Banking and payments in Switzerland: an account after you register, and your Dutch account outside the EU

Yes, opening a Swiss bank account is normally simple, but it follows your registration, not the other way round. Banks and Swiss Post offer accounts, and according to the canton of Zürich you generally have to live in Switzerland and show an identity document. Opening is usually free; after that every bank charges its own fees, so comparing pays. You need the account for your salary, your rent deposit and your health premium. The real pitfall is on the Dutch side: the European right to a basic account applies to people living in the EU, and Switzerland isn't part of that.

What do I need to open an account?

An address in Switzerland and an identity document. In practice that means: first your home, then your registration with the municipality within fourteen days, then the bank. How registration works and which permit you get is in living in Switzerland. Take your passport or identity card to the bank, and ask beforehand how you show that you live in Switzerland. Which other papers a bank asks for differs per bank.

What for	What applies	Amount or deadline
Opening an account	at a bank or the Post, as a resident, with identity document	opening usually free, then fees per bank
Rent deposit	in a Mietkautionskonto in your name	at most three months' rent
Protection of your balance	if the bank goes bankrupt	up to CHF 100,000 per client
Familienzulagen	via your employer	at least CHF 215 per child per month
Verrechnungssteuer on income from securities	withheld at source	35%, reclaimable
Reclaiming if you pay Quellensteuer	application to your canton	by 31 March of the following year

Where does my rent deposit go?

Not to the landlord. The Swiss rent deposit of at most three months' rent goes into a special bank account, the Mietkautionskonto, in the tenant's name. After you leave you get the amount back with interest. Ask the bank for such an account as soon as you have your tenancy agreement. How the deposit and the rest of the tenancy work is in renting in Switzerland.

What happens to my Dutch account?

That's the question you ask before leaving. Within the EU you have the right to a basic payment account, even in a country other than where you live. But Your Europe is precise about it: you have that right if you legally live in an EU country. Switzerland isn't an EU country. So from Switzerland you can't rely on that European right; what happens to your account is decided by your bank's terms.

Ask your bank in writing, before you deregister. Your Dutch account remains necessary for your AOW, your pension and every Dutch refund. Ask beforehand what your bank does with customers in Switzerland, and don't let those money flows depend on a single account that can be closed. Why you keep it is in keeping a bank account and DigiD.

How safe is my money, and what comes off automatically?

Deposits at a bank licensed by the supervisor FINMA are protected in a bankruptcy up to CHF 100,000 per client. Anything above that isn't covered by that protection.

Two things come off your money automatically in Switzerland. On income from securities the bank withholds 35% Verrechnungssteuer. If you pay Quellensteuer, you only get it back if you apply to your canton for a nachträgliche ordentliche Veranlagung, by 31 March of the following year at the latest; how that works is in working in Switzerland. And you pay your health premium yourself, without a contribution from your employer; what it costs and how doctors' bills work is in Swiss health insurance.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Switzerland or go straight to step 4.3 in the open plan.