Who offers the best exchange rate for EUR/CHF in Zurich?

Who knows the rates a SWIFT interbank transfer would offer compared to cash exchange?

When is it best to pay fee for SWIFT interbank or use cash?

Thanks.

Any bank will have the most current exchange rate. You can exchange your money there, or if you have an debit/credit card you can just pull money out of any "geldautomat" and get the current exchange rate.

Woah, slow down there... what's this 'bank' thing you mention?

If you read the post again, you'll see that I'm attempting to do a little better than the outrageous spreads the major banks are offering us here.

If it's not too rude what volume you in for?

Credit Suisse will do a deal on large numbers

www.wechstelstube.ch has realtime rates. Over 10 000 CHF you get better euro rates again.

Oh, well forgive me. You will only get vague responses if you ask vague questions. I'm not quite yet a mind reader.

Are there special banks out there that will give you a better than the going rate for you money that I'm not aware of?

Well SWIFT per se doesn't offer rates... it is all at the discretion of the bank doing the exchange...

Paul - does this help?
Converting large amount of Swiss dosh to Stg/Euro

Gav asked a similar question for getting his millions out of the country

Thanks for the replies.

Wechselstube's rates seem to be more favourable than the banks. Could be the best option since < 100k.

I'd recommend www.wechselstube.ch. For me, they beat the banks even on their best offered spread by ~1.4% (it depends on how much you exchange - the more the better) and I was able to time the purchase to receive a better rate. Also, account setup can be done online almost instantly provided you fax and then post docs later. They then give you user/pass and you can follow the market rates and initiate and confirm the transaction online when favourable. To receive the currency you interbank transfer to them and you receive amount later at that confirmed rate. If you have UBS or ZKB account, it can be done same day provided initiated before 12. I don't think I could go back to accepting the bank's penal spreads after this.

I have a question:
how does wechselstube.com?
Do I just register and transfer them my CHF from my Credit Suisse SFr account and get the USD immediately to my debited Credit Suisse USD account? just like that?
If is not "same day", what Exchange Rate do I get, the one when i started the operation or the one when it is actually done?

It's exactly as you say.

As for the rate, you get the one you choose. You login and follow the market rates in real-time and then when you see a rate you are happy with, you OK the transaction. You then have to transfer your cash within one day. If you make the cut-off time, you will have the foreign currency on the same day. Feel free to call them - I found the guy very helpful.

I am glad I researched this and other threads on the forum to find out about http://www.wechselstube.ch. It seems very good.

I am curious, is there a fee to use wechselstube external to your bank wire fees?

Follow-up, is there a best bank in CH to use given that I might need to occasionally use wechselstube to transfer/convert money to my USA bank account?

Last time I checked, the way it works is like this (after signing up; by the way you would need a verified copy of your passport to achieve this; this costs 20 CHF at the post office).

You do an exchange, then use any normal Swiss bank to send wechselstube the money, then they will send it overseas. In Europe, with SEPA payments, there is no fee I think (but check the site). If you use non-sepa or send it outside Europe, there could be a small fee (used to be 10 or 20chf but check!) for sending it.
And you can also use them to receive foreign currencies, like if you want to change USD from the US to EUR, if they receive them on your behalf in Euro, and you have a Euro account at PostFinance, you can ask them to deposit the money into your PF account as Euros, without ever going to francs..

Bottom line, you can use any Swiss bank, as you will not use them to send the money overseas, only within Switzerland!

I don't have the proper number of posts to officially thank you, but I really appreciate that you clarifed that issue.

Evening all,

In this thread people are recommending www.wechselstube.com But I have also seen people say that www.xe.com/fx is a good system from transferring money aboard.

Has anyone used both systems? Is there any compelling reason why I should use one instead of the other?

xe.com claim to be cheaper than all the banks, and 9 out of 10 online systems. I wechselstube.com the 1 in 10? I can't see xe.com's rates without signing up.

Thanks for any help

If you use ZKB, their system is really quite easy. They charge a flat 20 francs to send money to the US. Mind you the receiving bank in the US might charge as well to receive. (mine charges $10) The spread is maybe 1 rappen at most.

It only takes about 2-3 business day which is also a huge benefit

[EDIT] the second time I used this service it has been a disaster. More than 22 days and the money is still not in my US account. Took 5 or 6 chats with customer service (60-90 mins total time). They now are moving the money (at least it made it to London) but give no explanation. Maybe it was all bad luck but I NO LONGER RECOMMEND THIS SERVICE. Really a shame because the first time was great... [END EDIT]

One more option that has been useful for me is http://fxglobaltransfer.oanda.com/

It cost $25 per transfer and took 2 days (may have been slower since it was the first transfer). I liked it because it was a free transfer from my Post Finance to a UBS in Zurich then Oanda transfered to a US holding bank in New York, then there was no wire fee to my US bank (ING Direct, which only accepts wires from US banks). Minus all fees the net exchange rate was 98.6% of inter-bank average.

I also tried Post Finance's Giro International (not priority) to another US account and it arrived the next day for a 2 CHF (Post) and $12 (US bank wire fee). Minus all fees the net exchange rate was 94% of inter-bank average, but the transfer amount was much lower so fees ate a higher percentage.

One advantage of Oanda is you don't need the certified passport copy and can send documents by fax; thus, you can sign up slightly faster than http://www.wechselstube.ch. My account is now setup, so I will try wechselstube next time I need to send money since it was so highly recommended on this forum.

Just revisiting an earlier post:

My bank client advisor was able to verify my passport at no cost. This can save you the 20Fr that the post office would charge.

You only need post-office validation (of passport copy) when you cannot personally go to the Bank.