Hi Livia,

I have no more info than Daniel about an ING-like in Switzerland.

I can only ad that I have seen ING Direct advertised in France
and understand that it works online only?
and one can discuss in person over a coffee at Café ING-Direct in Paris?

Would like to hear more, hopefully others will be able to contribute to your post with more concrete info or their own experience.

cheers

Thanks for the replies. That is disappointing indeed.. I'll have to look into ING Direct in France then.

I had a quick look at the ING Direct France website, by the way, and I think they function the same way as the Australian one, nomades.

Yes it's only online and you have to link it to an existing savings account (through any bank in the country) to get money in or out.

I get something like 0.625% from Migros. Why expats are drawn to UBS and Credit Suisse like moths to a flame I don't know.

English language call-center?

After I realised the French ING only has the high interest rate for the first 3 months... I think I'm just going to wire my money back to my Australia to keep it in my ING direct account over there! It's ridiculous here.

it's 2.25 % for new assets with CS !!!!!

Many expats go to UBS because most UBS Branches have English speaking staff, and because if you have over CHF 10K in your UBS account then there's no account fees.

Re interest rates: from my limited research the market is so competetive that the interest rates paid by all Swiss banks are virtually identical.

Nir

Be careful.  A 6.35% interest rate won't be so great if the AUD/CHF currency pair moves 10-15% in the wrong direction.  For how long do you plan to stay in CH?

Mine was only free for the first year.  Now I pay 10Sfr per month.  It would be 20Sfr but I get a 10Sfr discount for having a balance over 10k.  I wonder if I have a different kind of account?

Richard:

I think they just realised they're dealing with a sucker...(-; I'm kidding. I guess indeed that we have different account types, as mine is absolutly free and yours costs CHF 10 / month.

There are several account types, and I guess each has a different cost.

Livia: I'm with Richard on the "be careful" note. If you put your money into a different currency you're exposed to exchange rate movements vs the CHF. Might work for you in some cases, but might kill you in other cases.

Nir