There are currently 5 neobanks in Switzerland with their headquarters in Switzerland and offering Swiss IBAN starting with CH: CSX (Crédit Suisse), Neon Banque, Yapeal, Yuh and ZAK Bank.
Then comes 2 other neobanks active in Switzerland: N26 and Revolut.
We can also add to the list Wise (TransferWise), a peer-to-peer currency exchange platform that competes with other neobanks with their Borderless multi-currency account.
How to choose the best neobank for you, considering that – for now – all Swiss neobanks offer a free plan?
We have reviewed 18 criteria to compare them and help you to find the best Swiss neobank in 2022.
Here is the ranking:
Feb 3, 2022 update: Neon have launched their new Mastercard that comes with push notifications for each transaction. They gain 1 point and take the lead of this ranking, before Zak Banque.
March 30, 2022 update: Zak has launched eBill. You just need to activate the plugin in the app
April 23, 2022 update: Neon has launched Spaces, to help organise your finance
December 2, 2022 update: Yuh bank offers eBill.
January 30, 2022 update: Yuh bank offers 50 CHF Trading Credit with the code YUHNEO
Ranking the best neobanks in Switzerland
FREE: You want a free online bank account
CSX, Neon, Yuh, N26, Revolut, Wise (TransferWise) and ZAK offer free account opening and maintenance (no monthly fee) ✅
Yuh offers a free bank account, but you must be careful with dormat account fees that can be expensive: “Initial steps to re-establish contact” = 100 CHF/an, Management of assets without contact and dormant assets = 150 CHF 🚫
Yapeal does not offer a free “real bank account” since January 2021: their free Loyalty plan does not allow bank transfers 🚫
Winners: CSX, Neon, YUH, ZAK, N26, Revolut and WisePROMO CODE: You want a welcome bonus when opening your account
With ZAK you receive 50 CHF with the code NEOBNK ✅
With Neon you receive 20 CHF with the code FR4FYL ✅
With CSX you receive 25 CHF with le code PA7840 ✅
Yuh offers offre SWQ 500 + 50 CHF Trading Credit with the code YUHNEO if you make a first deposit on your account of at least 500 CHF ✅
Yapeal does not offer any cash but 3-month free on their Private plan avec le code : YAPS311WZ4WL 🚫
Wise offers no-fee exchange rate on your first transaction if you use our referral link 🚫
N26 and Revolut have no welcome offer. 🚫
Winners: Neon, CSX, ZAK and YuhCARD: You want a free international debit card
CSX and Yuh offer a free Debit Mastercard, with free delivery ✅
Neon offers a free Debit Mastercard but charge CHF 10 for delivery. Use our referral code FR4FYL to offset this fee ✅
ZAK Bank have just launched their free Visa Debit card ✅
N26 only offer a virtual Debit MasterCard on their free plan 🚫
Revolut offer a free Debit MasterCard but charge EUR 5.50 for delivery 🚫
Wise offer a free Debit MasterCard but charge GBP 5 for delivery 🚫
Yapeal offer a free Visa Debit but charge CHD 7 for delivery 🚫
CASH: You want free cash withdrawals
Only a few Swiss neobanks allow you to withdraw cash without any fee, at any Swiss ATM.
Neon offers 2 free cash withdrawals per month ✅
Yuh offers 1 free cash withdrawal per week ✅
Revolut offers free cash withdrawals up to 200 CHF per month ✅
Wise offers free cash withdrawals up to 250 CHF (GBP 200) over a 30-day period ✅
Zak charges 2 CHF per cash withdrawal, unless done from a Bank Cler ATM 🚫
CSX and Yapeal charges 2 CHF per cash withdrawal 🚫
N26 is a EURO account, that means that cash withdrawal in CHF implies exchange rate 🚫
Winners: Neon, Yuh, Revolut and WiseFAST: You want to open a bank account in 15 minutes
N26, Revolut and Wise are without a doubt the 3 best examples of neobanks when it comes to opening a free Swiss bank account in 15 minutes ✅
With ZAK, you bank account is opened in 15 minutes and fully activated within 2 hours ✅
Neon uses online ID verification. As long as you don’t use a foreign phone number when opening your account, it will quick ✅
Yapeal has a super-quick opening process: download their apps and upload your ID documents and the account is opened in 5 minutes. ✅
Yuh has a list a 25 questions during the opening process – but you can still make it in 20 minutes ✅
CSX has random bugs that can really slow down the opening process. It took us days 🚫
Winners: Neon, ZAK, Yapeal, Yuh, N26, Revolut and WiseSMOOTH: You want a very good app
N26, Revolut and Wise offer very user-friendly mobile app ✅
The most user-friendly app with Swiss neobanks are Neon and Yuh ✅
Yapeal is kind of dark (sad?) but still user-friendly ✅
CSX didn’t create a new mobile app, they mainly re-used the Crédit Suisse app 🚫
Zak Bank lacks of magic 🚫
Winners: neon, Yapeal, Yuh, N26, Revolut and WiseSAFE: You feel safer with a neobank that belongs to a large Group
Unlike Neon and Yapeal, Zak Bank is not a start-up. Zak belongs to Bank Cler (previously Bank Coop), which brings extra safety to your deposits. ✅
CSX is the neobank of Crédit Suisse ✅
Yuh has been created by PostFinance and SwissQuote but does not have a banking licence 🚫
Neon is using the services of Hypothekarbank Lenzburg and Yapeal has a Fintech banking licence 🚫
N26, Revolut and Wise are independant neobanks without Swiss banking licence 🚫
Winners: CSX and ZakCHF: You want an account in CHF with a Swiss IBAN
All neobanks based in Switzerland offer an account in CHF ✅
Revolut offers a CHF account, but it’s not under your name 🚫
Wise also offers a CHF account, but it’s not under your name 🚫
N26 only offers EUR bank account 🚫
Winners: CSX, Neon, Yapeal, Yuh and ZakTRANSFERS: You want free bank transfers in CHF
All neobanks based in Switzerland should offer free bank transfers in CHF.
But it’s not the case of Yapeal that does not allow bank transfers on their free plan 🚫
Winners: CSX, Neon, Yuh and ZakEUR: You want a free bank account in EUR
Most neobanks based in Switzerland will not offer account in EUR.
With the exception of Yuh that offers a multi-currency bank account with either CHF, EUR or USD as main currency ✅
Then you foreign neobanks will offer EUR account: N26, Revolut and Wise. ✅
Winners: Yuh, N26, Revolut and WiseSEPA: You want free SEPA bank transfers in EUR
N26 and Wise offer free SEPA bank transfers in EUR ✅
Yuh allows you to make free SEPA bank transfers from your EUR sub-accoun ✅
CSX offer free SEPA bank transfers but applies the Crédit Suisse exchange rate and fees: about 2% 🚫
Neon apply a 0.8% to 1.7% extra-fee on bank transfers 🚫
Yapeal apply a 0.75 – 1.65% fee on foreign bank transfers 🚫
Zak apply a 2.5% surcharge on the exchange rate 🚫
Revolut may charge you some extra fees if the main currency of your account is not in CHF 🚫
Winners: Yuh, N26 and WiseTRAVEL: You want to travel with your debit card
Revolut and Wise offer multiple currencies and interbank exchange rates ✅
N26 is only in EUR, so you might need to convert 2 times depending on your destinations. But it’s still the best account if you travel within the EURO zone. ✅
Yuh offer a multi-currency account that includes CHF, EUR and USD but they apply a 0.95% surchage on the exchange rate. And you can’t change on week-ends 🚫
Neon want you to use their card when you travel or make payments abroad. But they apply a 1.5% fee on cash withdrawals in EUR 🚫
Zak do not apply extra fee when using the Visa Debit, but they use Viseca exchange rates that are usually higher than interbank rates 🚫
CSX apply the Credit Suisse exchange, higher than the interbank rate🚫
Yapeal apply a 0.75 – 1.65% fee on foreign payments (on their free plan). A fee of 5 CHF is applied to Cash withdrawals abroad. 🚫
Winners : N26, Revolut and WisePUSH: You want instant push notifications
This feature is now offered by all neobanks like N26 and Revolut and also CSX, Neon, Yapeal, Yuh, Wise and Zak ✅
eBill: You need eBill
Currently, only CSX, Neon, Zak and Yapeal offer eBill from in their mobile app. ✅
Yuh does not offer this feature yet. 🚫
As foreign neobanks, N26, Revolut and Wise do not offer eBill 🚫
Winners: CSX, Neon, Zak and YapealTWINT: You want to use TWINT
TWINT is currently only available with CSX and Neon ✅
Special mention for CSX with their dedicated TWINT app
Yapeal, Yuh and Zak do not offer TWINT payments yet 🚫
N26, Revolut and Wise will probably never offer TWINT 🚫
Winners: CSX, NeonMOBILE PAY: You want a card for Apple Pay or Google Pay
Neon, Yapeal, ZAK, N26, Revolut and Wise are compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay ✅
CSX and Yuh are now compatible with Apple Pay ✅
Winners: CSX, neon, Yapeal, Yuh, Zak, N26, Revolut and WiseSPACES: You want share Space
Zak allow you to create pots ✅
Yuh allow you to create projects ✅
N26 and Neon allow you to create spaces ✅
Revolut has vaults ✅
The other neobanks do not offer equivalent feature.
Winners : Yuh, Neon, Zak, N26 and RevolutIBAN: You want a personalised IBAN
This feature is available with CSX (for 2 CHF) and Yapeal. There is no real need to have a personalised IBAN but it’s nice and easier to memorize. ✅
Comparison of Swiss mobile banks
We have granted 2 points to the CHF account with CH IBAN and 1 point to all other criteria.
We get the following comparison:
| CSX | Neon | Yapeal | Yuh | Zak | N26 | Revolut | Wise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Promo code | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| CARD | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| CASH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Fast | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Smooth | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Safe | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| CHF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||
| CHF Transfers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| EUR | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| SEPA | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Travel | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Push | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| eBill | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Mobile Pay | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Twint | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Spaces | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| IBAN Perso | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| TOTAL | 12 | 14 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
When choosing a neobank, it’s important to know how you plan to use it, what are your needs: for eBill choose Neon or CSX, for a personalised CH IBAN it will be CSX or Yapeal, for SEPA transfers it’s N26.
Here is the feature and price comparison of CSX, Neon, Yapeal, Yuh et ZAK
