Swiss Online Bank Account
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Online Swiss Bank Account
 

Current account for non-resident clients. This is a small and relatively young bank, but a Swiss bank fully regulated by the Swiss Banking Commission with excellent online banking services and physical branches. Please consider that this account differs from all of our other accounts in the sense that it is not opened with a large and long-established bank.

We can also open this account in the name of an offshore company for an extra fee of 500 Swiss francs (equivalent to $447 or EUR 305 or £218) and the same every year. We have exact specifications for the documents needed to open the account and we need to have a clear and detailed understanding of the company's ultimate beneficial owners and its business activities.

  • Low minimum balance
  • Great online banking
  • Lots of investments accessible online
  • You can use it as a current account

    About the bank | Minimum balance | Setup mode | Internet banking | Mail retaining
    Credit cards | Investments | Banking charges and expenses | Account officer language | Available currencies

    The set-up fee for this account is 899.00 Swiss francs (equivalent to $804 or EUR 549 or £392). This one-time fee is fully refundable if the bank rejects your application.


  •  About the bank
     20-year-old Swiss bank with brick-and-mortar branches in Geneva and Lugano.
     
     Minimum balance
     

    The bank expects you to deposit at least 30,000 Swiss francs (equivalent to $27,000 or EUR 18,000 or £13,000) within a month of opening the account and maintain this balance for as long as you keep the account. You do not need to make a deposit the day you open the account but it's a good idea.

    Contrary to all our other accounts, you can use this account as a current account to receive and send money as long as:

    1. You always maintain the minimum balance on the account
    2. You can give a detailed explanation of the nature of your business and general economic background before opening the account
    3. You can provide, if requested by the bank, documents to explain the nature of a specific transaction and show that it is not breaking any Swiss law

    We reserve the right to turn down applications to open the account if we cannot get a clear understanding of the nature of your business and future use of this account.

    The amount considered for the minimum balance is not just the cash but the total of all invested assets on your account, including any bonds, stocks, precious metal or mutual funds.

     
     Setup mode
     

    You can open this account by mail or in person.

    If you open by mail, you can deposit money and wire money to another account opened in your name at any bank in the world, but to receive a bank card, credit card or transfer money to third parties, you will need to come and visit the bank in Switzerland at least once. The documents needed are an apostilled photocopy of your passport, a utility bill to prove your address and detailed documents about your economic background and the origin of the money. Start and order your account right now.

    If you open in person, you can receive a bank card as soon as there is money on your account and can make bank transfers anywhere. The documents are the same (utility bill and documents about the economic origin of the funds) but you don't need an apostille - just your passport will do. You need to take an appointment - contact us today to set up a meeting.

     
    Minimum balanceSetup modeCountry of residence
    In personBy mail
    CHF30,000
    US$27,000
    €18,000
    £13,000
    OKNOAlgery, Egypt, Sudan, Zimbabwe.
    CHF30,000
    US$27,000
    €18,000
    £13,000
    OKOKRest of the world
    NONONOIf you are a citizen of one of the following countries you cannot open this account: 
    Afghanistan, Colombia, Congo-Kinshasa, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Syria, USA.
     
     Internet banking
     

    Powerful online banking system in English, French and Italian. The system uses military-grade encryption with a small electronic device that generates a new number every 20 seconds.

     
     Mail retaining
     

    You can ask the bank to keep all bank mail for 100 Swiss francs a year (equivalent to $89, EUR 61 or £44). To read your mail, you can either ask the bank to send it to a specific address several times a year, or come and read it in person.

     
     Credit cards
     

    You can have two different bank cards with this account, provided you have enough money on your account:

    Swiss Travel Cash Card Recommended
    A 100% Swiss electronic version of the Travellers Cheque, you prepay this card with up to €10,000, US $10,000 or 10,000 Swiss francs and then use it to withdraw cash at over 1 million money dispenser (ATMs) across the world using the Maestro network. This card is infinitely more confidential than credit cards or the Maestro ATM card it replaced. There is just no relation between your account and the card. The card is issued by a Swiss company. No annual cost - you pay 1% of whatever amount you load into the cards and nothing more. You can log on to the Internet to check your balance and where the money was spent. Cost to withdraw cash at ATMs outside Switzerland is 5 Swiss francs per withdrawal (equivalent to $4.47 or EUR 3.05 or £2.18).

    International Visa and Mastercard credit cards
    These cards are accepted all over the world. Your credit limit is calculated daily as half the balance on your account. All cards are denominated in Swiss francs but work worldwide. Annual costs for an entry level card (Swiss franc silver Mastercard) cost 200 Swiss francs a year (equivalent to $179 or EUR 122 or £87).

    Please consider that if you order a credit card linked to your Swiss account, we cannot guarantee fully confidentiality. It is relatively easy for many people outside Switzerland to determine that a credit card in linked to a Swiss account. Credit cards transactions go through US processing centers and are not protected by Swiss bank secrecy. Clients want to hear that credit cards provide a quick, secure and fully confidential way to access funds in a Swiss account. They do not.

     
     Investments
     You can make your money grow with fixed-term deposits in all major currencies, with guaranteed interest rates. You can also buy any bonds, shares or funds traded on a major stock market. You can also do forex and futures investments entirely online.
     
     Banking charges and expenses
     

    Depositing money by bank transfer or in cash is free. Withdrawing in cash at the counter costs between 0.15% and 0.75% depending on the amount and the currency).

    Bank transfers out of your account, if ordered online, costs 0.035 % of the sum for transfers sent to a bank in the EU with a CHF 15 minimum (equivalent to $13 or EUR 9.15 or £6.54) , and 0.05% of the sum with a CHF 25 minimum (equivalent to $22 or EUR 15 or £11) for the rest of the world.

    Depositing cheques costs between CHF 60 (equivalent to $54 or EUR 37 or £26) for EU cheques and CHF 100 (equivalent to $89 or EUR 61 or £44) for the rest of the world.

     
     Account officer language
      - French
    - English
    - German
    - Italian
    - Spanish
    - Russian
     
     Available currencies
      Any currency
     
     Set-up fee
     The one-time setup fee to open this account is 899.00 Swiss Francs (equivalent to $804 or EUR 549 or £392).
      
       
     

    The information contained in this website is not meant to substitute qualified legal advice given by a specialist knowing your particular situation. We can accept no responsibility for the consequences of decisions made following information found on this website. Micheloud & Cie is not a bank and neither sollicits nor accepts deposits. Currency conversion and interest rates provided on this website are listed for informational purpose only and may not be up-to-date. More >>

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