Best Swiss Bank Account for a Family

Dear moneyland.ch,

We used your website. We live in Switzerland. We have one account (PostFinance) now, but we would like a family account for two of us (adults with debit and credit card, mobile and online banking) and one account for our little son to save money for him. 

We would like to find the best bank for us. Could you tell us where or how could we compare family accounts?

We are thinking of Raiffeisen or UBS but if we find better not sure we choose these banks.

We are living now in Kanton Aargau but later maybe we'll move to another place.

Hi there,

Unfortunately, there are almost no family discounts and/or banking packages in Switzerland.

There are two ways you can go about this.

1. The most affordable way:

The most affordable solution, in your case, would be to open a single private account as a joint account for the two adults. This is possible at most Swiss banks. Both adults must identify themselves as per KYC regulations and sign the account opening agreement. Both holders of a joint account have full access to the account. PostFinance allows joint accounts and you should be able to convert your existing account to a joint account.

The cost of PostFinance private accounts generally compares favorably, but you can compare them to those of other accounts based on your specific needs using the moneyland.ch private account comparison.

Most Swiss banks charge annual fees for debit cards (Maestro or V Pay), with PostFinance being the primary exception (it provides up to 2 PostFinance debit cards per account at no annual fee). With many banks, you may be able to obtain a supplementary debit card, but you will pay annual fees for both cards.

Banks generally charge annual fees for credit cards, and here too, you will pay annual fees for both your primary and supplementary credit cards. A more affordable alternative is to get a no-annual-fee credit card with a supplementary card. The Migros Cumulus Mastercard, for example, has no annual fee. It can also be used to get fee-free cash advances at the till in Migros supermarkets. The Swisscard Cashback credit card is another no-annual-fee credit card. You can simply set up a direct debit so that your credit card bill is automatically debited directly from your bank account.

Most Swiss banks offer some form of savings account for children. Like other savings accounts, these do not normally have annual fees. You can use the moneyland.ch savings account comparison to compare the interest rates (just enter your child’s birthday to limit results to child savings accounts). It is worth noting that the savings account which comes with the no-annual-fee Viva Kids banking package from Credit Suisse (not included in the comparison) currently pays 5% interest per annum on the first 1000 Swiss francs in the account, and 1% interest on savings in excess of 1000 francs. That makes it one of the most profitable savings accounts for kids. The downside is that you as the parent must hold a Credit Suisse private account in order to get a Viva Kids banking package for your child.

2. The most convenient way:

The most convenient solution is a bundled banking package such as the family packages offered by UBS and some other banks. These packages typically include at least one private account, at least one savings account, at least one debit card and at least one credit card. Some also include at least one 3a retirement savings account and child savings accounts for your children. You can compare the costs and services using the moneyland.ch banking package comparison.

Just note that the cost of many banking packages is relatively high.

Online and mobile banking services are provided by most Swiss banks, although the services provided by larger banks tend to be more sophisticated. If you do some of your banking in person at bank branch offices, working with a bank which has branches countrywide will allow you to continue doing this conveniently in the event of your moving to another part of Switzerland.

Best regards from Moneyguru