Since Swiss bank secrecy was lifted, how private/anonymous are the banks now? And I'm interested only from a perspective of a EU citizen, I don't care about the US as I'm not from there.
Second question is, is there an alternative of banking that would prevent any type of agencies to access my bank statement any other personal info?
I've posted earlier but I still haven't opened any private bank account and am increasingly more annoyed by the fact that my personal finances are visible to anyone.
I go through only 200-400eu/month (in+out), that said I can't afford to pay any fees and do not have much more than that for a deposit, nor can I deal with high fees nor can I afford to go to Switzerland (or another country for that matter), nor do I know anybody trustworthy in any country except a couple that have worse privacy laws than my country.
Having said that, I'm looking for info on a) how private are Swiss banks now, and b) if there's a solution for someone in my situation to keep everything absolutely private.
Seems like they all charge a lot (usually 40-50chf, but even 1chf is literally a lot to my situation) for foreign withdrawal and 1.5-2% interest if used abroad. With my finances, I don't think I can afford that.
Unless I misunderstood something, that said, one withdrawal would cost me half of what I pay for food a month (in most cases - the rest still extremely high rates for my financial situation; I could probably bear 1-2chf withdrawal fee, if assuming that I'm getting total privacy).
Why use a bank? With the amounts you are talking about, cash is king. Pensioners here wander about Swiss towns with thousands in their pockets, why be different?
If you are worried, get a free credit card and pay money into it, and spend the credit when you need it.
Buy food, tea, cables, anything. It doesn't matter what I do, what matters is that I do not wish the government or anyone else to be able to access that date. It's mine, it's my life, it should be my choice whether or not I allow someone else to see it. And I do not allow anybody to see it.
In other words, if you were just curious that's fine, but if you're about to try to convince me of something - that's simply impossible; I always know what I want and why I want it, and wanting something is not necessarily always completely rational.
And as for getting any credit card without your name on it - Part of the security measures when using any credit/debit card is to put the exact name that’s printed on the card when dealing with companies like Amazon. You’ll never get one without your name on it.
If you don’t live/work in Switzerland there will be charges on any account - frankly for that small an amount it’s simply not worth it.
I don’t know what you’re being so paranoid about, but if you really hate it then the only way to go is cash only for everything.
Even posting here, shows the clever people of the world where you are, because you are showing them your IP address.
Banks give you no interest on savings because there is no inflation and the Swiss National Bank is giving out negative interest rates. Bank fees are high because it doesn't look good to pass on negative interest rates to customers.
The world you wish to live in, doesn't exist anymore.
Walking down the street, you'll be hit by 12 webcams.
Standing in the background of someone elses photo, and they'll have face recognition on the telephone (does anyone still possess a camera?), load it on to the Cloud, and wham-o - all your secrets are out there.
If you want to open a bank account, you have to give them your passport. FINMA insists.
The electronic key on your hotel room probably even has your shoe size on it!
But my favourite is all these new sporting apps on your telephone (pin-pointing your exact location) that want to know your height, weight, what you eat and how you sleep. This information then gets passed on to marketing companies to sell you the next new fitness food!
But then if you are using these cards to buy things online for Amazon and eBay, I assume that you want delivery of these items, and so need to give them things like names and delivery locations. So kind of defeats the purpose of using a whole bunch of tricks to hide who you are? Or am I missing something?
Buy a safe and keep your money there. Or get a Postfach. If you want to keep something completely secret, then avoid banks. They're paying for their past sins by having to confess to the governmental priest on a daily basis.
The paranoia began here - the OP heard a story about a relative's friend who heard down the pub someone whose brother's friend was gave money through the banking system and the unemployment agency discovered it and stopped her support because she had got the money from somewhere.
Realistically(!), if you want to live off the grid, stop using the internet right now. Accept and spend cash only - no banking at all. Best to throw away your mobile phone as well.
With banking reform, the previous idea of banking secrecy is pretty much dead. It's still possible to protect yourself through a legal curve of trusts and offshore partnerships, but the monetary amounts you are asking about wouldn't pay for the time it takes to hand you a business card - let alone begin a discussion.
Depending on whether you consider privacy a human right or not - particularly if it is not used for any malicious purposes, your fastest and easiest route may well be to establish an alternate identity.
I have a spare tinfoil hat if you want to borrow it?
But seriously, needing an anonymous account for your trivial (in the grand scheme of things) uses is a tad ridiculous. Your personal data is already all over the web everywhere you shop.
Generally, the only people who want true anonymity in their accounting are the ones who have something to hide. The recent tax debaucles made it so that if a government wants your data for what they deem is a good reason, then they will likely get it.
I recommend the MB, also known as the Mattress Bank.
The interest is zero, but so are the charges. Your money is readily available 24/7 with withdrawals limited only by your total funds. Your money is secure because any attempt to raid the bank in the night will result in you being instantly awakened.
I think this is the OP's solution - sleep on it...
I dont know how to tell you more softly, but in all honesty: A couple of hundreds a month is not even peanuts for a bank. The only ones who actually want you as a customer are the low end of the consumer banks. There is privacy not the big topic - keeping the fees low is. And frankly: The Swiss really suck at trying to be cheap... for most of them will you be more of a cost with no potential earning - why would they possibly want to deal with you?
Even if there is a tiny bit of secrecy left in Switzerland - since you are in the EU will your government at some point be able to get all the data about you when they ask for it. Making a couple of hundreds a month as you describe do I not see why your government possibly would care...