Switzerland
Switzerland has a population of around 8.7 million inhabitants and a high GDP per capita, which will reach USD 91,603 in 2021 (data from the EIU - The Economist Intelligence Unit). The Swiss economy is one of the most prosperous, modern and competitive in the world, characterised by a highly developed tertiary sector (driven by financial services) and by an industry based on high technology and innovation. It also has a demanding business culture and a highly qualified workforce. In 2021, there was an increase in gross domestic product of 4.2%, and GDP growth of 2.2% is forecast for 2022. Private consumption is expected to slow down in 2023, due to the rise in inflation and the increase in borrowing costs, and a slight reduction in exports of goods and services, with the EIU forecasting a 0.3% increase in GDP. In terms of business opportunities, Switzerland could be an interesting market for areas such as the agri-food sector, clothing, footwear, furniture and decoration, electric mobility, railways, architecture, construction, health, information and communication technologies, and aeronautics, among others. Main languages: German (spoken by 64% of the population), French (19%), Italian (8%) and Romansh (1%)
Top banks
Switzerland is one of the few countries in Europe that stands out. Switzerland is among the top countries in Western Europe, with a higher per capita Gross Domestic Product. Even the Swiss Franc (CHF) value has been quite stable compared to other currencies. Switzerland’s banking system is stout because the operating conditions are so good. They offer high privacy and security along with low risk due to strict Swiss law regarding matters of informationdisclosure. The only challenge of the Swiss banking system is a low-interest rate and inflation in the housing price. The biggest banks in Switzerland are globally famous for many reasons which include high levels of security and privacy but and low risk. They have some very good features that helps them to give then the above-mentioned benefits to the customers. They also provide special offers to customers from time to time at very affordable prices. It is difficult to compile a list of best banks in Switzerland because each of them fall in that catagory. The Swiss law is very strict regarding information disclosure policies of the banks, which can be done only with proper permission from depositors. In 2009, the financial sector of Switzerland employed 195,000 people. However, biggest banks in Switzerland engaged only engaged 135,000 people only in the sector. In the same year, the financial sector amounted to 11.6% of total GDP, and 5.6% of the workforce was employed in the financial industry. The The most important aspect of top banks in Switzerland is its financial authority, The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which controls and regulates the whole banking system in Switzerland. Two banks have acquired more than 50% of the country’s total deposits. These banks are UBS and Credit Suisse. Other than that, top banks in Switzerland can be divided into a few categories – foreign banks, private banks, big banks, cooperative banks (Raiffeisen group), and cantonal banks. Cantonal banks are government-owned commercial banks that amount to around 30% of total banks in Switzerland. Switzerland’s financial sector is one of the cornerstones of its economy. As of the end of 2020, there were 243 active banks in Switzerland. In the same year, Credit Suisse AG was the leading bank operating in Switzerland with approximately 549 billion Swiss Francs in assets. Source: Statista – Leading banks in Switzerland from 2018 to 2020, by total assets (in billion CHF) The total number of banking institutions in Switzerland decreased steadily between 2011 and 2021. As of 2021, there were 239 banking institutions in Switzerland, four less in the previous year. The consolidation of the banking sector is also prevalent in Europe since the financial crash. Source: Statista – Total number of banking institutions in Swotzerland from 2011 to 2021
UBS
UBS - is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution and the largest private bank in the world.
Zurich Cantonal Bank (German: Zürcher Kantonalbank, or ZKB) is the largest cantonal bank and fourth largest bank in Switzerland, as well as the leading financial services provider in the Greater Zurich area, with total assets of over CHF 150 billion
Raiffeisen Switzerland
Raiffeisen Switzerland is a cooperative of cooperatives – the union of all independent Swiss Raiffeisen banks.[1] It bears responsibility for the business policy and strategy within the Raiffeisen Group.[2] The 219 independent Raiffeisen banks of Switzerland are organised as cooperatives. With 896 branch offices in total, they make up the densest branch network of any Swiss bank. After the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS, the Raiffeisen Group has become the second-largest banking group in Switzerland with client assets under management of 246.6 billion francs.
PostFinance
PostFinance Ltd is the financial services unit of Swiss Post which was founded in 1906. As of 2023, it is the fifth largest retail financial institution in Switzerland. Its main area of activity is in the national and international payments and a smaller but growing part in the areas of savings, pensions and real estate. PostFinance is fully-owned by the Swiss government.
Julius Bär Group AG
Julius Bär Group AG, known alternatively as Julius Baer Group Ltd., is a private banking corporation founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it is among the older Swiss banking institutions. In terms of assets under management, Julius Baer is number two among Swiss banks after UBS and the biggest pure-play private bank.
Vontobel Holding
Vontobel Holding AG is a Swiss private banking and investment management group headquartered in Zurich. Established in 1924, as of August 2021, Vontobel has over 2,000 employees across 26 worldwide locations. Vontobel group's core businesses are Wealth Management, Asset Management and Digital Investing, catering to wealthy private clients as well as institutional investors. Among the top tier Swiss banks, Vontobel holds around $300 billion of client assets.
The Pictet Group
The Pictet Group, known as Pictet, is a Swiss multinational private bank and financial services company founded in Switzerland. Headquartered in Geneva, it is one of the largest Swiss banks and primarily offers services in wealth management, asset management, and asset servicing, to private clients and institutions.
The Lombard Odier Group
The Lombard Odier Group is an independent Swiss banking group based in Geneva. Its operations are organised into three divisions: private banking (wealth management), asset management, and IT and back and middle office services for other financial institutions.
J. Safra Sarasin
J. Safra Sarasin - is a Swissprivate bank, founded in 1841 and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It performs investment advice and asset management for private and institutional clients, as well as investment funds. It offers further services in investment, corporate finance and financial analysis.
Union Bancaire Prive
Union Bancaire Prive - (UBP SA) is a private bank and wealth management firm headquartered in Geneva. UBP is one of the largest private banks in Switzerland, and serves private and institutional clients. The bank was founded in 1969 by Edgar de Picciotto.
Top payment methods
Put down the triangular-shaped chocolate, Switzerland has a burgeoning ecommerce market with the average spend per shopper growing fast.Unsurprisingly, due to its high GDP and location between France, Italy, and Germany, Switzerland has a strong market in luxury goods and a high demand for cross-border e-commerce. Its multilingual population (also with high English proficiency) means that businesses should consider offering multi-language options to reach as many Swiss consumers as possible.Switzerland's payments landscape can be broken down into cash, card, invoice, and a unique local payment method. Cash is still common, while cards are frequently used in Switzerland with the average Swiss holding at least three. Invoices are popular fore-commerce payments, while TWINT is a new and increasingly popular local payment method with 3 million users. Used for bothe-commerce and at the point of sale, TWINT combines mobile payments with QR technology.It’s easy to forget that Switzerland uses the Swiss Franc, not the Euro, which means higher fees may apply for EU transactions when the merchant has a Swiss entity.According to a January 2022 study, approximately half of online purchases in Switzerland were paid for via bank transfer. Cards and digital wallets followed, used for 30 percent and 17 percent of online purchases, respectively.Source: Statista – Distribution of online transactions in Switzerland in 2022, by payment method.Debit cards overtook physical money as the most preferred payment method of Swiss consumers in 2019. During that year, just under 40 percent of survey respondents said they preferred to use debit cards, such as EC cards or Maestro or V-Pay, for in-store payments. Although this was a moderate increase compared to the previous year, they became more popular than coins and banknotes in the country. Mobile payments, such as Apple Pay, were much less preferred in Switzerland. However, when compared to 2018 results, the number of people who chose them as their favorite payment method doubled.Source: Statista – Distribution of preferred payment methods in Switzerland from 2018 and 2020
TWINT
With TWINT, you can make convenient and secure payments with your smartphone – at the cash register in a supermarket, in an online shop, when shopping at a farm shop, on public transport, when parking, or when transferring money to your friends. With more than 5 million active users, TWINT is the leading payment app in Switzerland.
SOFORT
Online bank transfers are one of the most widely used payment methods in Belgium. They're usedin about 19% of the nation's ecommerce transactions, according to Statista. The most popular banktransfer service for Belgians is SOFORT.
Klarna
Klarna is a popular Buy Now Pay Later payment method availablein 19 countries. With Klarna, the shopper can choose to:·Pay later: Pay after the goods have been delivered.
·Pay over time: Pay in installments over time.
·Pay now: Pay the whole amount instantly, either by online banking or direct debit.Before approving the payment, Klarna performs risk checks on the shopper. If successful, Klarna takes on the full fraud risk for the payment, and pays you up front.
Apple Pay
Several major banks and payment providers in Belgium support Apple Pay. Customers with Apple devices can connect their credit and debit cards to pay for products and services. iPhones are themost widely used mobile.
American Express
Accepted in more than 130 countries and with over 100 million cards inuse, American Express (AMEX) is a relevant payment method worldwide. AMEX cardholders spend on average three to four times more than Visaand Mastercard cardholders, making it of particular interest to premium and more sophisticated businesses.
Paypal
Paypal is one of the market leaders in online payment solutions with more than 400 million active customers worldwide, available in 200 countries and in more than 100 different currencies. As faras online shopping payment is concerned, it is the one of the mostused payment method in France.
Visa
Visa is the world's largest global card network by transaction value, ubiquitous worldwide. Visa positions itself as "the best way to pay and get paid by everyone".
Mastercard
As one of the largest card brands in the world, Mastercard dominatesthe co-branded card market in Europe. It is also the leader incountries like Austria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Hungary, Venezuela, and in the Benelux among others.
Maestro
Maestro is a debit product within the Mastercard offering. Maestrocards can be used for payments in stores and to withdraw cash fromATMs. This payment method requires electronic online authorizationfor almost all transactions, although Mastercard's rules allowminimum limits to be set only for Maestro EMV chip transactions.
Google Pay
With Google Pay, shoppers can make purchases using credit or debit cards stored in their Google account. Shoppers get to experience a simpler checkout process whether they are buying from theirAndroid devices, on the web, or in-store through POS terminals.When a shopper pays with Google Pay in apps and on websites, Google Pay shows a payment sheet where they select their preferred card payment method and confirm their purchase. Google Pay supports liability shift for Discover, Mastercard, and Visa cards issued in the EU or the UK. Google Pay does not support liability shift for American Express, JCB, or Visa cards issued outside of the EU or the UK. To get this liability shift when using Google Pay, you need to authenticate the transaction with 3D Secure.
Concluding remarks
Cash
Cash is widely accepted in Switzerland, and you can use Swiss Francs (CHF) to make purchases at most businesses, including restaurants, shops, and markets. It's always a good idea to carry some cash with you, especially for smaller establishments or when traveling to rural areas.
Debit and Credit Cards
Debit and credit cards are widely used in Switzerland, and most businesses accept major international cards such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. However, some smaller establishments, especially in rural areas, may only accept cash or have a minimum purchase amount for card payments. Contactless payments using cards or mobile devices (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Pay) are also popular and widely accepted.
Bank Transfer
Bank transfers are commonly used for various types of transactions, such as paying bills, transferring money between accounts, or making online purchases. Swiss banks provide secure online banking services that allow you to transfer money electronically.
PostFinance
PostFinance – PostFinance is a widely used payment system in Switzerland, operated by Swiss Post. It offers various services, including current and savings accounts, e-payment solutions, and prepaid cards.
Twint
Twint is a popular Swiss mobile payment app that allows you to make payments using your smartphone. It is widely accepted in many shops, restaurants, and online platforms in Switzerland. Twint is linked to your bank account or credit card, making transactions convenient and secure.
PayPal
PayPal is accepted in Switzerland and can be used for online purchases. However, its usage is more common for international transactions or purchases from foreign online retailers.
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