Tom
Umm, that would usually be done with cash.
No need to groan, Tom.
If paid in cash, then possibly to save money from the illegally earned wages (or other illegal transactions), and to transfer money from those savings to family members in their home countries.
I'm not for a moment saying it is okay (since illegal), but I could see that those could be motivations, possibly foolish, naive motivations, of a person in Switzerland illegally.
No need for a bank account for any of that.
Western union takes cash no problem.
Tom
Just popped up on another social media, Dukascopy offer Swiss bank accounts to resident and non residents. You can open the account online.
This thread is pointless.
Yes it is possible to open an account in CH as a non resident.
I have done so (in 2017) with UBS.
Post opened an account for a non-resident about a year ago for a relative, and UBS for my godson (resident in Poland)
Most members of my family (who are not CH residents) have accounts here with another bank.
It's considered an economically stable country, with a stable currency. Accounts are cheap. Why wouldn't you want to open an account here?
I saw their ad, but was always wondering if they're even real.
Can't explain why I didn't have a good feeling, but couldn't be bothered to look into them in detail.
Anyone any insight?
I expect you are missing the under tone of those asking the question...
They've been around for quite some time and specialised in forex trading. I've no personal experience with them so can't comment, but I have a couple of friends that trade with them and they have never had a problem in trades being settled or payments made from Dukascopy to their own accounts elsewhere.
I think there are some caveats though. If you're American or have a U.S. green card, I seriously doubt you'll get an account as a non-resident (unless you've got millions). Banks here are already reluctant to take Americans who are residents, so I can't see them getting all excited to sign up non-residents.
Pretty sure if you are wealthy enough, the UBS and CS wealth management team will find you themselves.
In all other cases, I would expect it to be very hard or just impossible.
PostFinance opened an account for me (a Swiss citizen) while I was nonresident and when my cantonal bank wanted to be rid of me. I later moved back to Switzerland. I tried to open a gift account for my grandson, also a Swiss citizen, but as he is resident abroad they refused.
Thanks. Could you please put dates on these events? Thanks.
Is your grandson abroad in the USA, specifically?
Was the issue that you were trying to open an account for your grandson, in other words, would your grandson have been allowed to open his own bank account, had he been visiting Switzerland while domiciled abroad?
Opened the account on 5 June 2018. Used a Swiss address of a property I have long owned. I am a CH/US citizen, moved back to CH in March 2019. Had last lived in Switzerland in the 1990s. My grandson is not US: his mum (born in UK) never lived in the USA and she renounced US citizenship over a year ago. She and he are CH/UK citizens. Not that it's relevant but the kid is a native French speaker, goes to a French school.