Bank loyalty comes at a price in Switzerland

Banks: loyalty comes at a price – using different suppliers saves money Keystone-SDA

The Swiss are very loyal to their main bank, but this loyalty comes at a high price.

This is revealed in a study published on Tuesday by the online comparison site Moneyland.ch, which analysed the overall costs of Switzerland’s leading credit institutions and concluded that it is better to diversify.

The analysis, carried out on nine major banks, calculated the total annual cost for those using a single bank for key services: a personal current account with a debit card, a savings account, a credit card, card use abroad and a third pillar pension scheme. The result? A wide range of offers, with the most expensive option coming in at just under CHF1,000 ($1,220).

According to the research, the most cost-effective bank for those wishing to keep everything under one roof is Migros Bank, with an annual cost of CHF491. Next come the Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB) at CHF597 and Valiant at CHF607. More expensive, by contrast, are PostFinance (CHF736), Raiffeisen (CHF821) and UBS (CHF964).

The analysis shows that spreading your services across multiple providers pays off. If you choose the cheapest provider on the market for each individual product, not only do you reduce your costs, but you can even end up with a net gain of CHF229 a year, thanks to interest earned and bonus schemes that more than offset the fees incurred.

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“It is entirely possible to keep some products with your main bank and choose cheaper providers for other services,” says Ralf Beyeler, a financial expert at Moneyland.ch, quoted in a press release.

And it’s well worth the effort: the potential savings vary significantly depending on the product category. While there is no potential saving for a personal current account – which is often free of charge without additional services – there are huge savings to be made on other products. The biggest savings are to be found in Pillar 3a: by switching your pension plan provider, you can save between CHF395 and CHF740 a year compared with the rates charged by a traditional bank. Credit cards also offer potential savings of up to CHF216 a year, while savings accounts and using your card abroad can save you up to CHF180 and CHF101 respectively.

For frequent travellers, the study notes that, alongside WIR, so-called smartphone banks such as Alpian or digital services such as Wise are particularly advantageous for withdrawals and payments in foreign currencies. When it comes to pensions, however, apps and digital providers such as True Wealth, Liberty Green, Viac, Finpension, Neon and Frankly stand out, offering significantly more attractive terms.

Online trading

The study also highlights another critical area: online trading. For an occasional user with a securities portfolio of around CHF45,000 and 12 transactions a year, using a traditional bank can cost between CHF345 and CHF855. Switching to a specialist provider such as Saxo Bank reduces the cost to just CHF68 a year.

Moneyland.ch’s conclusion: loyalty is valuable, but diversifying across individual services pays off. Just a few targeted switches are enough to significantly reduce costs, without having to give up the relationship with your main bank.

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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.