The pillar 3a enables residents to lower their tax bill while saving for retirement. It is not surprising then, that the pillar 3a is widely used in Switzerland. But how much interest do banks pay for the money you place in pillar 3a savings accounts? To find out, online comparison service moneyland.ch analyzed the interest rates of pillar 3a accounts.
The analysis shows that the average annual interest rate in November 2025 is just 0.27 percent. “The pillar 3a has not managed to evade the sinking interest rates,” observes moneyland.ch editor Dan Urner. “Retirement savers are being paid ever less interest for their savings.” In January of this year, the average interest rate of pillar 3a savings accounts was still 0.61 percent.
Some banks stand out
As a whole, interest rates have been trending downwards. But there are some banks that attract customers by offering interest rates that are much higher than the average rate.
The Caisse d’Épargne d’Aubonne is one example. The regional bank in Vaud currently offers the highest interest rate by a wide margin, at 1.25 percent per annum. Other banks with exceptional interest rates are the neobank Radicant (0.75 percent) and Crédit Agricole Next Bank (0.65 percent).
It is interesting to observe that the highest interest rates are all offered by smaller Swiss banks. Many of the banks included in the table below also had the highest interest rates at the start of the year. Examples include Cornèr Bank, Crédit Agricole Next Bank, and Tellco.
The picture is very different when you look at the biggest and best-known Swiss banks. The interest rates of major banks tend to be average or below-average. Of these service providers, Bank Cler having the most generous interest rate at 0.35 percent, followed by the Basler Kantonalbank with 0.3 percent. Postfinance has one of the lowest interest rates, at 0.05 percent.
Savers should consider changing accounts
If you are not satisfied with the interest you earn for your pillar 3a savings, then it is important to take action. You can move your pillar 3a savings to a different bank at any time. It is also possible to open additional pillar 3a accounts at other banks to complement your existing account. Doing so can also have tax advantages, as it enables you to cash out your accounts in different tax years.
“Even what may seem like small differences in interest rates can make a big difference over the long term,” clarifies Dan Urner. For example, if you were to pay 500 francs per month into a pillar 3a account with a constant interest rate of 0.1 percent over a 30-year term, you would earn a total of 2718 francs of interest. But if you used an account that yielded 0.5 percent interest per annum, you would earn a total of 14,124 francs of interest – a difference of 11,000 francs. However, in practice, interest rates are not constant, and it is very unlikely that a bank would keep the same interest rate over a 30-year term.
Investment solutions can deliver higher returns
Investing your pillar 3a savings in securities can potentially bring you much higher yields. Pillar 3a asset management solutions, in particular, often have very affordable investment fees. But you should be aware that when you invest in securities, the value of your savings in Swiss francs can change constantly. It is also possible for your investments to lose value, especially over shorter terms. “If you will only withdraw your pillar 3a savings in many years, then you can normally just wait until the value recovers, and potentially earn high returns,” says Dan Urner.
If you have a difficult time coping with fluctuations in the value of your pillar 3a savings, then you are better off using pillar 3a savings accounts. But you pay for the stability of savings accounts in the way of foregone potential returns.
Savers should pay attention to fees and charges
In addition to interest rates, you should also look at possible fees charged by banks for pillar 3a transactions. Most banks do not charge any basic account fees, but you may have to pay fees when you withdraw your money. That is especially true for early withdrawals, but some banks charge a fee when you transfer your pillar 3a assets to a different pillar 3a provider.
Methodology
Independent online comparison service moneyland.ch evaluated pillar 3a savings accounts from 94 Swiss service providers using data from its interactive pillar 3a savings account comparison.
The average interest rate determined by the analysis is the unweighted arithmetic average annual interest rate across all 94 pillar 3a offers in both January 2025 and November 2025.
Table 1 lists the service providers with the highest interest rates for pillar 3a savings accounts. Table 2 lists the interest rates of the largest Swiss banks: The six major banks with countrywide branch offices (UBS, Raiffeisen, Postfinance, Migros Bank, Valiant, Bank Cler) plus the four larges cantonal banks (Zürcher Kantonalbank, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Luzerner Kantonalbank).
The interactive pillar 3a savings account comparison lets you find and compare the interest rates and fees of all the offers included in the analysis.
More on this topic:
Compare pillar 3a savings accounts now
The Swiss three-pillar pension system explained
Pillar 3a asset management services explained
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