Hi
one of my cousins would like to open a savings account in Switzerland, but she is not living here. Do you know which bank allows this for non residents? Do they ask for a minimum amount?
tIA!

Probably a minimum amount and high monthly fees as well. Check the banks' websites to see who may or may not allow this these days.

Usually Chf 500'000.--



I don't know of any banks here willing to open for non residents unless you are in the position where the bank calls you to inquire whether you would like to consider opening an account with them.


Unfortunately the "peanut" accounts no longer are interesting for them to administer, due diligence and prove of origin costs are far too onerous

I have heard lots depends upon citizenship. EU citizens usually well accepted, but the dreaded USA passport makes the banks very shy (unless you have mega money to but on account.)
Some brokerages like SwissQuote will take non-resident accounts (but have to do full ID, anti-money laundering check, etc) where one can get trading rights plus credit cards to access cash in account.
Good luck!

When I was living outside Switzerland but planning to move in I opened an account with La Poste / Postfinance. Was living in the EU at the time, no problem but soon after few years ago they introduced higher fees, eg to post documents. It's the most basic of accounts with online access.



Since 2017 they introduced a monthly non-dom fee, CHF25 a month: https://www.postfinance.ch/en/privat...count-chf.html

The German "Sparkasse Hochrhein" offers a bank account with a Swiss IBAN. This account thus looks like a "normal" Swiss account, but it's with a German bank.


I don't even know which (if any) deposit protection scheme applies.


However, I know that they accept a lot of customers, including people who don't even live in Europe.


I explained it within this article (towards the end):
https://steemit.com/banking/@cafunke...to-switzerland


Actual account can be found here:
https://www.sparkasse-hochrhein.de/d...iro-swiss.html

Short answer: Yes it is possible.

Long answer:
Depends on citizenship and residence.

If your cousin has any ties to the USA, Russia, China or some African countries, you'll need to goto specialist banks (e.g. private banks), who will do it with minimum deposit amounts (usually 250k-2mio, depending on the bank).

If EU citizen/resident, it's much easier. Walk into UBS at Paradeplatz and ask for an account to be opened. Bring a passport. Pay something every month (iirc 25chf a month or so)

First bit is correct, second bit for EU people, the minimum $$ required is around Chf 250k, it has t be squeaky clean and provenance of funds has t be whiter than white.


Think UBS and France.....

If you are a rich Russian holigarch the they would love to open an account for you. NO questions asked!

That's about the lat person they'll open an account for !

Swiss citizen but don't live in CH (yet). Tried to open an account with Raffeisen - impossible (at least when we tried). Tried CreditSuisse, and they had some option, if I pad a fee AND deposited minimum 500 CHF/month to some saving scheme.

I just wanted a normal checking account that I could transfer to and from - not even with a credit card (but a debit card would have been nice, though, as not all shops accept VISA/mastercard/AMEX, especially not when from abroad)

I opened an account with UBS before moving to Switzerland as a UK resident and a citizen of a few countries (some non-EU, some EU). Used my UK address, paid something every month - I can't remember, but can look it up. There's a thread on here somewhere when I did it.

I did not have anywhere near 250k to transfer in.

...but when ? The rules have very much changed over recent years !

18-20 months ago...

Also, just remembered - a few months ago I was looking into opening an account for my godson, who lives in Poland. No issues there either, but I think that’s a special case as I’m the trustee for the account until he’s 18.

So do about 100 other banks from around the world, you can shop from the master list. Swiss IBAN only means they're in an intimate business relationship with the SNB, nothing more

Not the swiss one

But why? Interest is shit and fees are enormous

don't you believe it . They suck ...... for these people!

For this purpose I can re-recommend Sparkasse Hochrhein.


https://www.sparkasse-hochrhein.de/d...iro-swiss.html


Althoug it's a German bank, their "Giro Swiss" offer provides you with a normal Swiss IBAN allowing for "normal" domestic Swiss transactions. (It is most specifically NOT just a foreign currency account!)

I know folks resident in Panama who managed to open it, so I guess it's relatively easy.

Normally yes, in this case no.


Sparkasse Hochrhein offer individual(!) Swiss IBANs (CHXX YYYY YZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ Z) to each client.


For the individual customer that's effectively like having a "real" Swiss current account, it's just not with a Swiss bank.

I'm sure you know best Omtatarse

As I said, hundred of other banks around the world offer the same. IBAN is just bank number + account number