Ok I did search the forum and google but nothing like getting some more helpful personal opinion from good folks who are in CH.

Q1-Is it safe to show IBAN and BIC information on a website under "payment info" section? The website has my address and name as well. What I am asking is can the combination of all the info be used to defraud me in any way? Some of the identity theft stuff you guys talk about on this forum + articles like this http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4311073.stm make me nervous (no I don't throw my documents in the bin). I don't want anyone to steal my hard earned money

Q2- IBAN/BIC combo used widely outside CH? Do you think giving them to customers is best method of getting money from western world in particular and rest of the world in general? Some Canadian and American people prefer to send cheques instead! Wha the hell is that all about? Takes almost a month to clear. Time is money so I hate taking cheques.

Q3- What is the maximum you have transfered using PayPal? It seems that the limit is $10,000. Any advice?

Q4- Between IBAN method and PayPal which would you reccomend?

Q5- Is there some other method that I don't know about?

P.S- The amounts I am talking about are in CHF 500-CHF 40,000 range.

Thanks for any input.

I can offer some answers.

Q2. IBAN/BIC is mandatory now for all payments in Europe.
See this UBS link:
http://www.ubs.com/1/e/ubs_ch/privat.../iban_bic.html
Every bank account in Europe has an IBAN number (well, maybe not all...)

Q3, Q4. Personally, I don't and wouldn't use PayPal.
I'd also say that IBAN/BIC is far more secure than PayPal.

Thanks GBN. Yes I am aware IBAN thing is becoming mandatory...so I am pleased about that actually. The problem area seems to be the American continent. Not sure why some people there want to send cheque intead of using the IBAN method >confused<
I will do more googling.

When transferring to the US, you don't use IBAN - they will use BIC or Fedwire numbers with the account number.

IBAN is a unique number which identifies your bank and account in an absolute manner: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBAN

I would look into becoming able to accept credit card payments.

Could you please expand on that? Would you class paypal in the same category as they allow usage of credit cards. Btw I sell services and not multiple items like an online shoping website.

Any views on displaying BIC/IBAN number online from safety point of view?

I would avoid Paypal. www.paypalsucks.com is a good read for anyone wanting to use Paypal in the way you wish.

I would supply, on request, the IBAN. Whilst there is very little they can do with this number, them knowing less about you and your account is a good thing.

I'd also perhaps get a PO Box and use a different account for incoming payments - discuss this with your Bank.

Ok thanks for the help Lob.

Regarding your question about displaying your bank account number on a website, or in correspondance. I don't see a problem with it and I do it myself. I'm not aware of any way (yet) that this could cause you trouble. I could be wrong, but that's certainly normal practice here.

Usually it makes people who are used to sending cheques (curse them) quake in the boots because they haven't really thought about it properly.

I totally sympathise with you - when I get a cheque for $20 from the US I usually throw it in the bin. They put a man on the moon, but they haven't figured out how to do banking properly

Thanks Mark...appreciate the post. Recently I got a cheque for $500 and the bank took a large bite out of it! It's as if the bank worker flew all the way to USA to get my cheque!

You asked, I answer...

Check this out:
Be Warned... eBay & Paypal Support Fraudulent Activity

There is nothing wrong with posting your IBAN on a website.

If you have any directly related questions, let me know.

Good luck!
Scott

it should cost 8 francs per cheque deposited. Or at least that's what it was costing 3 years ago when I looked into it...

Well... maybe not that bad, but there is considerable amounts of work in processing cheques for the banks - international cheques would be much more difficult to process and involve more work, and therefore higher cost. The whole situation is so bizzare it makes one wonder why it still goes on in this day and age.

Ahem, a UK company my mate works for still issues cheques (multiple currencies) to suppliers. Delays the whole process of the funds leaving the company's bank account apparently

Hi Scott,

I also have clients in the USA and they all pay me via wire transfer. I don't accept checks as payment. Now, you mention you sell services. Is that like an online service that you can cancel should you receive a charge back or a service that once paid for the client has gotten full collection of a "product". The reason I ask is that there are several e-companies that process credit card payments to companies that offer only e-services (www.2checkout.com is a good one). If your services are tangible you can try www.ccnow.com

I have another business where sales run from 100 euro to 1000 euro per purchase. There I use something similar to PayPal but with whom I can accept credit cards without the fear of chargebacks happening (unlike Paypal who does not seem to have any protection against credit card fraud). The service is out of the UK but is worldwide. Their website is www.moneybookers.com - their only thing is that you can only withdraw a maximum of 33,400 francs every 3 months.

Paypal is ok as long as you don't accept credit cards with them because they are not good at helping you with chargebacks. I have not been made aware of any withdraw limits with PayPal Switzerland.

So, depending on what your service is, you best option for your American customers might be to accept credit cards and avoid the check thing. I am so glad we don't have them here.

Is the IBAN/BIC money transfer common in CH now? I want to transfer the money for our accommodation from Germany to CH. Should this be straight forward? In Germany bank transfer is pretty standard and I think it´s great!! Haven´t used a cheque in years - and would also refuse any cheques after discovering it cost 15 € to lodge them!

Is the IBAN/BIC money transfer common in CH now?

YES. I do wire transfer between CH and DE, and viceversa all the time. Very simple process. I bank here with ZKB and they charge me 4 CHF for the wire transfer. My German bank charges less. Cheques are hardly ever used here. I would say private payments are done either via online banking or directly at the bank.

As you mention, an IBAN and BIC (SWIFT) number will be required.