Keeping a Swiss Bank Account While Living Outside of Switzerland

Greetings,

I come from Greece and am studying in Switzerland. I will be moving to Finland for several years to continue my studies. Can I keep my Swiss bank account after I move away, without having to pay extra fees for non-residents? I would like to keep depositing money in my Swiss account regularly.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply.

Hi there,

The vast majority of Swiss banks charge customers living outside of Switzerland non-resident fees in addition to standard account fees. This applies to Swiss citizens and foreigners alike.

Some banks make exceptions for certain groups of customers. For example, customers who use asset management services are exempt from non-resident fees at some banks.

In exceptional cases, PostFinance may allow customers to deposit their assets into a savings account which does not have non-resident fees when they move abroad. You can open a savings account at PostFinance without having to open a private account (checking account). It is important to note, however, that a savings account is not well-suited to making regular transactions. PostFinance allows you to make 10 withdrawals from your savings account every year free of charge. A fee of 8 francs applies to every withdrawal after that.

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Non-resident fees explained