Neobanks for Foreigners & Cross-Border Workers in Switzerland in October 2024

Philippe

October 16, 2024

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How to choose a bank as a cross-border worker from Switzerland?
Neobanks for cross-border commuters and non-residents
Comparative table for 1’000 CHF in EUR
Yuh vs Revolut vs Yapeal: Comparison
Yuh vs Revolut vs Yapeal: Fee differences
Yuh vs Revolut vs Yapeal: Fee Simulation
Yuh + Revolut Premium: The cheapest solution!

How to choose a bank as a cross-border worker from Switzerland?

If you are a cross-border worker in Switzerland and your current expenses take place in France, then it is best to have a bank account on each side of the border: an account in CHF in Switzerland to collect your wages and another account in EUR in France to pay your bills!

Each month, you must repatriate your salary to your French account, this involves a transfer of money and a conversion of Swiss francs into euros. And it’s usually not free.

As a French resident it is easy to open an account in France and – if you are a French resident – you certainly already have one, but how to get a free bank account in Switzerland with an IBAN CH?

The first reflex is often to go to traditional banks in Switzerland such as UBS, BCGE or Crédit Mutuel, but these banks charge very often additional fees to non-residents and are not very transparent about exchange fees.

To find out how much your bank account will cost you, you need to compare all the fees:

Account maintenance fees;
Fees applied to products (credit card, internet access, etc.);
Commission fees for transfers abroad;
The exchange rate commission;
Cash withdrawal fees
Additional costs related to your non-resident status.

By then simulating your banking operations over the whole year, you will have a more precise idea of the total cost.

Beyond the fees, it is important to have a Swiss bank account that works perfectly in the Swiss ecosystem: the TWINT and eBill options should be considered.

To sum up, the perfect bank for cross-border commuters Switzerland must meet the following conditions:

Bank account in CHF	✅
IBAN CH	✅
No account fees	✅
Free Internet or Mobile application	✅
Free credit card	✅
Free withdrawals in CHF	✅
Free EUR withdrawals abroad	✅
No fees on deposits in CHF	✅
0% exchange commission	✅
No fees on SEPA transfers in EUR	✅
No fees on international transfers	✅
No additional charge for non-residents	✅
TWINT	✅
eBill	✅

You can consult the list of SEPA countries here.

Neobanks for cross-border commuters and non-residents

If you are not very familiar with neobanks, you can consult our article explaining in detail the advantages and disadvantages of neobanks.

Here is a reminder of the main advantages and disadvantages of neobanks:

PROS:

Easy registration, from your smartphone
Attractive rates: free account, free credit card
No proof of income required
No deposit required after account opening
Fully accessible from your smartphone
Notifications for each expense or money inflow

CONS:

No agency (for those who need it)
No dedicated advisor
A more limited banking offer
Seems less “secure” than the big banks

In our comparison of the best online banks in Switzerland we list 8 neobanks active in Switzerland:

RANKING	NEOBANK	TOTAL
#1	Yuh	21 points
#2	Neon Bank	19 points
#3	Alpian	17 points
#4	Radicant	16 points
#5	Zak Bank	15 points
#6	CSX	13 points
#7	Revolut	13 points
#9	N26	12 points
#8	Wise	11 points
#10	Yapeal	11 points

Neon, Zakand CSX do not open accounts for cross-border commuters and non-residents, N26 offers an account only in EUR, Wise is an exchange platform without the services of a neobank.

We therefore have 3 neobanks left open to cross-border commuters and non-residents:

Revolut: a neobank based in London, with multi-currency account
Yapeal: a Swiss bank account that has a partnership with Wise and also open to cross-border commuters
Yuh: a multi-currency Swiss bank account open to cross-border commuters

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Yapeal: the alternative to Yuh for cross-border workers and non-residents!

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Use the promo code YAPS311WZ4WL by October 31, 2024 to receive 30 CHF for FREE 🙌

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Comparative table for 1’000 CHF in EUR

Revolut arrived 1st in our ranking of the best exchange rates in our article “How to Change your Swiss Francs to Euro at the Best Rate?” and Yuh was more expensive than Revolut by almost 1%:

	CHF	EUR	Exchange Rate	Exchange Fee	Net Exchange Rate	Difference / best rate in EUR	Difference / best rate in %
Revolut	1000	924.12	0.9241	-	0.92412
Wise	1000	919.65	0.9240	4.76 CHF	0.91965	4.47	0.48%
CurrencyFair	1000	919.40	0.9194	-	0.9194	4.72	0.51%
Neon avec Wise	1000	915.50	0.9235	8.74 CHF	0.9155	8.62	0.93%
Yuh	1000	915.01	0.9150	-	0.91501	9.11	0.98%
b-sharpe	1000	914.35	0.9189	5 CHF	0.91435	9.77	1.06%

Yuh vs Revolut vs Yapeal: Comparison

Revolut, Yuh and Yapeal all offer bank accounts in CHF, managed from a free mobile application and at no additional cost for non-residents.

	Revolut	Yuh	Yapeal
CHF bank account	✅	✅	✅
Personal IBAN CH	❌	✅	✅
Free bank account	✅	✅	❌
Mobile application	✅	✅	✅
Free debit card	❌	✅	❌
Free withdrawals in CHF	✅	✅	❌
Free withdrawals in EUR, overseas	✅	❌	❌
Free CHF deposits	✅	✅	✅
0% exchange fee	✅	❌	❌
Free SEPA transfers in EUR	✅	✅	❌
Free international wire transfer	❌	❌	❌
No extra fee for non-residents	✅	✅	✅
TWINT	❌	✅	❌
eBill	❌	✅	✅

Yuh is the only neobank to offer eBill and TWINT.

Yapeal Promo Code: YAPS-311-WZ4WL

Yuh vs Revolut vs Yapeal: Fee differences

Now let’s compare the fee differences between Yuh, Revolut and Yapeal:

	Revolut	Yuh	Yapeal
Personal CH IBAN	❌ CH IBAN hosted by Crédit Suisse not in your name). French resident get an FR IBAN	✅	✅
Free bank account	✅	✅	❌ The paid plan at 4.90 CHF/m. is required to make transfers
Free debit card	❌ 5.99 CHF delivery fee	✅	❌ 7.00 CHF delivery fee
Free withdrawals in CHF	✅ 200 CHF/m., 5 max., then 2%	✅ 1 free per week, then 1.90 CHF each	❌ 2.00 CHF each
Free withdrawals in EUR, overseas	✅ 200 CHF/m., 5 max., then 2%	❌ 4.90 CHF each	❌ 1.50%
0% exchange fee in EUR	✅ 0% up tp 1000 CHF/m., monday to friday, then 0.50%	❌ 0.95% fee	❌ 0,75 – 1,65% fee
Free SEPA transfers in EUR	✅	✅	❌ 0,75 – 1,65% fee
Free international wire transfer	❌ 0% in SEPA zone, >0.30% outside SEPA	❌ 4.00 CHF each	❌ 0,75 – 1,65% fee

For Switzerland Revolut does not offer a personal CH IBAN and for France you will have a FR IBAN. Iwill need to use Revolut with Yuh or Yapeal for a complete solution.

Yuh vs Revolut vs Yapeal: Fee Simulation

Tests carried out with the exchange rates of September 2, 2022.

In this simulation we consider a salary of 5,000 CHF/month, converted and transferred each month to an account in EUR in France. We also add 1 withdrawal of 50 CHF per week for small expenses in Switzerland.

For the Yapeal+Revolut solution, the 5,000 CHF are converted into EUR and transferred to Revolut 1x/month, and finally transferred by SEPA transfer to an account in France. The transfer from Yapeal to Revolut is operated by Wise and includes all fees (exchange and transfer).

For the Yuh+Revolut solution, the 5,000 CHF are transferred to Revolut 1x/month, then converted into EUR at Revolut and finally transferred by SEPA transfer to an account in France. The transfer from Yuh to Revolut is an international transfer because Revolut’s IBAN is in France.

Annual fees	Yuh	Yapeal	Yuh+Revolut	Yapeal+Revolut
Maintenance fee	0.00 CHF	58.80 CHF (4.90 CHF/m.)	0.00 CHF	58.80 CHF (4.90 CHF/m.)
Debit card	0.00 CHF	7.00 CHF (delivery 1x)	7+5.99 CHF (delivery 1x)	7+5.99 CHF (delivery 1x)
Cost for 5,000 CHF	5,087.63 EUR	5,099.50 EUR	5,114.94 EUR	5,114.94 EUR
Fee for 12 x 5,000 CHF in EUR	12 x 46.57 CHF	12 x 37.50 CHF	12 x 19.26 CHF	12 x 19.26 CHF
Transfer fee	0.00 CHF	N/A	12 x 4.00 CHF	0.00 CHF
1 withdrawal of 50 CHF/week	0.00 CHF	96.00 CHF	0.00 CHF	0.00 CHF
TOTAL	558.84 CHF	611.80 CHF	292.11 CHF	302.91 CHF

So we see that the Yuh+Revolut and Yapeal+Revolut solutions are the least expensive and can save you up to at 300 CHF/year.

Yuh + Revolut Premium: The cheapest solution!

From 2,500 CHF/month, it is recommended to combine a Yuh account with a Revolut Premium plan:

7.99 EUR/month, i.e. 95.88 EUR/year
0% exchange fee, instead of 0.50%
debit card free delivery
withdrawal limit of 400 EUR/month instead of 200 with Revolut
+1 CHF withdrawal per week, limited to 10,000 CHF/month with Yuh

Combined with Yuh, this will be the cheapest solution and your annual costs will be less than CHF 150/year.

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