The annual interest rates of Swiss savings accounts have fallen in January 2025, compared to 2024. The unweighted average interest rate across franc-denominated savings accounts for adults is now just 0.35 percent. That is down from 0.8 percent at the end of 2023, and 0.5 percent at the end of 2024.
“That is not good news for savers,” says Benjamin Manz, managing director at moneyland.ch. “We can expect to see savings interest rates fall even further over the course of this year.”
These are the savings accounts with the highest interest rates
There are still banks with interest rates that are far higher than the average. Smaller banks, in particular, tend to stand out from the crowd. For example, the Compte Epargne Plus offered by the Caisse d’Epargne d’Aubonne currently has an interest rate of 1 percent per annum. The Sparkonto Plus 12 Monate from the Spar- und Leihkasse Frutigen has an interest rate of 0.9 percent per annum.
The Compte Epargne Top from the Clientis Caisse d’Epargne Courtelary and the Anlagesparkonto from the Glarner Regionalbank both have interest rates of 0.8 percent per annum. The Beteiligungssparkonto from Bank Wir and the Steinbockkonto Plus account from BSU both have interest rates of 0.75 percent per annum.
These are the highest-interest savings accounts for teenagers and young adults
The interest rates of franc-denominated youth savings accounts have also sunk in recent months. The current average interest rate across all youth savings accounts is 0.71 percent per annum. That is more than 0.35 percentage points higher than the average across savings accounts for adults.
The banks with the highest-yield youth savings accounts are currently the Caisse d’Epargne d’Aubonne, the Basler Kantonalbank, the Banca Popolare di Sondrio, the AEK Bank, the Spar- und Leihkasse Wynigen, the Leihkasse Stammheim, and the Spar- und Leihkasse Bucheggberg. All of these banks have youth accounts with interest rates of 1 percent per annum.
Savings accounts in euros and US dollars
The interest rates of Swiss savings accounts denominated by the euro and US dollar are somewhat higher than those of franc-denominated accounts. The average interest rate across euro-denominated savings accounts is 0.7 percent per annum. The highest-yield euro-denominated account is currently the Euro-Sparkonto Kontomat from the Glarner Kantonalbank, which has an interest rate of 2.5 percent per annum. The average interest rate across dollar-denominated accounts is 1.25 percent per annum. The current highest-yield Swiss dollar-denominated account is the Sparkonto Save Easy from Swissquote, which has an interest rate of 1.75 percent per annum. Be aware that holding money in foreign currencies can create a currency-exchange risk.
What should savers do?
If you want to hold assets in savings accounts, it is important to compare offers. While average savings interest rates are low, there are still big differences between different savings account offers. On the whole, though, we will likely see interest rates continue to sink. In addition to the Swiss National Bank’s key interest rate, the strategic planning of individual commercial banks also plays a role.
The interest rates of pillar 3a savings accounts are somewhat higher, with an average rate of 0.6 percent per annum. But assets placed in the pillar 3a are held in trust until five years before retirement age, and can only be withdrawn in exceptional cases.
There are also fixed deposit accounts and medium-term notes with certain fixed deposit terms that have higher interest rates than regular savings accounts. However, your money is blocked until the end of the deposit term.
Over the long term, a well-diversified stock portfolio (a global stock ETF, for example) can potentially yield a much higher return than a savings account. However, the risk is also higher, as it is possible for the investment to lose value – at least in the short term.
You can compare interest rates using the interactive Swiss savings account comparison on moneyland.ch.
Methodology
In January 2025, moneyland.ch analyzed all of the savings accounts included in its savings account comparison. The arithmetic average (unweighted across all offers) was used to calculate average interest rates. Only the standard interest rate for assets below the first interest threshold were accounted for in the analysis. Most savings accounts only apply the standard interest rate to the portion of savings that falls below a certain threshold.
