That's right but there is also another side to the coin: if you default on a Raiffeisen loan/mortgage then you are "let go" - that is the bank wont come running after everything you have left and suing to get the money back... this is unique about Raiffeisen as it is a cooperative retail bank - it is very important that it maintains it's image as 1 in 3 swiss person is owner of the bank....

BTW, also know that Raiffeisen did not loose 1 cent (or should i say 1 rappen) because of the recent subprime crisis

Maybe because the only Americans they ever made mortgages for were the ones living in Switzerland?

True, and the report over 2006 looks solid. However, I do not like the idea in principle that a bank can come to me for money, secondly, who would have expected 6-7 months ago that the Swiss Finance minister had to declare whether Switzerland would bail out UBS or not? I think most people in this country would have laughed at anyone making those predictions, ever!

So in these times, it is not a position I want to be in. Granted that the mortgage conditions you mention seem extremely good, but I do not want any responsibility for someone else's financial decisions. And, to be honest, I am a bit amazed >1 million Swiss do not seem to mind, as they are so conservative and thorough. I guess it means faith in this bank can be called more than solid.

Re Safety of Bank Accounts: All deposits in Swiss Banks are insured up to CHF 30'000 per person. The Swiss Government owns Postfinance and implicitly guarantees it.

Postfinance is legally not a Bank, albeit they offer banking services. Hence Postfinance cannot do all the wonderful deals, which are causing misery to some banking giants.

My personal experience is that PostFinance are very efficient and their e-Banking appears very secure. They offer higher interest rates for their e-Deposits.

Muze7, thanks for the detailed post.

Any experiences/opinions on the Kantonal banks (for english speaking people) ??

I have now changed the member account to a normal account; the change was instant, you keep your old number, Maestro is not affected because the account nr stays the same. Cost is 15 chf per year for the account and 30 chf for the Maestro. 24 free withdrawals at other ATMs per year but this will be reduced in the autumn apparently. Oh, the 200 CHF was also refunded immediately.

However, they have been extremely slow so far. Account was opened a month ago, and I have not heard anything. No internet banking access (was requested), no Maestro, nothing. Whereas PostFinance was opened 2.5 weeks later and is already fully operational. I do not know if this is typical for my Raiffeisen branch, or kantonal banks versus PostFinance, or due to coincidence. PostFinance have always been rapid so far though.

Also, the Raiffeisen advisor said if you leave Switzerland you can only keep the account open if you have a Swiss postal address. I did not ask about minimum balances, nor am I sure all Raiffeisen branches have this policy.

Re blocked rental deposit accounts. Cannot transfer unless the landlord condescends. The landlord probably has a comprehensive banking relationship with the current bank and hence is not motivated to migrate.

Thanks for the post. However, in my case, I have always opened the account at my bank, not theirs. I do concede that they may not like the change. I discovered though that you can leave this account at UBS, you do not need to remain a client .

I'm curious:

About half a year ago I listened to a report on the DRS about some relatively new bank that (according to claim, anyway) operates according to particularly social or ethical or ecological principles. There was something about a cap on manager salaries and particularly fair Kontospesen. I'm not at all sure about the details, but I too am getting mightily fed up with UBS and thought that bank would be at least worth a quick look. Does anyone know what it might have been? I spent an hour googling but got no results.

At the moment I'm tending toward Post.

Mike

Maybe Alterntiv Bank
www.abs.ch
Unsure about ABS range of products and services.

Postfinance or any of the Cantonal banks would be a good choice. Their profits go to subsidize postal rates or cantonal taxes.

Bingo. That was it.

I called up to ask a few questions, and the lady was friendly and compentent. (I don't know if they speak English, btw.) For the simple things I want a bank to do (hold on to my money, send me a debit card and maybe a credit card - though I have the Migros Budget one already - let me do my e-Banking, generally keep the costs low) they look about as good as anybody else. No ATM transaction fees when you use the other banks' machines in Switzerland.

I think they may pay a bit less interest than other banks (though with the amount of money we have, they're never seems to be enough to get excited about anyway).

All things considered, I might actually move to them rather than to Postfinance. Or is there something I'm not seeing here?

Mike

There are similar banks in other parts of Europe. Friends of the Earth calculated if you put 10k in there, you save CO2 up to half a car's worth of emissions per year .

Another thing, has anyone who perhaps closed their main UBS account figured out whether you keep your online access (ebanking agreement) if you have an account like Fisca or Mietzinskonto (renter account) left?

The best bank is NORVIK BANKA in Lettonia. Opening accounts for non residents - 50USD. Using i-bank for free and issuing credit card - Master/VISA 20-50USD.
Check web www.norvik.lv and contact me if you need some more information -))

The Swiss Banks tremble and crumble ...

Do not think so!

I think I can recommend the St Galler Kantonalbank, which in turn was recommended by my landlord. It's early days yet, have had an account for just two months. Opened it soon after I arrived, without residence permit, spoke to a chap with perfect English, and all documentation was in English, including terms and conditions, and the cash machines default to English on the Maestro card I got. It's almost free as well, cost me 10 franks for the card, though if I understood correctly, the total fee for a year is 20 franks. Under certain conditions, like using their cash machines and I think also keeping a certain level of money coming in (10k?), the fee is waived or refunded, can't remember exactly. Basically I had it all explained when I opened the account and I was happy. Another point worth mentioning is they charge 5 franks per foreign withdrawal, regardless of amount. For larger amounts, this works out cheaper than using my British cards in places outside Switzerland.

Hope this is of use!

I had a similar question asked in the UK and would be interested in the Swiss situation: If an individual had 60k split equally in two Swiss banks, that had no dependent ownership and both went bankrupt; would the individual get 30k or 60k back?

Edit: for 30k read 100k

I have a very important question people! I have a problem with authentication codes! They can't send the authentication code on my cell phone. I call them, they ask to wait, problems with English, etc. so my problem is being unsolved last 10 days! have anyone heard of this? don't you have the same problems?

The authentication codes are printed on paper, and work similarly to one-time code pads. They need to be sent to you safely by post.

Sorry, I didn't het you right. To approve a transaction you need an authentication code. which , every time, they SMS it to you, so you can enter it. now! already 10 days they can't send me. it doesn't work, i don't get the code. and i can't nether connect to them to solve my problem.