Opening a Swiss bank account

Good day,

I live in Germany and plan to continue living here, but I would like to open a Swiss bank account.

How should I go about this? Which account would you recommend? Can I open a Swiss bank account remotely from Germany?

Kind regards

Hi there,

The majority of Swiss banks allow residents of Germany to open a private account (checking account, giro account). Many Swiss banks charge an additional non-resident fee, so you can expect to pay a markup on the fees and charges listed on moneyland.ch. Non-resident fees average 300 Swiss francs per year. Depending on which bank you use, this fee may be much lower or much higher. You can find more information about non-resident fees at Swiss banks here.

Many Swiss banks require that you physically visit a bank branch to identify yourself when opening an account. Other banks accept an endorsed paper copy of your passport or ID.

Since 2016, some banks also accept fully online applications. This is referred to as "digital onboarding". The practice has not yet found wide acceptance at Swiss banks.

More on this topic:
Private account comparison
Savings account comparison
Trading broker account comparison