Staying loyal to one bank can cost up to 964 francs a year

Swiss customers tend to stay loyal to their main bank, and that habit carries a measurable cost. A study by Moneyland.ch has compared the total costs of nine large Swiss institutions.

The basket considered covers five basic services: the private account with debit card, the savings account, the credit card, card use abroad, and the pillar 3a retirement account.

The gap between first and last

Concentrating all products with a single institution, Migros Bank comes out cheapest at 491 francs a year. Next come the Zurich Cantonal Bank at 597 francs, Valiant at 607, PostFinance at 736 and Raiffeisen at 821. UBS closes the ranking at 964 francs.

The picture changes if the services are spread among different providers. In that case the study arrives at a positive balance of 229 francs a year, obtained through interest and bonus programmes.

The savings are concentrated in a few items. Pillar 3a allows savings of between 395 and 740 francs a year. Credit cards reach 216 francs, the savings account 180 and card use abroad 101.

The sharpest difference concerns online trading. For assets of around 45,000 francs and twelve transactions a year, costs range from 345 to 855 francs at traditional banks, against 68 francs at Saxo Bank.

Ralf Beyeler, of Moneyland.ch, notes that the choice is not between two extremes: "It is entirely possible to keep some products with your main bank and choose cheaper providers for other services."

The study names some alternative providers for the most expensive items. For foreign currency transactions it cites WIR, Alpian and Wise. For pillar 3a it lists True Wealth, Liberty Green, Viac, Finpension, Neon and Frankly.

The comparison covers the direct costs of the services. It does not account for the time needed to manage several banking relationships, which is the practical counterweight to the savings calculated.