Multicurrency Accounts Compared

July 7, 2026 - Ralf Beyeler

A multicurrency account saves you the trouble of constantly changing money, which in turn can also reduce fees and charges. This moneyland.ch guide tells you when using a multicurrency account can make sense, and lets you get a detailed comparison of multicurrency accounts as a PDF.

Many people living in Switzerland frequently travel to other countries for shopping, excursions, holidays, or work. There are also many foreign residents who have relatives and friends in foreign countries.

Spending money abroad requires changing money, which in turn can generate high costs in the form of money changing commissions and exchange rate markups. Sometimes it may be necessary to change money multiple times.

Service providers advertise multicurrency accounts as a solution for avoiding high costs and make frequent money exchanges. This moneyland.ch guide explains how multicurrency accounts work, when they can be beneficial, and what to pay attention to.

What is a multicurrency account?

A multicurrency account is a bank account in which you can hold separate account balances in different currencies. Typically, the account has just one bank account number which is used for all of the supported currencies. Service providers with multicurrency accounts usually offer them as their standard personal account, rather than as a separate product.

When you receive an incoming bank transfer in a foreign currency, that money is credited to your account balance in that currency, without any currency conversion. In other words, the service provider does not automatically change the money into Swiss francs, as would be the case with the standard, franc-denominated bank accounts offered by most Swiss banks.

When you make an outgoing bank transfer or card payment in a certain currency, the transacted amount is debited from your account balance in that currency. That lets you avoid having to change money back and forth between currencies.

What is a multicurrency payment card?

Some service providers use the term multicurrency card to describe a payment card - usually a debit card - that is linked to a multicurrency account.

When you use a multicurrency card to pay in a supported currency, the transacted amount is debited from the linked account.

What happens if the account balance in a certain currency is not large enough to cover a transaction?

If your account does not hold enough of a certain currency to cover a transfer or card payment in that currency, the bank automatically converts money from a different currency to cover the deficit. You pay fees for the currency conversion.

Which multicurrency accounts are offered in Switzerland?

These Swiss banks and neobanks offer multicurrency accounts for private individuals:

Alpian
Swissquote
Yuh

Additionally, these foreign neobanks offer multicurrency accounts to Swiss consumers:

Revolut
Wise

Currently, there are no conventional Swiss banks that offer multicurrency accounts.

Which currencies are available?

Each service provider has its own selection of currencies. All multicurrency accounts available to Swiss consumers include Swiss francs, euros, US dollars, and British pounds, at the least. Wise has the biggest selection, with around 50 currencies.

Swissquote’s multicurrency account comes standard with euros and US dollars, with the option to add other currencies. Adding new currencies can be done via the web portal, but not the mobile app.

All accounts offered by Alpian, Revolut, Wise, and Yuh are multicurrency accounts.

You can get a full overview of the currencies supported by each multicurrency account in the free PDF available below.

Multicurrency account comparison

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Can I benefit from a multicurrency account?

Using a multicurrency account can be beneficial in these cases:

You regularly receive money in a foreign currency, and want to keep and spend that money in the original currency.
You want to hold money in a foreign currency.
You want to change money before you travel.
You want to speculate on fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

Do I need a multicurrency account for my holiday?

A multicurrency account offers few benefits once you start your trip. It is primarily beneficial for changing money before you go on your holiday.

While traveling, it is important to use a card that has low fees for foreign transactions. It is also important to always choose the local currency for payments, and not Swiss francs. You can find more information in the guide to making payments and cash withdrawals outside of Switzerland.

Should I open a multicurrency account for shopping in other countries?

You do not necessarily need a multicurrency account to pay in foreign currencies. That is also true for online or in-app purchases from foreign merchants.

The most important thing is to use a payment card that has low fees and charges for foreign transactions.

Is a multicurrency account beneficial for international bank transfers?

Whether or not you could save money by using a multicurrency account for international transfers depends entirely on which service provider you use. The costs of international bank transfers vary between service providers.

It is worth noting that Wise is often a cheap and fast solution for international money transfers. That is especially true when you send money that you already hold in a foreign currency, rather than sending Swiss francs.

How can I receive incoming transfers from other countries?

In the standard process, international transfers are directed through a series of correspondent banks before they reach your account. This system is often expensive, untransparent, and slow.

Revolut and Wise use alternative systems that enable you to make international transfers within seconds - but only to other Revolut or Wise users respectively. This service is free of charge, and transfers can be made in any of numerous currencies.

Revolut and Wise offer local bank accounts for certain currencies. You can use these local accounts to make transfers to other banks in the same country. These transfers then count as local transfers, eliminating the need for international transfers through correspondent banks.

How much do multicurrency accounts cost?

The costs vary depending on the terms and conditions of each offer. All five of the service providers included in the comparison have multicurrency account offers that do not have basic, ongoing fees for either the account or the debit card.

When looking at multicurrency accounts, it is very important to check the currency exchange fees, and the markups added to interbank currency exchange rates. You can find information about these costs in the PDF comparison.

As with regular bank accounts, you pay incidental fees when you use certain services. Examples include bank transfers and cash withdrawals.

Is a multicurrency account useful for investors?

Some banks automatically convert dividends from foreign securities into Swiss francs before adding them to your account balance. The same thing applies when you sell foreign securities. That is not a very customer friendly approach. The next time you want to invest in assets denominated in that currency, you have to change money back from Swiss francs, and pay the currency conversion fees.

Swissquote gives investors a multicurrency account and lets you add up to 27 currencies to it. Other service providers do not have a multicurrency account, but let you open multiple stand-alone accounts denominated in different currencies. For you as the customer, both of these solutions are very similar. The most important thing is that the money does not get exchanged automatically.

How is a multicurrency account different from a foreign currency account?

Many conventional Swiss banks offer bank accounts that are denominated in a foreign currency. Accounts in euros, US dollars, and British pounds are the most widely offered, with very few banks offering accounts in any other foreign currency.

The main difference between foreign currency accounts and multicurrency accounts is that a foreign currency accounts each have just a single currency. Holding multiple currencies requires multiple foreign currency accounts.