One Traditional Bank Beats Neobanks in Terms of Costs

Neobanks have long become a steady fixture of the Swiss banking landscape. Many of these service providers made a name for themselves by offering favorable pricing. Multiple moneyland.ch studies have shown that neobanks often have much lower fees than traditional banks. The popularity of neobanks largely rests on their favorable conditions for making payments outside of Switzerland.

In order to find out which neobank is currently ahead in terms of costs, moneyland.ch compared the fees charged by Alpian, Kasparund, Neon, Radicant, Revolut, Wise, Yapeal, Yuh, and Zak. In this year’s study, moneyland.ch also compared private accounts from the conventional Swiss banks Bank Cler, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Luzerner Kantonalbank, Migros Bank, Postfinance, Raiffeisen, UBS, Valiant, Bank WIR, and the Zürcher Kantonalbank.

For both comparisons, moneyland.ch calculated all applicable costs per year. The customer profile used for the comparison is a person who makes 10,000 francs of purchases in Switzerland, and the equivalent of 2000 francs of purchases in euros, US dollars, and Thai Baht. The person also makes a total of seven cash withdrawals at ATMs. Calculations of purchases in foreign currencies account for currency exchange markups above the interbank rate. The second comparison also accounted for the factors related to using the bank account for transactions, as well as the interest earned on the account balance. The comparisons do not account for other services offered, such as consultation and insurance.

Costs are just one factor out of many

The four neobanks Neon, Revolut, Yapeal, and Zak offer both banking packages without basic, ongoing package fees, and premium packages that have these fees. The premium packages include various benefits, such as fee-free cash withdrawals and cardholder benefits like insurance. The moneyland.ch cost comparison accounts for all packages, with or without basic, ongoing package fees.

But costs are just one of many factors. “The most important thing is that the offer is a good fit for the customer’s needs,” says moneyland.ch expert Ralf Beyeler. “In addition to costs, factors like the usability of the mobile app, security, the brand’s image, points of contact, the quality of the customer service, and the services offered also play a role,” adds Beyeler. However, these other factors are often subjective, and are difficult to quantify.

Card comparison: Bank WIR and Radicant are the cheapest

The results of the first comparison show that Radicant is the cheapest neobank, with total costs of 18.80 francs for the profile used. However, the Top banking package from Bank WIR, a traditional Swiss bank, is cheaper than Radicant, with total costs of 5.80 francs. 

The second-cheapest neobank is Alpian, with total costs of 49.50 francs, followed by Wise (50.55 francs). Next in line are the Yapeal Loyalty package (84.80 francs), Kasparund (86.60 francs), Neon Plus (86.70 francs), and Neon Free (88.70 francs).

Surprisingly, pioneering neobank Revolut now sits in mid-field. Revolut’s cheapest offer now costs 92 francs. That makes Revolut more expensive than Radicant, Alpina, Wise, Kasparund, and Neon. One reason for Revolut’s poor performance in the comparison is its fair-use clause with a fee of 1 percent (previously 0.5 percent). Revolut is the only bank included in the comparison that charges this kind of fee.

Zak Plus is the most expensive of the included neobank offers, with total costs of 337.40 francs. The regular Zak package is next most expensive, with total costs of 273.40 francs.

Profile 1: Costs of using the card

* Calculations are based on the assumption that the customer uses a virtual card. A one-time fee of 6 francs (Revolut, with postage), 7 francs (Yapeal), 8 francs (Wise), or 15 francs (Radicant) for phyical cards. Alpian charges 60 francs for its metal card.

** A one-time card fee of 7 francs (Yapeal Loyalty) or 20 francs (Neon Free) is accounted for in calculations. The term used for calculations is three years, so the one-time card fee is divided in three to find the annual cost.

Revolut is no longer in the top three

The 2025 Swiss neobank cost comparison follows three earlier annual studies by moneyland.ch in October 2022, July 2023, and July 2024. In the first study in 2022, Revolut took first place, just ahead of Wise, followed by Neon in third place. In the 2023 study, Neon and Revolut shared first place, followed by Wise and Yapeal. In the 2024 study, Radicant took first place ahead of Wise and Revolut. In 2025, Radicant is the cheapest of the neobanks. Wise has alternated between second and third place for several years now. But Revolut has been pushed out of the top three this year, and now sits in the mid-field in terms of costs.

Comparison 2: Cost of using cards and accounts

For the second analysis, moneyland.ch used the same user profile, but extended it to include account transactions in addition to the card-based transactions. The profile user receives their salary into the account, and also uses the account to pay their bills. The person receives a total of 20 incoming payments and makes a total of 50 outgoing payments per year. Additionally, they also pay their rent using a monthly standing order. Their average account balances are 10,000 francs, with 5000 francs of that being held in the savings account or savings section provided with the package. moneyland.ch also accounts for possible interest earned on the balance of the main account.

This comparison only includes neobanks that provide their users with a Swiss bank account number. Currently, the foreign neobanks Revolut and Wise do not provide that option. However, according to Revolut, customers who migrate to Revolut Bank UAB receive a Swiss IBAN. This Swiss bank account number is offered by Revolut in cooperation with Postfinance, and should enable incoming transfers without any limitations. The Swiss neobanks Yapeal Loyalty (with no basic fee) and Kasparund are not included in this comparison because, although customers do receive a Swiss bank account number, the accounts cannot be used to pay bills or to make bank transfers to third parties.

Of the neobanks included in this comparison, Radicant has the lowest costs, at 8.80 francs. However, Bank WIR has lower costs than Radicant: When interest is accounted for, customers matching the user profile make a profit of 1.70 francs after costs.

Next in line are Alpian (44.50 francs), Neon Plus (86.70 francs), Neon Free (109.70 francs), and Yuh (110.70 francs).

Profile 2: Cost of using cards and bank accounts (neobanks only)

* Calculations are based on the assumption that the customer uses a virtual card. Radicant charges a one-time fee of 15 francs for a physical card. Alpian charges a one-time fee of 60 francs for its metal card.

** The one-time card issuing fee of 20 francs is accounted for with Neon Free. The term used for calculations is three years, so the one-time card fee is divided in three to find the annual cost.

For this year’s study, moneyland.ch also included major conventional Swiss banks in addition to neobanks. Bank WIR, which uses favorable exchange rates and affordable accounts to attract customers, was included in addition to countrywide banks UBS, Raiffeisen, Postfinance, Migros Bank, Valiant, and Bank Cler, as well as the four largest cantonal banks. The table shows the costs of the cheapest offer from each bank for the user profile because many banks offer several different private accounts and savings accounts, and some offer several different debit cards. Swissquote was also included in the inquiry, but was excluded from the comparison. The Swissquote debit card works as follows: The debit card supports 13 currencies and each currency is debited directly. There are big differences between the total costs of offers from traditional banks.

Profile 2: Cost of using cards and bank accounts (established banks)

* In order to open an account with Raiffeisen and Bank WIR, you must have a monthly incoming payment of at least CHF 1260 or CHF 1500 respectively. Buying at least one share in the specific Raiffeisen bank is required in order to open a member account. The fees used for calculations are those recommended to individual Raiffeisen banks by Raiffeisen Switzerland. Costs can vary between Raiffeisen banks.

The cost analysis shows that there are major differences between conventional banks. Bank WIR has the lowest costs, with interest earned exceeding the total costs by 1.70 francs. The Zürcher Kantonalbank takes second place among conventional banks, with total costs of 152.65 francs. It is followed by Valiant, with total costs of 255.90 francs. Bank Cler has the highest costs for the profile used, at 418.40 francs, with Migros Bank being the second most expensive, at 368.60 francs.

It is important to note that the customer profile used for the comparison assumes a relatively high level of foreign transactions. That is because most neobanks position themselves as a cheap alternative for transactions in foreign countries. A look at the table above reveals that a large part of the total cost is made up of foreign transaction fees. The figures make it clear that cards from Bank WIR and neobanks are the most affordable option for making purchases from foreign merchants.   

“If personal contact and personal consultation in a nearby branch office are important to you, then a conventional bank will likely appeal to you more than a neobank,” muses Ralf Beyeler. But consumers who prefer to stick with a conventional bank can also opt to use a neobank for purchases and cash withdrawals outside of Switzerland.

Currency exchange rate markups vary broadly between banks
The analysis of currency exchange rates is also revealing. The markups over interbank rates vary broadly between banks. The most favorable service providers in this regard have markups of around 0.1 percent, while others add markups as high as 4.2 percent.

For payments in euros - accounting for other costs like foreign transaction fees and currency exchange commissions - the cost of using neobanks is 0.1 percent of the transacted amount (Radicant), 0.2 percent (Alpian), 0.3 percent (Kasparund, Neon excluding Neon Free,  Revolut, Wise), 0.7 percent (Neon Free),  1.1 percent (Yuh), and 1.9 percent (Zak). Here too, Bank WIR outperforms many neobanks, with a cost of 0.1 percent for all three currencies.

Making purchases in euros using the other banks included in the analysis comes with a currency exchange markup of 0.4 percent (Zürcher Kantonalbank), 1.3 percent (Postfinance), 1.6 percent (Raiffeisen), 1.9 percent (Bank Cler, Basler Kantonalbank), 2.4 percent (Valiant), or 2.6 percent (Migros Bank). In addition to the currency exchange markup, some banks also charge a foreign transaction fee for each purchase. This additional fee is 1.50 francs at Raiffeisen, Bank Cler, Basler Kantonalbank, and Migros Bank. The Zürcher Kantonalbank charges a foreign transaction fee equal to 1.25 percent of the transacted amount. Postfinance charges 1.5 percent. When these fees are accounted for, using your card to pay for a 100-euro purchase abroad can cost you more than 4 francs in foreign transaction costs. 

The Luzerner Kantonalbank uses a different model. Depending on which debit card you use, the markup on currency exchange rate is either 2.4 percent, 1.4 percent, or 0.3 percent, according to samples taken by moneyland.ch. There is no additional foreign transaction fee. However, the basic ongoing debit card fees are either 216 francs, 108 francs, or 48 francs, depending on the debit card.

Some banks have higher currency exchange markups for US dollars and Thai baht than for euros.

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