From August 20, 2024, Swiss banks will be required to accept incoming instant payment transfers. That means a bank transfer from a different bank account can be credited to your account balance within seconds. The requirement for that to happen is: The sender’s bank must offer outgoing instant payment bank transfers, and the sender must choose to make the transfer using the instant payment option.
No fees for incoming instant payment transfers
From August, all Swiss banks that process more than half a million local transfers between Swiss accounts will accept incoming instant payment transfers. All of the Swiss banks that responded to a moneyland.ch survey will not charge customers any fees for incoming transfers made using instant payment. These include Bank Cler, the Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, the LLB, Migros Bank, Neon, Postfinance, Raiffeisen, Valiant, Zak, and various cantonal banks.
Only a few banks will offer outgoing instant payment transfers
Only a handful of Swiss banks will offer outgoing instant payment transfers right from the time the service launches in Switzerland. Outgoing instant payment transfers will only be available to customers of UBS, Raiffeisen banks, the St. Galler Kantonalbank, the Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, and to some extent, the Berner Kantonalbank. But it is likely that more banks will decide to offer outgoing instant payment transfers in the days leading up to the launch.
What will instant payments cost?
A survey of Swiss banks by moneyland.ch shows that for private customers, making a bank transfer using instant payment will either be free of charge or cost between 2 francs and 5.30 francs. The St. Galler Kantonalbank will charge 2 francs per transfer, while the Berner Kantonalbank and the Hypothekarbank Lenzburg will not charge extra fees for instant payment transfers. Raiffeisen sits in between, offering 12 complimentary instant payment transfers per year to holders of member accounts and youth accounts, with a 2-franc fee for each additional transfer after that. UBS will charge a five-franc markup on top of the standard bank transfer fee when a customer decides to use instant payment for a transfer. Depending on which UBS account you use, you will pay between 5 and 5.30 francs for each outgoing instant payment transfer you make.
Table 1: Fees for outgoing instant payment bank transfers
| Bank |
Fee per bank transfer |
Note |
| Berner Kantonalbank |
No fees |
Instant payment will be introduced to customers in phases. |
| Hypothekarbank Lenzburg |
No fees |
|
| Raiffeisen (private customers) * |
CHF 2.00 |
With a member account or youth account:
12 complimentary instant payment transfers per year. |
| Raiffeisen (business customers) * |
CHF 0.50 |
|
| St. Galler Kantonalbank |
CHF 2.00 |
|
| UBS |
CHF 5.00
or CHF 5.30 |
|
* Recommendation to Raiffeisen banks from Raiffeisen Switzerland. Fees may vary between individual Raiffeisen banks.
A number of banks have told moneyland.ch that they will only introduce instant payments at a later time. Many banks have said that they want to offer instant payments from 2025.
Conclusion by Ralf Beyeler
It is good to see Swiss banks beginning to offer instant payment transfers. Fast bank transfers are already widely used in many European, Asian and African countries. Today, many consumers expect their bank transfers to arrive instantly.
I find it a shame that so few Swiss banks will be offering outgoing instant payments right from the start. I assume that many Swiss banks want to wait and see how other banks fare with the new service.
If you are interested in using instant payments, you should take exceptional care when sending money that way. Because the recipient gets the money within ten seconds, it is more difficult to correct mistakes and get your money back if you make a mistake.
More on this topic:
A guide to instant payments in Switzerland
Compare Swiss private accounts now
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