers who do their banking online. Valiant stresses that consultation is also included. Customers can also make use of offline banking at Valiant branch offices, but fees may apply to counter-based services.
The comparison shows that there are a number of differences between the two offers. Unlike Coop Finance Plus, the Lila Set does not have any basic account fees for customers who only use the standard package without supplements. Coop Finance Plus customers had a small advantage in that they could make one free cash withdrawal per month at any Swiss ATM. Valiant only gives you free cash withdrawals within its ATM network.
How would migrating affect me as a customer?
Migrating to from Coop Finance Plus to Valiant would bring with it a number of changes:
- New bank account number: Your Valiant account will have its own new IBAN. That means you will have to inform anyone who pays into your account about the change.
- New card and new card number: You will receive a new Valiant debit card with a new card number. That means you will have to update your card information everywhere where you use your debit card for recurring payments.
Should I accept Valiant’s offer?
Many Coop Finance Plus customers likely did not use it as their main bank account. If that is true in your case, then you should first consider which banking services you really need.
If you used your Coop Finance Plus account to make cash withdrawals at Coop Supermarkets, you can continue to do so without paying fees after migrating to Valiant.
If you used Coop Finance Plus as a household account, you can also do that with the Valiant account. However, you will have to either pay a one-time fee of 50 francs for the second debit card, or activate the Komfort supplement at a cost of 48 francs per year.
As a general rule, changes like this one present a good opportunity to reconsider your banking needs, and to compare all relevant offers. Taking the time to compare private accounts or to compare bank packages makes sense.
How will the migration be carried out?
If you choose to migrate to Valiant bank, the process will continue as follows:
- You will receive a letter by mail. This letter contains all of the important information about the Valiant offer, and a guide for migrating from Coop Finance Plus.
- The guide includes a QR code that you can use to download the Valiant app.
- You can subscribe to the Lila Set package directly in the Valiant app. Even though you have already completed the identification process for Coop Finance Plus, you will have to do this again for the Valiant account.
- If you enter the promotional code “Coopfinance” during the account-opening process, you will receive a 20-franc Coop gift card from Valiant. The requirement is that you must receive at least one incoming payment and make at least two transactions within three months of opening the account.
- You can then transfer your money to your new account, and close your Coop Finance Plus account.
Be aware that Coop will not transfer your information to Valiant. That means you will have to go through the account opening, identification, and registration processes from scratch.
Conclusion by moneyland.ch expert Ralf Beyeler
Even the retail giant Coop, with all its marketing muscle, was not able to break into the neobank space. Its heir from Valiant is not a neobank at all, but a full, conventional Swiss bank account with a debit card and online banking. Following the current trend among Swiss banks, the Valiant account does not have basic, ongoing account fees.
The current move reveals a consolidation in the neobank space. Yuh with over 300,000 customers and Neon with more than 225,000 customers (as per December 2024) are the most popular Swiss neobanks. British neobank Revolut has even more Swiss customers than that, although it is likely that many customers do not actively use the service. Other Swiss neobanks like Alpian, Radicant, and Zak are also competing for customers.
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