I’m curious if I could have saved the 5 chf fee at the CS counter at the airport yesterday if I had a CSX account…
Neon has great conditions but I do not want it as my sole banking solution (yet):
- no branches (as mentioned by xerox)
- rather new and a small team (not established - yet)
What I am still trying to understand is the FX rate difference between ZAK and CSX, but I guess we will have to wait and see…
Anyway I will download the app and see how it works (the ZAK app seems a bit unreliable sometimes).
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As far as I understand it, Neon does app development and day-to-day support - but they’re built upon platform and license of Hypothekarbank Lenzburg - a bank that‘s been around for over 150 years.
I don’t need physical branches for day-to-day operations (which is the only thing Neon is offering). At all. Though I do care about banks not being a fly-by-night operation. In this case, the actual bank does have brick and mortar branches. Even though these don’t so that’s one positive indicator.
Also, ZAK being directly operated by a traditional bank doesn’t make it more reliable. In fact, I‘ve experienced the contrary.
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Early access is open. You can download the app and open an account.
Not hundred percent clear how much the personalised IBAN is (free on other banking packages but not on stand-alone accounts, I think. but I opted for one anyway).
Looks and works quite smooth so far, compared to early Neon and Zak.
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I see it’s only free for a very limited scope - e.g. cash withdrawals are being charged for (2 CHF)?
Not really meaningful for a complete switch from a physical bank then, or?
Depending on how often one needs to withdraw cash, of course.
Take the “Premium Black” account then instead the “Basic White”. Premium Black costs CHF 3.95/month, so with the second withdraw within one month you are alredy above break even (and you do not need to put in your card in the ATM anymore, you can withraw money with your smart phone, how cool is that?).
For someone (like me) who is withdrawing money max. 1x per year, the basic product is pretty sufficient. I like the thought of having a - more or less - solid bank in the background. If you need or like to withdraw a bigger amount of cash or want to pay in - there are more then enough CS branches in Switzerland.
Thank you for the hint, @San_Francisco already went through the video ident call. Looks pretty neat!
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Just got the CSX bank account.
Very fast account opening process (10 min max).
I took the Basic White account since I don’t really withdraw any cash.
The app so far looks super clean, it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of services they will offer in the future besides the basic bank account and how they stack up against Neon and Zac.
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Not meaningful at all, since you simply don’t have to withdraw cash more than once a month.
Much less often in fact, were it not to pay the dealers and hookers.
Otherwise, you can basically live cashless, at least in urban Switzerland (I do).
Also, are there any “physical banks” whose accounts are less than 4 CHF/months anyway?
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Migros Bank if you have more than 7500 CHF on your account. With that, you only pay 0.20 CHF for each incoming transfer.
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BCV with > 7k (or something like that).
« BCV Formule directe » for individual is free if you have CHF 10’000.- in your account (checking or saving).
And for couple with a joining account is free if you have CHF 15’000.- (checking or saving).
I’ve recently moved from UBS to BCV for that 
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Hello
Regarding the CSX offer, it is clear that ATM withdrawals with a basic white card are subject to fees.
However, what about the « cardless cash » option? Are fees applied?
Sure, there are offers - but most are conditional (on having a minimum overall balance, which, again, has its opportunity costs).
In the end, I wouldn’t bother too much about paying 3.95 or not for a bank account that one is happy with. After all, it’s such an essential service in life (though you might as well opt for a free one if it fulfills your needs).
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Can’t have an account if you not have Google Play Service
So a no go for me with smartphone free of google apps.
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No problem. You can use App Store instead.
FKB/BCF is free, a maestro card costs 30 chf per year. No minimum.
I also opened a CSX account. This seams to be pretty good offer:
Pro:
- Completly free option including Debit Mastercard with no minimum CHF deposit requirement
- You get the fully fledged Credit Suisse account. Including Credit Suisse App, Credit Suisse Twint, eBill and the Online Banking. With Neon, Zak etc. you only get a Mobile Phone client, which for many is not enough.
- In case you have problems you can even call the Credit Suisse hotline or go on-site, it’s not just chat / e-mail as with other competitors
- Also you can easily request additional products like 3a, trading account, lombard credit, mortgage etc. (but they are overpriced and I guess not really interesting for us Mustachians)
Con:
- No free cash withdrawals on free tier: This is a major issue that really should get fixed. At least 1x cash withdrawal at Credit Suisse should be allowed. There is an easy workaround to fix this (see below) that’s why it doesn’t make any sense to not include this. IMHO this is also the main reason why most people will not signup for CSX. Cash is still needed in CH sometimes.
- No Maestro Card, I still have a lot of use cases where I get charged extra if I want to pay with a Visa/Mastercard. From Dentist Office, to Kebab stand, Clubs, Wine fairs to farmer stores. They ask for Maestro or Postfinance to not charge you a few % on top and the CS Debit Card is considered a Visa/Mastercard even though it’s debit. Of course this practice has no future because Maestro will go away, but for now this is a Major issue. But will also affect “normal” CS customers, as they will switch all Maestro cards to debit cards.
- While they advertise no foreign fx fees, you still get shitty exchange rates. So not really an option for paying anything else than CHF. But most people already use other products out of country anyway.
How to get free cash withdrawals with CSX White (free tier):
If you want to withdraw cash for free with CSX there is any easy workaround: After signing up there is the option to get an additional free savings account, when requesting the savings account you can also ask for a free “cash card” for this account. You will be able to do 12x free cash withdrawals a year at any Credit Suisse ATM with this card / account.
If anyone from CSX team reads this: You should really allow a limited amount of cash withdrawals from CS ATMs with the White Debit Mastercard if you want this product to find broad adoption. The Black Card should also allow at least 1x withdrawal per month at any ATM in Switzerland if you seriously want someone to consider this tier.
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One cash withdrawal costs 2 CHF. I can’t even get a glass of mineral water in a restaurant for that.
I doubt that’s an amount that prevents anyone from competing with something cheaper for an essential service. It’s the same with mobile phone contracts: Price differences for “normal use” between different carriers and plans can vary by way more than 2 CHF a month. And still it hasn’t put the more expensive carriers out of business. Carriers are even selling plans at 50% discounts as promotional offers (e.g. Sunrise at the moment) - and I guarantee you, they’ll be selling that same plan for 80 CHF/month in quantities later that they’re currently selling at half that.
As for Credit Suisse, I sincerely doubt that they share your assessment of being unable to compete (at all) unless dropping fees for that one withdrawal.
Let’s get real here. We’re talking about the grand amount of 2 CHF a month here.
People have been known to spend more than that just to get a cool(er) looking card alone.
I see people use their Swiss brick&mortar bank card with foreign currency fees and sub-optimal exchange rates all the time in stores in Germany. And/or Cash, often CHF cash. Clearly many aren’t too worried about one or two percentage points in foreign currency costs.
It’s not even allowed anymore, since the Competition Commission has rules that Mastercard and Visa are allowed to enforce their no-surcharge rules in Switzerland. As such, you are entitled to a refund if you get charged anyway. Few merchants do anymore.
The people that don’t care which you are talking about already have an overpriced Bonviva package.
Yeah I’m pretty sure they don’t share my assessment. 
The target audience either cares or if they don’t really care about the CHF 2, but rather that there is a fee at all. Otherwise why would they need to introduce CSX if people “don’t care” about a few francs. There already is Bonviva for just a few francs, that includes everything.
Yes you are correct, what I meant was that most people here in this forum already use alternative products.
That’s correct. Nevertheless I encounter situations like this each month on a regular basis. And I’m not gone teach each vendor the rules or go true lengthy chargeback processes so I can pay with my Visa/mastercard, as long as I can just grab my Maestro.
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By App Store you mean Apple ?
If I want freedom from Google it’s not to go directly in jail with Apple.
I’m free and want to stay free