Do I need to wait for my B permit to be issued (how long does that take) in order to open a UBS current account or is it enough to show them my Passport ?
Ditto for a UBS credit card ?
Thanks
Dear EF
I needed passport, work permit and employment contract
Prepare to be pillaged. I nearly died when I saw see their account keeping fees.
I don't understand, you have to pay to have a bank account ?
Presumably all customers have to pay, now just those with B permits :-)
Yes you have to pay, unless the balance is quite large.
Credit cards are usually issued after a few salaries have been paid into the account, in CH the balabce is usually paid in full at the end of the month.
Thanks again for the information, very useful.
I didnt realise that the work permit was a requirement in order to open a bank account. Roughly how long does it take to receive this, is it sent via the post or are you given it in person ?
For us (at Credit Suisse), we needed the sheet of paper that said our residence permit was in process (what you got when you registered), along with passport and work contract. We couldn't apply for a credit card until the physical permit was in hand. (which takes a few weeks to receive, via post)
I don't understand why anyone would still want to bank with the UBS (I mean unless you belong to the top 1% wealth beacket).
Postfinance provides a much better banking service with far less fees (if you have 20,000 CHF in savings and/or do online banking there are no fees at all!) and it's all in english too.
Have a look here:
This is the best deal:
https://www.postfinance.ch/en/priv/p...ine/offer.html
it's completely free if you keep a balance of at least 7500 CHF (can be in a linked savings account that's part of the set not just in the current account).
This one is even better if you keep at least a balance of 25000 CHF (not 20000 as I mentioned mistakenly in my last post):
I opened my account with UBS a month back.
All i needed to show was my permit( i am not working at the moment).
Interestingly they have some scheme that time which was great since there was no fees even if there was no money in your account. Its was 1 year and yeah only downside is that i cant get credit card.
May be you can check with them if that scheme is still there.
And apologies for some funny sounding sentences... Im too sleepy.
Why not? We have always banked with UBS and have never had a problem. On the contrary.
We are far from the 1% as we didn't win yesterday's Euromillions!
Because you pay through the nose for it and because IIRC UBS themselves said they aren't really interested in customers with a net worth of less than 500K.
But of course if you are happy with that then that's fine for you, I'm not trying to convice you or anyone to switch away from UBS, I'm only pointing out a very good alternative.
We bank there too. No special reason other than it's convenient and was recommended by a colleague.
I'm far from loaded. Even so, the account is free although we don't get a good exchange rate when we use the card for euro transactions.
When we opened the account, we did not need to show B permits, which is handy because they took 6 months to arrive.
We were asked for proof of address, employment and identification.
We have a net work well under 500k and all our accounts with them. We pay something like 150CHF per year (IIRC) for all our accounts, bank & CC cards and e-banking. That's hardly "through the nose".
It's fine to "point out an alternative" but no reason to be so dismissive of all other options and those who are happy to use their services. Everyone's needs are different and PostBank just didn't cut it for us.
It's possible to open an account with UBS & CS over the internet, so clearly they will accept anyone who lives in CH.
The top 1% will usually use private banks as they provide a better service.
Interesting, do you have a link, I can't find that service offered via their website.
If your banking needs are mainl domestic - i.e. paying bills etc - then Postbank, Migrosbank, Kantonalbank.
If you make regular international transfers, the bigger banks will work out cheaper.
Cheers,
Nick
UBS has changed their website since I last looked & cant find where to open an account, however I can find the page on CS.
Yeah it was on the UBS website I was looking. Their site index is'nt very good.
Can you use a CS cash card on a UBS ATM without being charged ?