Sending money by postal order in Switzerland

Does the Swiss post office do postal orders?

Hi there,

The Swiss post office does not offer postal money orders as a service. It does provide instant money transfer services from Western Union for fast cash-based transfers. It also offers guaranteed cash deliveries by mail within Switzerland (up to CHF 1000 per delivery of which CHF 500 is insured). The Cash International service lets you send cash or checks internationally by mail and the delivery made within 5 to 8 working days.

If you have a business account with PostFinance, you can receive withdrawal slips which can be used by a third party to collect cash at the post office - much like cashing a check. If the recipient has a Swiss bank account, you can deposit money directly at a branch office of their bank or at a post office using a deposit slip.

It is worth noting that within Switzerland, transfers between private accounts are generally free of charge. If you and the recipient have private accounts, this is often the cheapest way to send money quickly. You can compare accounts using the moneyland.ch private account comparison.

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Swiss deposit slips explained
Sending money overseas: Saving tips
Peer to peer money transfers explained