Current account for non-resident clients. This is a small and relatively young bank, but a Swiss bank fully regulated by the Swiss Banking Commission with excellent online banking services and physical branches. Please consider that this account differs from all of our other accounts in the sense that it is not opened with a large and long-established bank but it is covered by a CHF 100'000 deposit insurance, equivalent to $90,000 or EUR 68,000 or £63,000 (More... )

The bank expects you to deposit at least 30,000 Swiss francs (equivalent to $27,000 or EUR 20,000 or £19,000) within a month of opening the account and maintain this balance for as long as you keep the account. You do not need to make a deposit the day you open the account but it's a good idea.

Contrary to all our other accounts, you can use this account as a current account to receive and send money as long as:

1. You always maintain the minimum balance on the account
2. You can give a detailed explanation of the nature of your business and general economic background before opening the account
3. You can provide, if requested by the bank, documents to explain the nature of a specific transaction and show that it is not breaking any Swiss law

We reserve the right to turn down applications to open the account if we cannot get a clear understanding of the nature of your business and future use of this account.

The amount considered for the minimum balance is not just the cash but the total of all invested assets on your account, including any bonds, stocks, precious metal or mutual funds.

You can open this account by mail or in person.

If you open by mail, you can deposit money and wire money to another account opened in your name at any bank in the world, but to receive a bank card, credit card or transfer money to third parties, you will need to come and visit the bank in Switzerland at least once. The documents needed are an apostilled photocopy of your passport, a utility bill to prove your address and detailed documents about your economic background and the origin of the money. Start and order your account right now.

If you open in person, you can receive a bank card as soon as there is money on your account and can make bank transfers anywhere. The documents are the same (utility bill and documents about the economic origin of the funds) but you don't need an apostille - just your passport will do. You need to take an appointment - contact us today to set up a meeting.

Powerful online banking system in English, French and Italian. The system uses military-grade encryption with a small electronic device that generates a new number every 20 seconds.

You can ask the bank to keep all bank mail for 100 Swiss francs a year (equivalent to $90, EUR 68 or £63). To read your mail, you can either ask the bank to send it to a specific address several times a year, or come and read it in person.

You can have two different bank cards with this account, provided you have enough money on your account:

Swiss Travel Cash Card Recommended
A 100% Swiss electronic version of the Travellers Cheque, you prepay this card with up to €10,000, US $10,000 or 10,000 Swiss francs and then use it to withdraw cash at over 1 million money dispenser (ATMs) across the world using the Maestro network. There is just no relation between your account and the card. The card is issued by a Swiss company. No annual cost - you pay 1% of whatever amount you load into the cards and nothing more. You can log on to the Internet to check your balance and where the money was spent. Cost to withdraw cash at ATMs outside Switzerland is 5 Swiss francs per withdrawal (equivalent to $4.48 or EUR 3.41 or £3.13).

International Visa and Mastercard credit cards
These cards are accepted all over the world. Your credit limit is calculated daily as half the balance on your account. All cards are denominated in Swiss francs but work worldwide. Annual costs for an entry level card (Swiss franc silver Mastercard) cost 200 Swiss francs a year (equivalent to $179 or EUR 136 or £125).

Depositing money by bank transfer or in cash is free. Withdrawing in cash at the counter costs between 0.15% and 0.75% depending on the amount and the currency).

Bank transfers out of your account, if ordered online, costs 0.035 % of the sum for transfers sent to a bank in the EU with a CHF 15 minimum (equivalent to $13 or EUR 10 or £9.40) , and 0.05% of the sum with a CHF 25 minimum (equivalent to $22 or EUR 17 or £16) for the rest of the world.

Depositing cheques costs between CHF 60 (equivalent to $54 or EUR 41 or £38) for EU cheques and CHF 100 (equivalent to $90 or EUR 68 or £63) for the rest of the world.