How to Open a Swiss Business Account for an International Company?

Dear Madam, dear Sir,

I am contacting you by email following my recent phone call.

I understand that you are not a consulting company but maybe you can offer advice.

I incorporated a Swiss SA last November and I am having difficulty opening a bank account for the business. Indeed, bank Migros, BCGE, Raiffeisen and PostFinance refused the account because the activity is not located in Switzerland (EU and CIS) despite the fact the the company's office and employees are based in Switzerland and it pays taxes in Switzerland.

Might you have a suggestion on how I can proceed or to whom I shall address my request? It is becoming a huge problem as without a bank account the company won’t be able to pay salaries or rents.

Many thanks in advance and best regards

Hi there,

In Switzerland, each bank uses its own set of criteria to determine eligibility to open bank accounts. Criteria may include the type of business which the company engages in or the geographical areas in which the company operates.

Many locally-focused Swiss banks shy away from servicing businesses which operate internationally because they lack the infrastructure necessary to correctly provide international business services.

Internationally operative Swiss banks like UBS and Credit Suisse are generally in a better position to service internationally-operative businesses. UBS in particular offers a number of specialized services for companies which do business abroad. As per UBS specialists contacted by moneyland.ch staff, it is highly unlikely that a company domiciled in Switzerland would be denied a business account, regardless of the regions in which the company operates (with the exception of a few embargoed countries and regions).

Bear in mind that there is never a guarantee of acceptance at any bank because other criteria apply in addition to the geographic scope of a business.

Best regards from Moneyguru

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