Good day
Swiss banks have become less welcoming of customer residing outside of Switzerland in recent years. This has affected non-resident Swiss citizens as well. The deciding factor is not your nationality, but your place of residence. Most Swiss banks charge non-resident customers additional fees. This markup averages 300 francs per year - some banks charge less, some charge more. Some banks waive non-resident fees in special cases (for customers with mortgages or assets under management at the same bank. You can find more information here.
Savings accounts: Swiss savings accounts are normally free of charge (with a handfull of exceptions). However, some banks expect you to open a private account (checking account) with them before they let you open a savings account. The deciding factor when comparing savings accounts it the interest you earn. Unlike yields on bonds or fixed deposits, savings account interest rates can be adjusted at any time. You can use the savings account comparison to find interest rates offered. You can also use the comparison to compare euro savings accounts.
Security: In Switzerland, a three-fold investor protection system is used by FINMA-regulated banks (moneyland.ch only includes FINMA-regulated banks in its comparison). Investment protection guarantees up to 100,000 Swiss francs of deposits per bank customer. The Swiss deposit proetection guarantee is explained in detail here.
Verdict: From a purely cost vs. return perspective, holding a Swiss bank account as a non-resident is hardly worthwhile due to the poor interest rates and high non-resident fees. If you would like to open a Swiss savings account in spite of the drawbacks, you can use the unbiased moneyland.ch savings account comparison to find the most favorable accounts. You can then contact the relevant banks and ask them about non-resident fees for customer residing in Germany (these fees are not shown in the comparison).
Best regards from Moneyguru
