My USD/Euro/CHF & GBP accounts all share the same IBAN although the UK account has a UK sort Code & Account no. I have received deposits via the identical IBAN & they end up in the original currency.
I will use this account to receive my Swiss Pillar 1
I have a German one now as I set up my Revolut card from my DE address when it was not yet available in CH. Will need to look into this.
Iâve switched to the new Swiss IBAN. Absolutely no issues.
Iâve been receiving emails once or twice a week since last month inviting me to switch to an individual Swiss IBAN. However, Iâve been hesitant, not because Revolut is using a bank in Lithuania, but because theyâre asking for my AHV/AVS number. Why would a company that isnât even based in Switzerland require this? As far as I recall, even my Swiss bank never asked for it.
From their emails, the main advantages of switching seem to be:
Initially, I assumed this switch was optional, but it appears itâs not. Every time I open the Revolut app, I see the following message:
âUpdate your IBAN now - Set up your individual Swiss IBAN as soon as possible to avoid disruptions.â
Up until now, Iâve been funding my CHF Revolut account using their Credit Suisse IBAN via e-banking. All I had to do was enter my Revolut acct number, my full name, and âCHâ in the reference field. Now, Iâm wondering, are we actually required to switch to a personal Swiss IBAN?
Iâve attached screenshots of the emails I received.
I ignored it for a while but sent some money from my old CH IBAN and got a message to use the new method. So I set up the new IBAN including my AVS No which I believe is also my Tax ID number. Transfers appear to be quicker, next day, rather than a couple of days.
I ignored it for a while and then I had to top up my account and saw that the old IBAN had been removed from my UBS accounts so I set up the new one. Presumably, the old one will still re-direct, but perhaps only for a limited time so eventually you would need to do it.
I assume they need your AHV for identity/tax reasons.
I belive Revolut already has your AVS number. Perhaps they are just verifying you are whom you say you are.
Lithuanian tax reasons, that is. Real Swiss banks do not require any number for residents of Switzerland (except USA passport holders).
As somebody who works in a bank, I would not provide my financial information to any intermediary orchestrator such as Revolut, Paypal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Garbage Pay etc. Banks such as UBS do offer similar things such as Revolut, have a look at their key4 packages which have good international rates especially on foreign currency transactions. They also offer virtual cards and much more. In my opinion, financial security is more important than saving a few cents or pennys on currency conversion.
A few pennies?? Getting a near market rate compared to 100-200 bps the bank charges you?
With all due respect, the international rates from UBS on FCY transactions are not good.
Wrong, the word is Crap.
Giving my credit card details to Applepay is no more of a security risk than giving them to an on-line retailer. And future transactions are much safer as apple doesnât pass any information to the retailer.
UBS is so far behind the times in customer service and technology it is an absolute joke.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. The notion behind my reasoning is that, I wouldnât want my financial details to be stored on Apple pay servers in America (kept within US borders) or either on Google pay servers probably based in China. At the end of the day, its my personal and financial data and the jurisdiction owning, accessing and storing my data should only be Switzerland. Financial information is just digital personal data, and both American and Chinese companies use it for target marketing purposes. Plus cybersecurity is a very important concern, and I donât trust such companies can keep it secure. Donât trust the American and Chinese companies, you might regret it one day.
UBS uses the Mastercard rate plus an additional 0.5% charge if you use they key4 banking package. If you use the normal credit cards for foreign currency there is a 1.75% charge. They are loaning you money on a credit card, so they need to earn back as well. If your transactions are in 1000s of CHF or higher then that might have some impact for market rate, but generally for transactions under like 100 CHF you wonât probably even notice it. Generally, nobody has earned money on currency conversions, because marginâs are just too low after broker fees, unless you are converting millions.
I always freeze my credit card after a transaction is complete, so nobody can charge it even if they have my card details, plus I get a notification when somebody tries to use it even if its frozen.
There is always an inherent risk when providing your financial details to some third party vendor, my advice is always to keep that risk to a minimal.
As an example, someone said earlier:
So Revolut seems to now give you an individual Swiss IBAN via a bank in Lithuania? https://help.revolut.com/en-CH/help/transfers/inbound-transfers/how-to-receive-money-from-another-bank/what-account-details-should-i-use-to-transfer-money-to-my-revolut-account/help-with-swiss-iban/
Would you be comfortable if your Swiss financial data is stored in Lithuania? Security wise thatâs a huge gamble, but it benefits the vendor because the operational costs are very low in that jurisdiction.
Happy UBS customer. I donât bother them, they donât bother me. Everything runs. It may not be the cheapest but it worksâŚ
Iâm not up to date but outsourcing was a thing not long ago. Allegedly nothing went catastrophically wrong but UBS got scared in 2020-2021 with data breaches in the outsourcing companies they hired..
A few weeks ago I got a letter from UBS explaining they did the best to keep my personal data safe, that they applied the same standards to outsourcing companies around the world than Swiss in-house operations. Maybe UBS made better choices this time, but outsourcing is still there.
Revolut is in the fringes of the system. Sometimes they take a cowboy approach to process and complain a little too much about banking regulations. Those are the last things I want a banker to do.
So, there may not be good option, only less bad option.
Do you actually notice the difference between this and what other providers do? And no, you do not need to spend thousands to have a benefit from an alternative product, just look at the rate you quote.
What about the data breaches UBS had?
Truth is UBS is backed by the Swiss government. Which government will back Revolut if they go bankrupt? Short-term gains to save a couple of bucks on FX by using cheap providers will one day hit a person back in one way or the other.
As of today, the exchange rate:
Revolut: 1000 CHF = 1131.56 USD
UBS with 0.5%: 1000 CHF = 1137.32 USD
Difference: 5.76 USD
Although that can only buy you probably a piece of bread or a coffee in Switzerland, given the financial security is far greater.
UBS data breach in 2023 was within America in their WM Americaâs business with no financial loss. Searching for Revolut, it has far greater fraud cases, one in 2022, other in 2023, the other in 2024, in total more than $20 million lost, more than 50k customer data breach.
Revolut charges 10 USD/month for their premium and more for their even better service, so one way or the other they are probably overcharging more for their services than actual banks.
Hidden charges are also common with such companies, and if somebody is a victim of fraud with such virtual banks getting their funds back is nearly impossible.
Plus they explicitly state they open a CH IBAN account for you somewhere in Lithuania, that already seems as a red flag. Masking an account present in Lithuania as a Swiss bank account, doesnât that sound shady? People just want to save a few bucks regardless of the future consequences.
Plus the only way to contact them for support is via chat, how nice. Who wouldnât want that to be the only communication channel.
âPlease remember, cheaper does not always mean the most secure.â
Said Swiss government is asking UBS to increase itâs core capital ratio (stock/loans) from 14 to 20% because Switzerland is too small to back UBS.
No best alternative, only less bad alternative.
So, 3x increase in 5 years. Wouldnât want to say more, the upward trend says it all. Whoever have invested long-term will be rewarded. Probably not the time to buy, but sell if you have kept long-term.
UBS is restricting itself to Investment Banking (IB), a lesson learned from Credit Suisse, which was one of the reasons for itâs collapse. IB is risky business, on one hand it can give good gains, but also risks are high towards downfall as in the case of Credit Suisse. American banks like JP Morgan are heavily into IB.
Can we get back to the topic please?
Funny, I get 1128 with Revolut so that is 9 USD less to pay. Adds up if you do that a couple of times.
I know you work for UBS, you made that very clear⌠What about the rumours then of UBS moving abroad because of the capital requirements?
Do you think people at CS were not convinced that they were âthe bestâ?
Might delete my Revolut account, I always use WISE now anyway. I did get a message the other day that NEON are linked with WISE for international payments - but Iâve not looked into it.
