Recently my wife got a job (Yay!)

She was very excited and as we shared a bank account until then, she wanted her own salary account. As we didn't want all our eggs in one basket we also decided to open her account in a different bank than mine.

We thought Raifeissen seems to have a good name around here. We went to their branch in downtown Lausanne and what they told me was ridiculous.

My wife has a "B" permit. The lady at the counter said "We do not handle accounts for B permit holders. Only C permit or Swiss nationality". I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this. What kind of stupid policy is this?

But being a good citizen (I have a C permit after all) I did not argue and we just went to one of their competitors (a nice cantonal bank) who accepted us very politely and created an account for my wife in 5 minutes.

Did anyone else have the same experience with Raiffeisen?
I'm sure they have a practical explanation for this, but its ridiculous nevertheless. What do you think?

Basel Raiffeisen didn't have any issues with my B-permit

Edited to add - I'm EU though, maybe that's the difference if your wife is not?

They gave me a morgage with my B permit and all sorts of accounts too.

They even wanted to throw in more cash with my morgage as the amount I wanted was way below the value of my property.

If your wife happens to be american, I think that could explain it. Sort of hiding under the "B" issue, as didn't want to say it directly. Some banks just don't want any hassles.

If the Swiss government has provided a permit for them to live in CH, then how can a bank not accept the same permits?

Rejecting americans because they do not want any hassles?

Is this legal?

BCV wouldn't give me a normal credit card because I have a B permit.

Very strange - as a 'B' permit holder I have a mortgage and accounts with Raiffeisen Toggenberg and could not fault them as a bank - they have been the best bank I have ever had - and I have a few in three different countries.

Not only do they not charge for hardly anything, never worry about being overdrawn, open account in other currencies (no charges), instantly attend to any problem/query............ etc.

So I just cannot understand, maybe you should have gone further than your initial contact. I certainly think you should go back and complain!

Not sure about the legalities, but my guess is that a lot of foreign (swiss) banks will have to make some important decisions in the near future, if they haven't already with respect to the new FATCA legislation (2010). If I was a foreign bank, I would run... and fast. See here http://www.aca.ch/joomla/images/pdfs/treasury.pdf , top of page 3 in particular. Note, legislation is passed, but how it will ultimately be implemented is of course not clear yet.

pretty sure it is legal. can't imagine any foreign bank wanting americans as customers.

I'm a B Permit holder and I had no trouble opening an account with Raiffeisen in Schaffhausen. I'd definately go back and check with someone else or ring up another location and see what they say.

nileblitz, I'll hang onto that money for you. I'll PM you my IBAN # and her employer can just pay her salary into that. Deal?

I think I'd go back to the bank and cause a little bit of a stink about this. I'd also ask the relevant government authorities about it.

No, she's not American. But she's not EU either.

I thought this was like a General policy for Raiffeisen. Looking at the responses above, its weird why the person would tell me an outright lie. This may sound stupid, but I think we were wearing decent clothes too! if thats the kind of thing which matters to Raiffeisen.

I don't want to raise a stink about it because I seriously don't care. Its not like its the only bank around and its their loss anyway. In any case, it will probably be "he said, she said" because I never asked the name of that person, nor do I remember what she looked like.

@Richardm - I think for the moment I'll keep the money under my mattress. If the stacks pile up too high, I'll ask for your IBAN number

You don't have to raise a stink about it, but I'd certainly write to the higher ups in the bank describing the incident and asking about it. If there isn't an explicit company policy, and it sounds like there isn't, it sounds like prejudicial behavior by one of their employees. They should certainly be concerned hearing that from you if you bring it up. The squeaky wheel never gets the grease if no one cares.

Raiffeisen is a group of very small groups of banks. In Payerne the local group had just 3 branches. So the policy in Lausanne is probably the result of a difficult local manager.

Remember Raiffeisen is a bank for farmers, so think SVP / UDC, think right wing populism, think they only want Swiss customers.

I wouldn't bother complaining, if you do you will also be branded a wingeing pom. Let them crawl back under their stones in peace, you won't change them this century.

Well, from my experience people that work in banks or administration are only people not computers so some of them are good workers and most of them are not and they do not know their job and procedures. Many many times I gor different answers for the same questions from different employees. You should always ask for the clark name, because when you do she or he automatically becomes more focused and more willing to give you beter service, because he or she knows that he or she is in charge and responsible from that moment, because otherwise you will mention their name and they do not want that.
And of course call a manager or supervisor to confirm you that something is correct which you doubt it is.

Ok, many swiss banks may not *want* US customers. That's understandable. But *wanting* something does not make it legal. People who have a a legal right to live here also have a legal right to services being offered by banks; and banks can not choose which client.

A more extreme example may be - Volg refusing to sell groceries to foreigners with L permits?????

If the bank has issues with US citizens/PRs, then they need to do something about it. It is their problem. Not the individuals wanting an account.

That is what I think

Does anyone else have better Swiss legal basis/information?

As someone else on the list said, the OP most likely got an employee who may have been told differently by a "manager" who probably needs additional training. I think the incident needs to be reported to senior mgmt at the bank.

Regards,

well they can select customers, they are not forced to service you.
As said before, Raiffeisen is in the small villages and wants probably that "swiss" image in its cutomer base. Why bother with them? Go to Postfinance, they have good service at good price.

PS: some 12years ago I was also told by CS that I'm not interesting for them, went across the road to UBS (SGS)

Some background reading.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Swiss_ba...tml?cid=677414

Whether you agree with or not, a bank can turn away anybody they want for any reason. They are free to choose their customers just as customers are free to choose their banks.
http://www.swissbanking.org/en/home/...eroeffnung.htm

I know this isn't the same in all countries.

Of course they can refuse, they are a private company and can chose whoever they want to do business with !