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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: 10 November 2008 00:07
Posts: 6,
Visits: 15
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Dear all,
Shall you come to Geneva to work for some years, which would the best Bank institution and what kind of bank account to make your money grow.
Is it true that in Switzerland you are always charged when taking money from a bankomat?
Wisdom from all of you is welcomed, as this is an important topic for all of us
Cheers,
Hugo
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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: 05 November 2008 13:06
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Hi there, Just about to move to Zurich.. wondering if you ever found out and can now share your wisdom :o) cheers, Billie
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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: Today @ 15:09
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Hugo, Sparkles, Here's the bit I know: 1. Most expats (but far from all) use UBS, for several reasons: - There's UBS branches all over CH
- They are well known from other countries
- All branches speak English
- Their rates are competetive vs other banks.
2. It does not cost money to withdraw money from a banco-mat, if you draw money from your own bank. IE, if you have an account with UBS, and you withdraw money from a UBS bancomat, you won't pay a fee. But if you have a UBS account, and you withdraw money from a Bankomat of another bank, you'll pay a fee. 3. Opening a Swiss bank account - assuming you have a local work permit - is not difficult. Here's a list of all UBS bank branches & contact details in CH: any branch can give you more info. 4. Interest rates are low in CH, so you won't make much on your money. Typical rates for current accounts are under 1%, and for saving accounts 1-2%. Hope this helps, pls let me know if you need more info. Nir
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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 20:41
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Visits: 289
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and UBS e-banking is excellent. If you do alot of transfers its worth if for that alone.
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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: 19 August 2008 20:44
Posts: 34,
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i started with migros bank, because their rates are a lower then ubs. but their e-banking just sucks. and i means sucks. i now have one checking account with them, and one with ubs. I use the ubs one for most things, and for ebanking i use only ubs. if you don't need ebanking, and you don't need real banking advise in english, migros bank will do. if you do need ebanking, and need some english advice, ubs is the way to go.
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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: Today @ 15:09
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Fully agree about UBS's ebanking: it's really good.
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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: Today @ 13:18
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I remember when getting my ATM card from UBS that they told me I could withdraw from any ATM in Switzerland regardless of which bank it belonged to without getting charged extra for it? Am I mistaken or is it just a perk of the plan I signed up with?
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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: 30 August 2008 10:52
Posts: 152,
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Hi Hugo + Billie ... and welcome to glocals & CH!
for all of the advantages mentioned above by Nir and others, i would also recommend credit suisse (cs). they are number 2 in switzerland but maybe operate still more like a smaller bank than ubs (i.e. more personalized 
and their ebanking is excellent too!
perhaps another point to consider, are the staggering losses racked up by the global banks this year (see below table..). as of 29.july.08 ubs was at $37bn vs. $6bn at cs. 
Hugo, if you want to grow your money.. don't put it in saving accounts that can be less than inflation (some as low as 0.5%), but rather look at something like a mutual fund, which is already a diversified portfolio.
When making your decision.. be sure to study past performance (although no guarantee of future results, it is a good indicator), management stability, buy, sell and management fees, and high-interest beaing bonds included as a percentage of the portfolio.
Ideally, you want to be able to add to this investment monthly without fees. High-growth areas might be emerging markets and / or real estate (this area has fallen enormously so.. for savvy investors there are many bargains around < esp. in the us with the credit cruntch and the weak dollar> that can be negotiated even lower.. 
good luck and all the best!
Acquarius
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Write-downs of largest banks reach $274bn
* Julia Kollewe
* guardian.co.uk,
* Tuesday July 29 2008 14:01 BST
Alliance & Leicester, which last month agreed to a £1.26bn takeover by Spain's Santander, has seen its first-half profits almost wiped out by the credit crunch. It took a £209m hit from losses on investments and asset write-downs, and suffered soaring funding costs in the wholesale money markets.
Earlier this week Wall Street bank Merrill Lynch shocked the market when it moved to raise fresh funds to shore up its battered balance sheet, sold $11bn (£5.6bn) of toxic mortgage securities and took a fresh $5.7bn mortgage-related write-down - just 10 days after it slipped into the red and unveiled write-downs of $9.4bn.
As the first anniversary of the credit crunch approaches, total write-downs announced by the world's largest banks have ballooned to $274bn. Some estimates suggest that the total losses, related to US sub-prime mortgages and leveraged loans, could hit $1 trillion.
Citigroup $47bn
Merrill Lynch $46bn
UBS $37bn
HSBC $25bn
Lehman Brothers $17bn
Morgan Stanley $12bn
Royal Bank of Scotland $11.8bn
Deutsche Bank $10bn
Crédit Agricole $7bn
Bank of America $7bn
Wachovia $6bn
Société Générale $6bn
Credit Suisse $6bn
JP Morgan $4.9bn
Natixis $4.3bn
Goldman Sachs $3.8bn
Barclays $3.8bn
Bear Stearns $3.2bn
BayernLB $3bn
IKB $2.6bn
HBOS $2bn
Lloyds TSB $1.7bn
Washington Mutual $1.6bn
UniCredit $1.6bn
WestLB $1.5bn
Commerzbank $1.1bn
National Australia Bank $950m
here's the complete article :
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/top-stories/story/644504.html
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Group: glocals.com member
Last Login: Yesterday @ 13:28
Posts: 12,
Visits: 36
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Hi, I had a close look at the banks for a simple account when I arrived here. The cheapest is obviously the http://www.postfinance.ch/ but I didn't like the service, also it was not possible to open a rent security deposit for renting an appartment. Then I had a look at UBS. I didn't like, that they charge you for using ATMs of other banks in Switzerland. Also they charge you for every money transfer. I asked the people in my office coming from Geneva which would be the best bank here and then decided to open an account at Banque Cantonale de Geneve: http://www.bcge.ch/index.php?SubMenu=gestiondefortune&lang=en You can use every ATM in Switzerland without extra charges, they don't charge you for money transfer (except abroad), they have a good service (if I have a question per mail, I always get a reply within 20min) and they have a good, english internet banking. Hope, this could help
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