Best Swiss bank for check users

For a number of reasons, I generally use checks for a large part of my personal financial transactions. Which Swiss bank provides the best and cheapest checking services?

Hi there,

You can get an overview of the options and costs for check users in Switzerland in the moneyland.ch guide to using checks.

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Swiss private account (checking account) comparison

I found your article on this very interesting, but wonder why Switzerland is an island of backwardness among advanced economies on this key business subject. I have long been puzzled by the fact that organizations like the ILO will not accept checks because of the high fees involved. So, I googled the subject and there you were---thanks! But why does the practice persist?

The relatively low use of checks in Switzerland is one of the factors behind the high fees charged by Swiss banks for the issuing and processing of checks. Checks were never as widely used in Switzerland as they are in the United States and many other countries. Reasons for this include consumer preference for cash payments (and more recently card-based transactions) and the popularity of postal deposit slips for the payment of bills.

The marginal use of checks has meant that Switzerland has never had the solid check infrastructure found in the US and some other countries (including regional check processing centers and electronic check processing services). Instead, check processing and settlement is carried out by banks themselves. The low volumes of checks being processed mean that most banks do not have specialized check-processing units. The result is that check processing is primarily a niche service. As such, the costs generated are charged to check users rather than born by checking account holders as a whole.

It is important to note, however, that fees charged for checks and check processing vary between Swiss banks. Some regional banks in particular have more favorable fees for check issuance and processing. The Bernerland Bank, for example, charges 15 francs to issue a bank check. That is 35 francs less than the 50-franc fee typically charged by Swiss banks. If you use checks frequently, this is a criterion to consider when choosing your private account.

Best regards from Moneyguru