Executive summary:
Much ado about nothing
I’ve just received (once more, way too short notice, but ok) a letter that the e-trading fees are changing on 1 January 2024.
Yearly fee:
Old: 90 CHF paid yearly in advance on 1 January
New: 4x18= 72 CHF paid every quarter
- Fees can still be used as trading credit
- However, that means you can only have one free 18 CHF trade per quarter, not one time 72 CHF.
New trading fees:
Order size Old (SIX) New (SIX)
500 Fr. 15 Fr. 6 Fr.
1000 Fr. 15 Fr. 12 Fr
5000 Fr. 25 Fr. 20 Fr.
10000 Fr. 35 Fr. 30 Fr.
Apparently, also an automatic plan for ETFs is coming.
Obviously it seems geared to generate more trades.
I was used to do one trade per year, more or less compensating the yearly fee.
(Lets say, one buy of 15K for 70 Fr)
This plan means that I would have to
- make 4 trades per year, but they can be at max 4 x 1000 Fr to keep within the free zone.
- or do 4 x 5000 Fr, but it would cost me 8 Fr. (80 Fr. in total per year).
Conclusion:
- makes no sense for me.
- I save 10 Fr but things are getting more complicated.
If it could be automated it could be of limited value, but they have not communicated the fees for automatic investments yet… 
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I have just checked my e-banking and could not see this update of the fees also google did not give me any hits.
Very curious of this change even if it seems to be minimal. Could it be that the trading credit can be accumulated over the quarters and hence continue with 1-2 bigger trades a year to use almost all of the trading credit or do they need to be used also on a quarterly pace?
FYI, I got the notification with paper mail.
It explicitly states the trading credit will reset end of each quarter.
I also got the information per paper mail.
Thanks for the follow up. I have not received it yet but I assume it’s impacting all of us.
With the limitation of the trading credit per quarter it’s not really perfect and is obviously intended to get more trades done.
I think for me it’s still not a deal breaker for Postfinance as second broker beside IB, but just another step in the wrong direction after the change with the free withdrawn abroad that they used to have included in the banking package.
I’m particularly not fond of the price increase for the second custody account from CHF30 to CHF 72, as we are impacted by that with our setup. Otherwise I’m pretty agnostic as this is our secondary broker.
I’ve also read an announcement yesterday that Postfinance is partnering up with Xtrackers for their upcoming ETF savings plans. It’s good that these savings plans are becoming more mainstream in Switzerland, due to competition increasing.
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I’m surprised. Xtrackers is not even the worst possibility, did they make a mistake?
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Quick question for those trading with PF, is order size the number of shares, or the total value?
(I’m trying to compute the cutoff where it makes sense to trade on PF vs wire the money to IBKR given that a USD transfer seems to costs 12 USD)
Hmm weird, in E-Trading: Online-Trading eröffnen | PostFinance they say:
Sie profitieren von attraktiven Courtagen. Wertschriften mit Volumen bis CHF 500.– handeln Sie bereits ab CHF 6.– an der SIX.
Which would imply that it’s CHF-based volume instead of shares? Is it an error on the website?
(and actually just checked the pdf with conditions and it says “Wärhung”)
Are you sure it’s number of shares?
Negative, its amount not number of shares
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I just opened it, there’s a field for # of shares you want to buy, limit/market etc order type, how much buying power you have, you click prepare order and it tells you how much it costs. What I do is simply pre-select the number of shares most closely matching my buying power.
Right answer to wrong question. The fee structure is applied based on the transaction‘s value (PxQ), prior to fees and taxes.
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Yes, that’s indeed like that and it’s crystal clear from the fee structure so that’s not how I understood the question, hence my response which was what you see when you want to put an order in.
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You can choose either number of shares or amount when entering the order. The fees are based on the order value.