Any time you'll convert from one currency to another, with any bank, you'll lose something along the way because the bank that converts for you has to make something out of the transaction. So I don't think your issue is UBS specific. 

To avoid the ripoff of the bad exchange rate when using credit card (plus the 1.75% "processing fee", WTF!) I started using Revolut. It is not super practical, but it can be interesting if you use your card a lot abroad/ different currencies.

For the salary in USD, maybe you can ask your company to pay you in an American account in dollars, if you have one, or if and then do the change from USD to CHF at your convenience using Transferwise, Currencyfair or some other of the services that offer better exchange rates

Couldn't agree more and so absoutely FED UP with UBS charging me for absolutely e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. There have GOT to be cheaper alternatives with fintech banks these day, no ? Any suggestions for cheaper alternatives for simply receiving one's salary, paying ones bills and the occasional credit card charge ?   

Does UBS not have a USD account available? They have them for EUR....Maybe that might save on part of the exchange rate problem. Then transfer to CHF when you nedd or when the exchange rate is good? And you don't always have to have a credit card that goes with your bank account. There are independent alternatives. 

Wise or Revolut is the option, way better exchange rates and you can get a debit card in 10 days delivered to your apartment or work.

Could not recommend Revolut enough. I have a reference link if you want :) but, could you speak with your employer about paying you in CHF instead?

Best way I'm aware of is to be paid into your Wise USD account, then transfer it from Wise to InteractiveBrokers. I'd use Wise, not Revolut, because the transfer to IBKR costs 0.51 USD regardless of the amount, whereas Revolut often cost more.

Then you use IBKR to do the currency exchange, since they charge a flat rate of 2 USD for the exchange. IBKR beats Wise and Revolut for the exchange, and certainly is loads better than UBS or any of the high street banks.

You can send any amount from IBKR to your local account for free once per month (and after that first transaction it maybe costs 1 USD per extra transaction that month).

Total cost: about 2.5 USD to move your cash to CHF (or other) and there are no fees hidden in a suboptimal exchange rate.

Do you have good experiences with IBKR? Because I saw their app got 2.9 starts on GPlay.

Yes, excellent. A perfectly functional platform and extremely responsive customer service.

If I were to crticise anything it's that their fees are complex, though in the end they are extremely low - you just have to work a bit to make sure you know what they are going to be. But I've never failed to dig out the info I needed and have not had any nasty surprises.

The app itself isn't great but I don't trade on apps so I don't really care about the Google Play rating.