Banking and Credit Card Fees

Seeing how much I was paying in banking fees on three different Swiss bank accounts and two credit cards, I finally got around to looking into these this month. This is something I do yearly, making sure I get the best deal on interest rates and credit cards.

I kept three accounts due to the Bank Guarantees of only 100k per account, back when our Swiss Franc cash savings were higher.

Postfinance started to charge account keeping fees of 5 CHF a month from January 2019. I opened an account with them back when they offered free banking for account balances over 25k and their eSaver account was paying 1% interest (more than my mortgage interest rate of 0.7%). They also used to have free cash withdrawals within Switzerland at all banks. This seems to have changed, and now free withdrawals are only at Post Offices, Migros, SBB desk, Coop, Denner, and Spar. A 2 CHF charge now applies per withdrawal at other places. Interest rates are also now 0.00%, so no point in keeping this account. I just moved my savings and closed my account, saving 60 CHF a year.  plus all those ATM fees that I didn’t realise were now charged.

UBS was the bank we had when we first arrived. Existing accounts are free if you have over 10k but you are billed if you slip under 10k at any time in the month. We have direct debits set up on that account and that meant it was a pain to switch accounts, so we never switched. The UBS Gold credit card was costing 200 CHF a year but was paying me more in key club points. I would pay the card fee every year with key club points but they stopped allowing that last year. I switched to a banking packet in December that I could pay with points, prepaid for a year (first 6 months free) for 15 CHF a month that works out 20 CHF cheaper than the credit card alone, and free if you use their key club points.

Bonus Card credit cards also used to be free when I signed up, then free if you spend over a certain amount. They have increased the cost to 150 CHF a year, regardless of spending, so I looked around for an alternative. This card was mostly used for online purchases where the account number is stored, like Amazon, since it has a lower credit limit. I found that Migros is offering a free Cumulus Mastercard: https://www.migros.ch/de/cumulus/mastercard.html. You can complete the application online then they mail you the completed form to sign. I applied today, then I plan to cull my Bonus Card when it arrives.