WIR Bank TOP package

Banks, Insurances & Third Pillar
204

Thanks both, will try out the debitX+ App and also change the default PIN on the debit card, so I can start using it. I don’t think would be using it for online shopping, credit cards are generally more safer as you can still get the credit refunded if anything goes wrong. I will most likely choose to receive notification as Push messages in their App (this notification setting is available via their e-banking). When you are abroad everyone generally has WiFi as data plans are cheap, but SMS are not included in a data plan, so better for me are Push messages / notifications from the App and emails.

Reason why I need to go with the Anteilschein route is because my employer has an agreement with one bank, so my salary is only deposited into that bank and cannot be changed. Although I can setup a standing order to transfer money to Bank WIR every month, but I want my salary account to be the one my employer has an agreement with, as I get some additional benefits there. Bank WIR account would be mainly for buying things in non-CHF currency but also can be used on a daily regular purpose in addition to my other debit card. Would not be putting much money in here, not more than a few thousand, but would be topping it up regularly time to time when balance gets too less.

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Wir has the best fx rate of any Swiss debit or credit card, so it might make sense using it for online purchases. I had an issue with another debit card (Neon) and a wrong transaction. Yes, I paid the money already, but got it refunded without any problems.

Of course, push is safer and more convenient. Just a side note: receiving SMS is free in any plan or prepaid.

As mentioned, I am not meeting their minimum criteria and I don’t have an Anteilsschein. So you might want to wait getting the Anteilsschein until they really start enforcing these minimum requirements.

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This is the first time I’ve heard of that. In what industry do they do something like that?

207

Is that even legal?

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A few comments up you can see that I did not even get the Bankpaket top but still get the FX rates displayed in Google finance so I would not bother and just leave the account as is.

Propably not but who wants to go into a legal battle with an (new) employer over the receiving account of the salary? I’ve seen it with banks, insurances and even an industrial one.

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Apparently yes:

Eine Vereinbarung über die Lohnzahlung an ein bankinternes Konto verstösst nicht gegen das Truckverbot und ist deshalb zulässig. Weigert sich der Angestellte, die Vereinbarung zu unterzeichnen, kann die Bank diese Modalität der Lohnzahlung auch gestützt auf das Weisungsrecht durchsetzen.

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Well it’s one thing if a bank requires their employees, who may have access to insider information, to have their accounts with said bank, but @awyeah doesn’t work at a bank, just that their employer partners with one. But maybe they work in finance and the same reasons apply.

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AFAIK bank employees don’t have to disclose current or savings accounts with other banks, only custody or brokerage accounts, which they may need to close to trade exclusively with their employer.

Salaries are usually paid into accounts at their own bank for simplicity and efficiency, and since these accounts are typically free for employees, it’s generally not an issue.

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It’s probably not what you want, but if you just have a standing order to WIR of the amount of your salary on the day after payday, wouldnt that classify as “getting salary on the WIR account”?

I doubt that they have more stringent “salary” checks that go beyond “xyz amount every month”?

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Well when I had a scholarship in a Swiss University back like 10-15 years ago, while I was studying and used to get generous stipend from that scholarship, and my institution told me I need to open a PostFinance account for them to deposit my stipend there, scholarship stipend is different from an actual job. Well if you are working in a bank or in the financial sector, I am working in fintech yes, then I guess if your fintech has a partnership with some banks (e.g., take for instance Neon employees having free accounts with Lenzburg bank that grant them some additional benefits for free), then it makes sense to go with your employer’s choice of bank. Its not legal I think but there are cases and I think you can work around it in most cases if you can convince HR or the Payroll department.

gaijin: Sure in this case I will wait and not apply for the Anteilschein, as you mentioned you are in the same situation as me, not meeting the minimum criteria. Maybe they have not enforced it yet, but I don’t know if they start enforcing it, could be that people who don’t meet the criteria will need to pay some account fees monthly/yearly and not sure how much that would be. Seems like they are more anxious on getting customers at the moment. I will try to use the debit card regularly like a few times per week so they see transactions happening and money flowing (going out and deposits coming in), meaning its actively used. I assume even if you are not depositing 1500 CHF monthly and don’t meet any of the 3-4 criteria mentioned (incl. Anteilschein), but you are still using it as probably your main or second debit card with very regular frequent CHF purchases and often non-CHF purchases, so they would know its a very active account and not idle, and not used for travelling purposes only. I personally think if you show to them you are not solely using it for the purpose of travelling (using it only a few times a year) and you also are doing very frequent and regular CHF purchases locally, then I think they most likely will not raise an eyebrow – this is in fact what some member in this thread reported last year, they told him that they would waive off all the conditions / criteria if that person uses their debit card regularly for CHF purchases, and I guess you are doing that as well. They can easily monitor money flow and transactions based on regularity and also identify idle or non-frequent users.

almi: Their fundamental check is basically 1500 CHF deposit per month which is one of their requirements as listed on their website, so generally 1500 CHF would be part of a salary which can be set as a monthly standing order as well if you don’t wish to deposit all your salary. But as gaijin and a few others have pointed out they haven’t been enforcing this, but it might come to us as some point, for now we just use try to use it actively and regularly for daily CHF purchases including the “more beneficial” non-CHF purchases.

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214

Setting up EBill payments might be an easier option to demonstrate the flow of cash. And you don’t lose on credit card bonuses.

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@awyeah You are way overthinking about meeting the requirements. Just use Wir as if you already met all the requirements and worry about everything else later on.

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Gaijin, you are right, I am not worried anymore after confirming that we are both in the same boat. I won’t be worried about this anymore now.

So, a few updates from today:

Firstly, went to a UBS ATM and changed the PIN of the debit card, quick and easy as with any bank ATM card. Was also able to check the account balance as well, as obviously it showed 0.00 CHF. :laughing: Now need to transfer the money inside the WIR account. :grinning_face:

Secondly, installed the debitX+ App. I had an issue with receiving the SMS on time, but within 10 minutes I was able to resolve the issue. First, I turned off/on Airplane mode and got a better signal strength, but still quite low. Although I have Swisscom, it seems there was an issue receiving the SMS on time, sometimes I got the SMS but it was quite delayed and sometimes I didn’t receive it. Sometimes I received 2 SMS at the same time with expired links, quiet weird. After about trying like 5-6 times, and going out into an open area which had a better signal reception quality, I received the SMS with the link within 3-4 seconds, thankfully that worked. After that they ask you to put your card details, and then the registration process is complete. After that you can login via biometrics which are automatically set.

The debitX+ App is quite handy to block/freeze the card, set regions of use (geo-blocking), manage notifications, activate online shopping, switch on/off ATM withdrawals, enable contactless payments etc. By default online shopping, ATM withdrawals and contactless payments were all enabled, so I changed the settings to my preference. I also see in the e-banking App and the e-banking site (PC) you can also change the geo-location, set limits, notifications, so it has similar features like the debitX+ App. The only additional features this App provides are the online shopping feature, the ATM withdrawals on/off capability, and the ability to view your PIN and set PIN. The debitX+ App is quite modern, easy to use interface, very satisfied with it all together. More cards can be added into the App if your bank supports the App. Last thing to mention is that since the App is from SIX, my default language in the App was already set as English (or probably it uses the language preferences from your phone).

Will most likely do my first transaction in the next 1-2 days once some funds are deposited. :joy:

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Thanks for this detailed report.

You add another data point to my claim that the SMS authentication is the Achilles’ heel of the Wir system. I hope that they will soon introduce a different authentication mechanism.

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Its actually not the fault of Bank WIR, since the debitX+ App itself is a relatively new product from the Swiss Exchange (SIX), and some people have even reported some bugs in the App, only time will tell after I start using it more frequently. SIX should be responsible for the App and time delays, so they are to blame, Bank WIR are just corporate customers of the App while we are the end-consumers. They could probably increase the time limit on the SMS, or send a time-limited email (30 mins expiry policy) instead of SMS. There are many workarounds for this. I believe its also linked to verifying the mobile number of the user that’s why the SMS is necessary whether it contains a code or a link.

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this thread reads like an uneventful day in the life biography…moving on

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221

I have finally done a transaction in euros to check the costs:

  • transaction done on Sunday, March 29, the official EUR/CHF on Friday was 0.9178 and on Monday 30 it was 0.9187
  • transaction appeared in the account on April 1st or 2nd
  • it has a value date of March 29 and a booking date of April 1st, EUR/CHF 0.924032, official rate was 0.9191

So there was a fee of some 0.49% added on top of 3 working days to finally see the transaction in my account.

For comparison, Wise asks a 0.23% fee and books the transaction immediately.

At the end for me Wir is not interesting for paying in euros, too much delay and twice the fee.

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My spending on 28.03. booked on 31.03. I got 0.9163 rate for EUR. I think no markup here.

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Some more data on EUR payments during these days:

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when I’ve talked with hotline agents about currency exchange rates, they told me that I could use this tool as a reference : https://www.mastercard.com/us/en/personal/get-support/currency-exchange-rate-converter.html

Comparing to the ones displayed in your transactions, the ones in your transactions all seem better than with the mastercard tool.

For comparing with Wise, I believe we should run similar transactions at the same time. The trick with Wise is that you can change currency and keep it in an envelop, and when you do that, fees are lower than instant transactions and changes from CHF.

All in all, what I like with WIR are the 24 cash withdrawals from anywhere in the world and with unlimited amounts. You dont have that with Revolut and Wise.