Swiss Bank Account for Czech Republic Residents

Good day,

I am resident in the Czech Republic. I work for a Swiss company and occassionally I receive commissions from this company. I would like to open a Swiss bank account in order to receive my commissions in Swiss francs without having to exchange them for koruna or euros or transfer the money to the Czech Republic or Germany.

I found some information on your website, but some of it is difficult to understand. For this reason, I would like to ask for help or advice.

I am not a refugee, and I do not have a B or C permit. I am just a foreigner living in the Czech Republic who would like to open a Swiss account with which to receive commissions from a Swiss company. That is all.

Is that possible? Can a foreigner open a free checking account in Switzerland? All I need is a debit card to withdraw money from the account. No special services.

Thank you for taking the time to help me out with information on this topic.

I wish you a pleasant day.

Hi there,

As a general rule, Swiss banks are not keen on accepting customers which do not reside in Switzerland. Some provide accounts to people who can prove that they work in Switzerland, even though they reside in another country.

There is no law prohibiting Swiss banks from taking on foreign customers, and the rules vary between banks and banking products. The amount of money which you expect to deposit will also influence your eligibillity at some banks.

In any case it is important to understand that even if you find a bank that will let you open a private account, most Swiss banks charge non-resident fees. The majority of Swiss private accounts have annual fees - particularly when a debit card is required.

In your case, a good first step would be to review the non-resident fees charged by banks and to compare account costs using the unbiased private account comparison on moneyland.ch. If you feel that the fees are worth it in your case, then the next step would be to send applications for an account to as many different Swiss banks as possible - including regional banks. You may find one which will accept your application.

An alternative is to open a CHF account at a German bank. A number of German banks offer these. This will help you to avoid changing your money into euros or koruna.

Best regards from Moneyguru