Hey Andrash,

Welcome (soon!) to Zurich.

UBS is indeed the biggest around here, with 75% of glocals members using it. Including me...(-:

You can get cheaper banks tho, like the Post Bank or the Migros Bank. But if you want service in English, and you want slightly more advanced banking products (like trading, investing, excellent eBanking, etc), UBS is your best bet.

Check out the glocals Guide to Banking in Switzerland for more info.

Nir

UBS user here, but if you want to look at alternatives, take a look at the cantonal banks. Zurcher Kantonalbank should be well-equipped enough to deal with your needs, and you get some little local advantages (discounts, goodies...) Any actual user want to chip in?

Thanks for your feedback guys! Just one more question with regards to USB being more expensive that the local banks, what is the difference in CHF for the services we are talking about?

I actually speak fluent german, my wife does not, but hopefully she will next year ;-)

I guess my main criteria are excellent ebanking, dual currency banking (CHF/EUR), and transferring money overseas to my family, without having to actually go to branch.

I guess at some point of time I would like to buy a property, but that is definitely a couple of years away, I am guessing that the mortgage rates are pretty much similair across most banks? That is the way it is here in New Zealand.

Cheers;

Andrash

Hey Andrash, 

If that's what you need, go for UBS. Their eBanking is EXCELLENT. 

I'm not sure of the exact differences in fees, but I think it's relatively peanuts. And there's ways to get it down significantly. For example, the monthly UBS account-management fee is CHF 10 (or around there). But if you have more than CHF 10,000 in your account, then UBS waive all the account fee. 

Nir

hi andrash,

you need to simply got to www.yellownet.ch

and read the conditions in E, D, F, I. you will see that the swisspost (yellownet) act as a

complet on-line banking service (government backed) and,....have free bankcards for all cash machines.

as you will read, the services they affer are very reliable, and total annonymity is the byword. as they are only offering their services in switzerland ( unlike ubs, credit suisse, and most other banks) they cannot be pressured by other countries :-)

however, their cash points and int´l banking transactions are world wide.

do check this out before deciding. the swiss post banking has taken more than 30% of retail banking away from the major 3 banks due to lower charges and a real interest in retail bankng and not only the BIG accounts.

as they operate through the post office, they are open on saturdays! banks of course are closed on saurdays ( except in the major commercial centers where limited banking services are available and not all banks have this facility.

seems like the obvious choice.

Anyone got any experience of the MIGROS bank?  

Seems to be fees are waived for accounts of chf 7,500 and 3 fr. a month for under that amount.

Thanks.

I would recommend Raiffeisen. I personally use it professionally and it is very convenient to use through the internet.

Hi Andrash,

I personally use PostFinance, with different currencies. The fastest and most reliable way to receive and send money was when I used IBAN numbers. I use their service since I can do all online bills and pay in 90% of stores with the same card. And I only had to go to their branch to open the account the first time. The monthly pdf statements are easily downloadable.

BUT, I can think of two downsides...

1. After a payment, you only get a generic screen with "your transaction has been sent" without a ticket number!! You have to wait until their database is updated to actually see that line in your expeditures or the complete confirmation sheet report.

2.if you send the same amount twice on a 24hr period to the same recipient, the second transaction is cancelled because it thinks that it's a duplicate. It does not ask you to confirm or not, nor tell you that it hasn't processed it. It may not be something someone needs to do every day, but it's just to demonstrate that their system's not very elaborate.

So although I'm very satisfied with it, for your purposes, I would choose maybe a more sophisticated option.