Kasparund: new fintech on the market

Banks, Insurances & Third Pillar
1

Just found a new provider: https://www.kasparund.ch/
(Cannot find FR/EN version of it)

I did find some information on MoneyToday (Das Wundertüten-FinTech Kaspar& ist gestartet | MoneyToday).

They offer a bank account (seems be at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, like neon), a debit card and a securities account.

They provide:

  • interbank exchange rates
  • no account fees
  • if invested in securities, all in fee capped at 0.85% p.a., no additional fees
  • your payments will be automatically rounded up and will be transferred to a savings account

What are your toughts? Are you already using it, what are your experience?
Will they be able to cover their costs just with 0.85% p.a.? What kind of investments are available?

2 Likes
2

That sounds super expensive, if it’s a custody fee. E.g. Yuh is much better.

3

All-in-one is what they’re saying:

“Bei uns umfasst die Jahresgebühr alle Kosten, die mit Deinen Anlagen verbunden sind. Flat, ohne Produktkosten oder andere versteckte Dinge.”

If they’re using Index funds and ETFs as their founder claims, these investment funds will most probably have different expensive ratios. That means that Kasper&'s own share must be variable, depending on you investment strategy. That’s anything but “transparent” as he claims in the same interview.

Let’s just say it’s not for me.

With you, a stock/ETF transaction can cost the average investor up to 1.45%: 0.5% for trading + 0.95% FX for currency conversion from CHF to USD (+ hidden fees and taxes). But I’d still rather pay these one-time costs for the low-cost VT ETF available than 0.85% a year.

4

+1

With 130’000 CHF invested, their fee is CHF 1’000 a year. I think I am not the only one here who would an invitation to an apero riche once a year for this price.

On the other hand, if you don’t have a penny, it’s probably as cool as neon to get an account and a Mastercard.

4 Likes
5

I just learned about them today and I kind of like the offer. Not as a broker, too expensive and too limited investment choice.

For me they are the first real Swiss alternative to Neon as a payment card solution for foreign transactions. Since for me Neon is interesting only because of the Mastercard exchange rates, Kaspar& is basically as good as Neon for what I want. The idea with the microinvestments (each payment is rounded up to the next Franc and invested) is a bonus. Instead of getting only Mastercard rates with Neon I get that plus investing a tiny amount regularly on the go. That won’t make a difference, but it’s still more than I get with Neon. Plus they don’t push their woke/green credentials quite as much, which is also nice (they do offer “gender smart” investments, so if you like woke, you can get that with them as well).

So I am seriously considering switching to them. Any experience with them? Or thoughts why I really should try them or shouldn’t?

6

Well, I would say we are proud here when we can misuse a financial product to our benefit, not to the benefit of the company behind it, by using it differently than the company wants us to. From what I see in this case you are right! Indeed you can use this product for foreign currency exchange at Mastercard rates, like neon.

The only drawback is that a cash withdrawal costs 5 CHF.

8

You are both right, @Dr.PI and @Patron

In essence we are the wrong target group. They want to target the 85% of under-40s they say don’t invest and for them it might be a good first step. We already invest and are price-sensitive, so for us their main sales pitch almost by definition won’t work.

Still, there’s room for mutual benefit. They’d earn some money from card transaction fees at least and they are only in the very first stage of growth, i.e. they must worry about having customers at all, and a bit less about making those customers profitable.

As for the rounding up, realistically I won’t increase my investments by 10 or 20 CHF per month or whatever I would invest by rounding up purchases, too much hassle. So those would be on top of what I do anyway, as would be any return I might earn. Again, tiny sums, but still more than I get with Neon. And the 0.85% fee is out of the question for any real investment, but for a few hundred or a few thousand CHF it’s not terrible either.

At the very least there’s a real alternative to Neon for foreign card transactions now. Neon is years ahead in terms of account services (but still not as full-service as say CSX) and has the tree-planting paid tier. Kaspar& offers (micro-)investments.