Best Swiss account for non-residents?

[rolex]

Hey everyone! New here

I'm trying to look for a good day-to-day and savings account in Switzerland
I'm not a resident, and would prefer not to have to visit Switzerland to open an account (although it is possible)

Is there a good account for non-residents where I can store around 250k-500k USD all good?

Also open to other countries that offer good funds protection

 

[Sols]

I'm trying to look for a good day-to-day and savings account in Switzerland
I'm not a resident, and would prefer not to have to visit Switzerland to open an account (although it is possible)

Is there a good account for non-residents where I can store around 250k-500k USD all good?

For the amounts mentioned, I think your easiest options are going to be CIM Bank, SEBA, Sygnym, Swissquote, Flowbank, and Dukascopy. The latter three are not suitable for third-party transfers so it depends on what you expect from a day-to-day bank. Look into each one and see if they fit your expectations.

The top tier banks in Switzerland want at least a few million CHF/EUR/USD for non-resident clients. At the upper end of your range and if there is promise of significant growth in the future, you might be able to get some of the bigger cantonal banks or even a few private banks interesting in you. So you can try for example OneSwiss, Vontobel, Lombard Odier, UBP, and Julius Bär. Your chances aren't great but at least those banks take on non-resident clients with less than millions — sometimes.

Bank Frick and Bank Alpinum in neighboring Liechtenstein are also worth mentioning.

Some of these are private banks or trading banks, which means they expect to leave the money with them and invest in their investment products. Not all can or will issue you debit or credit cards.

Also open to other countries that offer good funds protection

View safety of funds on a per-bank level as well. You can find stable banks in countries with questionable sovereign finances, and unstable banks in countries with strong finances.

 

[backpacker]

Hey everyone! New here

I'm trying to look for a good day-to-day and savings account in Switzerland
I'm not a resident, and would prefer not to have to visit Switzerland to open an account (although it is possible)

Is there a good account for non-residents where I can store around 250k-500k USD all good?

Also open to other countries that offer good funds protection

A lot depends on your nationality and -if you live outside of your country of citizenship- on your residence status in the country where you permanently reside in!

You can find stable banks in countries with questionable sovereign finances

Egypt is the perfect example for this.

 

[rolex]

View safety of funds on a per-bank level as well. You can find stable banks in countries with questionable sovereign finances, and unstable banks in countries with strong finances.

Would Mauritius be a good example of this?

Bank Frick and Bank Alpinum in neighboring Liechtenstein are also worth mentioning.

I'll definitely look into these

For the amounts mentioned, I think your easiest options are going to be CIM Bank, SEBA, Sygnym, Swissquote, Flowbank, and Dukascopy. The latter three are not suitable for third-party transfers so it depends on what you expect from a day-to-day bank. Look into each one and see if they fit your expectations.

Out of the ones you mentioned here, I think CIM Bank, SEBA and Dukascopy are my top choices. Although the Dukascopy transfer fees seem quite high here: Dukascopy Bank

Egypt is the perfect example for this.

Can you recommend any Egyptian banks I should look into?

Thanks everyone for the replies!

 

[backpacker]

Can you recommend any Egyptian banks I should look into?

National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr (both government owned) are excellent, come.with Multi-Currency accounts and attractive interest offers.
Then there are many reputable banks from the Middle East, e.g. QNB Alahli, ABC Arab Banking Corporation, AUB Ahli United Bank ...

However, to open an account you have to have some ties to Egypt. This can be through a business, apartment ownership (no restrictions for a foreigner) or by having a residence permit.

 

[rolex]

National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr (both government owned) are excellent, come.with Multi-Currency accounts and attractive interest offers.
Then there are many reputable banks from the Middle East, e.g. QNB Alahli, ABC Arab Banking Corporation, AUB Ahli United Bank ...

However, to open an account you have to have some ties to Egypt. This can be through a business, apartment ownership (no restrictions for a foreigner) or by having a residence permit.

I really appreciate your detailed replies! Thanks so much!

 

[cypriot]

Hey everyone! New here

I'm trying to look for a good day-to-day and savings account in Switzerland
I'm not a resident, and would prefer not to have to visit Switzerland to open an account (although it is possible)

Is there a good account for non-residents where I can store around 250k-500k USD all good?

Also open to other countries that offer good funds protection

Banque Cramer in Switzerland is a good option for this type of amounts but you have to visit the country.

 

[BlueMist]

For the amounts mentioned, I think your easiest options are going to be CIM Bank, SEBA, Sygnym, Swissquote, Flowbank, and Dukascopy. The latter three are not suitable for third-party transfers so it depends on what you expect from a day-to-day bank. Look into each one and see if they fit your expectations.

As per my knowledge and experience FlowBank is suitable for 3rd party transfers IN/OUT.

 

[tyrexoid]

as a geek I would suggest simply sharding across several banks and countries, if stability and funds resilience to events is required I'd do this: first split funds across 4-5 top currencies, then across 2-3 countries at least, and across 2-3 banks in each country. It makes total funds indestructible in any events, wars, hacking attacks, economy fluctuations, alien invasion.

 

[Sols]

as a geek I would suggest simply sharding across several banks and countries, if stability and funds resilience to events is required I'd do this: first split funds across 4-5 top currencies, then across 2-3 countries at least, and across 2-3 banks in each country. It makes total funds indestructible in any events, wars, hacking attacks, economy fluctuations, alien invasion.

So you'd split 500,000 USD into 100,000 USD (equivalent) across five different currencies, then into 33,333 USD (equivalent) per country, and then into 11,111 USD (equivalent) per bank for a total of 45 banking relationships. I admire your confidence in being able to open and manage bank accounts.

 

[troubled soul]

Also open to other countries that offer good funds protection

Swissquote (Switzerland)
questrade.com (Canada)
Saxobank (Denmark)
Charles Schwab (USA)
interactivebrokers.co.uk (UK)
easyequities.co.za (South Africa)
DBS Vickers (Singapore)

Why do not open brokerage account?
Different country, currency and Most safest environment for your money.
You can get good sleep at night. All brokers are highly regulated

Too much diversification is meaningless unless you have $20-30M because the system already works on custodian accounts. To be more specific, if you have investments at Saxo Broker and in case of Saxo bankruptcy you will most probably not lose your assets because your assets held in different banks' custodian accounts(Citibank in this case). In my opinion, 2 stable financial institution is fine unless you have more than $20-30M.

https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/best-private-banking-options.30266/post-155974

Hope this help