Swiss bank fees eat up interest payments

Increasing fees and shrinking interest rates are making it hard for consumers to get the most out of the money they put into Swiss banks.

A survey by Swiss price comparison website comparis.ch checked out the cheapest offers for private clients at 13 banks. Comparis.ch defined its sample client as somebody with CHF10,000 ($11,269) in his private/checking account and CHF20,000 in savings. The person does all his banking online – no paper bank statements – and has no credit card.

At the end of the year, this sample client would earn something from the bank in just three of the 13 cases. His best bet would be Postfinance, where he would make CHF61. At Migros-Bank he would get CHF6.20, and at Raiffeisen, CHF0.50. He would break even at Bank Coop.

Comparis.ch found Credit Suisse to be the worst place for the sample client to bank: there he would end up CHF101.25 in the minus. Also providing a poor return were UBS (minus CHF89.60) and Zürcher Kantonalbank (-CHF72). At Valiant, as well as at the cantonal banks of Bern, Vaud, St Gallen, Lucerne and Ticino, the client would lose CHF3.

Comparis.ch urges customers to consider fees as well as interest rates when selecting a bank.

swissinfo.ch and agencies