Joint Bank Accounts From Swiss Banks: A Practical Guide

What is a joint account?

A joint account, sometimes called a household account, is a private account that belongs to more than one person. All of the account holders have access to the joint account.

Most commonly, joint accounts are used by households to pay shared expenses from a single account to simplify household bookkeeping.

Many Swiss banks do not offer joint accounts as a unique product. The product offered is a private account, but the bank lets you choose whether you want to have a personal account (just one account holder) or a joint account (more than one account holder).

Who can benefit from joint accounts?

Joint accounts target people who share the same household. Examples include:

• Spouses
• Registered partners
• Unmarried romantic partners
• Flatmates

What is the difference between a joint account and a household account?

Some banks use the terms household account, shared account, and partner account, to describe a joint account. All of these terms describe the same kind of account – though the services and costs may differ somewhat between banks. It is important to look at the individual features, terms, and conditions of a joint account. The name used for the product is not important.

Which Swiss banks offer joint accounts?

Although many banks provide hardly any information about joint accounts online, they are part of the basic offering of many established Swiss banks.

On the other hand, only a handful of Swiss neobanks offer joint accounts. Often, the accounts offered are not true joint accounts, but just a normal personal account with a supplemental card.

Which neobanks offer joint accounts?

Currently, only two Swiss neobanks offer a joint account:

• Coop Finance Plus: Coop advertises a household account in its marketing for Coop Finance Plus. However, the included private account is really a personal account with just one account holder. The account comes with a supplemental debit card that a second person can use to make payments and withdraw money. Note: Coop has said that it plans to withdraw its partnership with Coop Finance Plus. Whether or not the product will still be offered in the future, and under which name, is not yet known.
• Neon Duo: The joint account from Neon is designed for two people who share the same household. In addition to a personal account and card, each of the two people also receive a second debit card that is linked to the joint account. Money is debited from either the private account or the joint account, depending on which card you use. You can manage both your personal account and the joint account using the Neon app. Neon Duo costs three francs per month and person.
• Zak: You have the option of linking two or more accounts to joint “pots.” But a joint pot is not a joint account, but simply a software feature that lets you set up alerts and track joint costs and loans. All of the people included in a pot can use it to track their spending, which simplifies bookkeeping.

How much do joint accounts cost?

At many banks, the fees are identical to those that apply to private accounts for individuals.

The banks shown in the table below do not charge basic, ongoing account fees for joint accounts – regardless of how large or small your account balance is. However, some banks still charge annual fees for debit cards.

Because most households do not keep very large amounts of money in their joint account, it is important to check whether the fees vary depending on the size of your account balance.

The following table shows the fees for the account and debit cards at banks that have different fees depending on how much money you keep in your account.

* If the account holders share the same address.
¹ With total assets of CHF 25,000 or more, or with a mortgage.
² With total assets of CHF 10,000 or more, or with a mortgage.
³ Fees depend on how frequently you use your cards and your total assets at the bank. The account fee is waived each year in which your total assets exceed 10,000 francs and you make at least 24 card transactions.
⁴ With total assets of CHF 10,000 or more. The account fee is waived if you use certain banking products.

The following table shows banks that have the same basic, ongoing fees for joint accounts regardless of the size of your account balance.

Some banks also offer bank packages for couples and families. The offers shown in the table below are available not just to couples and families, but also to flatmates, for example. Bank packages often include other banking services on top of a joint account, such as credit cards. The discounted account fee is only shown for banks that account for the balances of your personal accounts.

¹ With LLB Invest (or a personal custody account)
² With transactions exceeding CHF 10,000 (including account balances, the value of securities in custody accounts, and the value of loans. Personal business relationships are also accounted for.
³ With total assets of more than CHF 10,000 or a mortgage. Personal business relationships are also accounted for.
⁴ With total assets of more than CHF 15,000 (including personal accounts and securities in custody).

The fees shown are based on online banking. Additional fees may apply to physical documents sent by mail. The fees shown are based on the terms and conditions for adult customers. Offers that only apply to certain age groups or other limited groups of customers are not accounted for.

When does using a joint account make sense?

Using a joint account is beneficial if you live with other people and want to share a bank account to use for household expenses. It is important that you all trust each other, because each account holder has full access to the joint account.

The advantage of using a joint account, compared to other ways of organizing shared expenses, is that it lets you avoid having to review and organize your financial transactions made with separate accounts.

Are there any alternatives to using a joint account?

There are a number of different ways to organize your household spending. Most of these require that you regularly add up expenses and make transfers between accounts (using bank transfers or Twint, for example) to compensate the person or people who spend more than their share.

• One member of the household can pay the rent, another can pay the electric and home Internet bills, and the third can cover the cost of groceries.
• One member of the household covers all shared expenses, and the other members repay their share.
• Household members take turns covering all of the shared expenses for one month.
• You use a household budget app and each person records any spending on shared household expenses in the app.
• One household member subscribes to a credit card and obtains supplemental credit cards for the other members of the household. The disadvantage is that the main cardholder is legally responsible for the repayment of the entire card balance. As with joint accounts, household members can charge other, personal spending to their supplemental credit cards.
• Household members send each other payment requests using Twint whenever they pay for household expenses. This method eliminates the need to keep track of spending and make payments in arrears. But if you make a lot of transactions, it can become very difficult to keep an overview of spending and repayments.
• Neobank apps: One household member opens a neobank account with a linked payment card. One person uses just the neobank card. The other members of the household use mobile payment services like Apple Pay and Google Pay that are linked to the same neobank card. The account balance should be minimal for better security. Here too, trust is important because there is a risk of abuse.    

There are other solutions that make more sense for paying the rent on a rental home. If you do not want to use a joint account, then it is best if each member of the household pays their portion of the rent separately. Ask your landlord if that is possible in your case. Alternatively, one person can pay the rent, and each of the other household members can transfer their share to that person’s bank account.

What is the difference between an “or” joint account and an “and” joint account?

All holders of a joint account have full access to the account. Banks offer two different kinds of joint accounts:

• Or: Joint accounts that are meant for households are usually “or” accounts because that is the most practical arrangement. All holders of an “or” joint account have full, unrestricted access to the account. One holder can withdraw money, make bank transfers, and pay for purchases with a linked debit card without getting permission from the other account holders.
• And: An “and” joint account works differently. Every account holder must consent to each transaction before it can be made. For example, each person will have to consent to a bank transfer (via online banking, for example) before the payment can be made. That arrangement tends to be impractical for everyday household spending.

Nearly all Swiss banks let you choose which model you want to use for your joint account.

How many people can share a joint account?

There are two different models that are commonly used:

• Two people: A maximum of two people can share a household account. But many banks stress that additional account holders can be added on request, in spite of the general rule. Some banks use a business account for simple partnerships if the number of account holders exceeds two people.
• Unlimited: Many banks do not place a specific limit on the maximum number of account holders. But in practice, sharing a joint account between too many account holders can become problematic. For that reason, some banks stress that the number of people who can share a joint account depends on your living arrangement.

The table below shows that limits on account holders at different Swiss banks.

Do account holders have to belong to the same household?

At nearly all Swiss banks that offer joint accounts, there is no requirement to live in the same household in order to open a joint account together. However, as one bank told moneyland.ch, it is important that a plausible relationship between the account holders can be established.

The neobank Neon is an exception to the rule. Both people must live in the same household in order to share a Neon Duo account.

Do all account holders have to be customers of the same bank?

A few Swiss banks will only open a joint account if all of the account holders also have their personal private accounts at the same bank.

At most banks, you do not need to have a personal private account at the same bank in order to open a joint account. But in practice, it can be beneficial if all account holders do use personal private accounts at the same bank. That way, they can access both their personal and joint accounts using the same online banking applications.

How do joint accounts affect my taxes?

When filling out your tax returns, you have to declare your share of the joint account. In the case of a household account that all account holders contribute to equally, that would mean: If there are two account holders, you each declare half of the account balance; if there are three account holders, you each declare one-third of the account balance; if there are four account holders, you each declare one-fourth of the account balance. You have to enter your share of both the returns (interest paid by the bank) as income, and your share of the account balance as wealth.

What are the advantages of joint accounts?

Using a joint account has these advantages:

• You can easily pay all household bills and household shopping from just one bank account.
• You avoid time-consuming bookkeeping.

What are the disadvantages of joint accounts?

Joint accounts also have some disadvantages:

• Using a joint account requires trust because all account holders can access the money in the account.
• There is always a risk that an account holder might misuse the account.

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