Closing Swissquote account

Hi Swiss friends!

I’m not a Swiss citizen or resident, but I want to open an account at Swissquote (completely online). I’m worried that they make it easy to open an account, but if I’ll want to close it, they will charge me excessive fees, or even worse, force me to come physically to Switzerland.

I found this old thread, but the answer is from 2014. Their website doesn’t say anything about it, and I emailed their support (and will update this thread when they respond), but wanted to get first hand experiences.

Does anyone know what’s the procedure for closing an account, and if it costs anything?

Regards

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That probably not, but a registered mail might be needed.

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As far as I know without actually testing myself, if you have no holdings in Swissquote securities account, you pay 0 custody fees. So closing might be unnecessary.

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I’ve closed my account last year. First I sold my positions and transferred the major part of the cash. Then I contacted SQ via hotline/chat to ask clarifications for the closure process.
Basically you shall submit the closure request via the chat while logged into your account. If the remaining amount to be transferred is < 20k CHF (which was my case) no additional steps needed otherwise they said you need to write a letter (didn’t specify if registered or simple). No special fees involved.
No need to show up in my case but I’m living in CH (don’t know if and under which conditions they might request it).
Regarding custody fees, there was this minimum of 15 CHF for trimester but I don’t remember if they apply it in case you have no securities because I asked the closure only a few days after having sold my remaining securities.

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Many thanks @weirded for the very useful response!
For others who may find this useful, here is what Swissquote support said:

If you would like to close the account, please send us a signed letter including the closing instructions to the following address or send it over our contact form once login:

Swissquote Bank Ltd

Ch. de la Crétaux 33

Case Postale 319

CH-1196 Gland

Switzerland

As soon as we receive your payment and delivery instructions for your liquid assets and securities, we will close your account and send you the closing documents.

Just a note for those who had XRP in December 12 2020 on SQ… wait for the spark airdrop before closing.

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Don’t close before July if you had XRP on Dec 12 2020