Swiss Safe Deposit Box for Foreigners

Good day,

For some time I have been trying, without success, to rent a safe deposit box in Switzerland. Most Swiss banks rejected my application because I am not a resident of Switzerland. Others will lease me a safe deposit box, but only if I deposit money into a bank account (100,000 or even 1 million francs!).

Can you offer any advice? Thanks.

Hi there,

Swiss banks generally require customers to hold private accounts in order to be eligible to rent safe deposit boxes. However, many Swiss banks either do not allow people who reside outside of Switzerland to open private accounts, or only open accounts for non-residents who deposit large amounts of money at the bank, use wealth management services or get a mortgage.

However, there are many Swiss companies aside from banks which offer safe deposit boxes as a service.

The advantage of using these services is that you can rent safe deposit boxes without being resident in Switzerland. These service providers specialize in secure storage, and may offer more secure storage facilities than banks. Some service providers also provide specialized services like bonded warehouse storage. Non-bank safe deposit box providers also generally offer insurance, which banks do not do. There is no need to reveal what is in the safe in order to benefit from the insurance, as it simply covers a fixed amount of your choice. Some service providers include a certain amount of coverage in the monthly/annual fee.

The disadvantage of these storage facilities is that rents for safe deposit boxes are, on average, more expensive than those of Swiss banks. However, you do not need to have a Swiss bank account and can therefore avoid both the standard private account fees and the high non-resident fees charged by banks.

You can find more information about Swiss safe deposit box providers in these guides:
Guide to Swiss non-bank safe deposit boxes
Guide to Swiss bank safe deposit boxes
Guide to Swiss bonded warehouses

Best regards from Moneyguru