I agree that the only attractive thing (from a buyer perspective) would be the client base and app. Raiffeisen and ZKB could be potential buyers, maybe also Radicant. Maybe it would also be attractive because the client base (my assumption) consists of younger people, so potential for mortgages, 3a and investments. Would be interesting to know the current revenue per client.
If we are being fair, I believe if NEON didn’t exist, maybe we would not have got Yuh and eventually we wouldn’t have got ZKB to offer free accounts and lastly forcing UBS to do the same
In a way, Neon is successful in doing what it wanted to do. It brought low cost banking to Switzerland. But I think the challenges are coming because they mainly deal with invest & bank side of things and not the mortgage/business credit side of things which are big revenue generators for a typical bank.
Maybe they can survive with investments offering for folks who like life strategy type of approach.
8 Likes
Neon = Tesla of the banking industry?
2 Likes
Swiss Banking …. But there is a bit of difference. Tesla ended up creating a new set of players who might end up being dominant players globally and replacing the legacy carmakers.
In banking the legacy seems to catch up fast enough in most markets
2 Likes
How much time until the TWINT payment arrives to the Neon account?
TWINT already shows the money received, the Neon account is still the “old” amount from 10 minutes ago… 
[EDIT: 1hr past and the money is still not there… grrrr]
Oh wow so paying with Neon Free will now incur a 0.35% fee.
Can we still use the card abroad??
I guess it’s back to Revolut for abroad payments?
1 Like
To be fair: 0.35% on for example CHF 1k is only CHF 3.50. The fee is small. But of course, there are alternatives. Like Revolut (probably not on weekend), Radicant etc. But Neon is more than just a payment card. You also have a real IBAN.
How much time until the TWINT payment arrives to the Neon account?
In my experience it’s not at all instantaneous. You need to wait 1 working day to see the amount in your Bank account.
I guess it’s back to Revolut for abroad payments?
No, use Radicant.
If the TWINT app says the money’s been received, why is it relevant how long it takes until it actually arrives on the bank account?
Because stereotypical Mustachians have no money lying around and therefore no cash buffer 
But the criticism is also valid, other banks manage it in real time.
1 Like
Use Radicant, CH IBAN and own Twint app, best FX, virtual card.
1 Like
Funnily enough.. I’ve already spent more than 500chf in foreign currencies this month, just after the new fee started. I did that because at the end of the day it was easier.
I might stop doing it if the SBB error is still there…
Revolut just started to give out free CH IBANs as well.
Because I wanted to pay for a trip with my Neon card, in EUR, to avoid being ripped off on Booking.com or Paypal currency conversion. So the idea was that the wifey TWINTs the amount to our household Neon account and then I pay with the Neon card online.
Could only do it this morning, which was frustrating.
1 Like
You mean that booking.com rip you or you talk about CC tricks? I almost always check prices by using google.com exchange rate and the difference is laughable. (0.1%?) usually in favor of chf.
Not (yet). I migrated last week, the reference is still necessary.
both 
Booking.com said last time I booked around 900 CHF that “we have converted the currency to your home currency CHF for a convenience fee of 15 CHF” or such. Well, eff you.
If I pay in EUR with my regular Cembra card it’s also about that much ripoff (1.5% conversion fee plus horrible exchange rate). PayPal the same (even worse exchange rate).
I activated yesterday, the IBAN is CH93 XXXX XXXX 6102 7, apparently with Postfinance, but yes, you still need a reference. Does that mean that this Swiss IBAN is also just a collector IBAN? Well, that’s pretty useless then
they call is vIBAN or Virtual Iban. Seems like a new thing to offer.
For practical purposes you should assume your liability is covered by Lithuanian bank terms.
What I saw is booking shows you “indicative price” when you look through offers, but when you start to book, they show the actual price you are going to pay in CHF, and there are couple of % markup included.
2 Likes