How much cash can I withdraw from Swiss bank branch ? Any limit ?

[JohnnyDoe]

Not personal experience but N+1 experience. I have a very close friend of mine who works in Hollywood, usually as an assistant to a producer or assistant to an executive producer. She has carried US$400.000 cash to Canada to pay the local team on a movie before with no problems. She was making a movie in Switzerland in 2018 and had some issues and needed to withdraw CHF50.000, so about the same amount of money, and even through ALL the details of the withdrawal was submitted to the bank prior to the withdrawal, was met at the bank and needed to answer some questions with the local prosecutor's office. They had all the same details and had made calls to all parties in the meantime. No matter. Took about another 48 hours to get the cash. Doubt things changed much since 2018.

exactly what I was talking about, and the situation is much worse 4 years later.
There are a few smart prosecutors, but the majority are a big pain in the back and in general you don't want to ever go to the MP.

 

[JackAlabama]

Not personal experience but N+1 experience. I have a very close friend of mine who works in Hollywood, usually as an assistant to a producer or assistant to an executive producer. She has carried US$400.000 cash to Canada to pay the local team on a movie before with no problems. She was making a movie in Switzerland in 2018 and had some issues and needed to withdraw CHF50.000, so about the same amount of money, and even through ALL the details of the withdrawal was submitted to the bank prior to the withdrawal, was met at the bank and needed to answer some questions with the local prosecutor's office. They had all the same details and had made calls to all parties in the meantime. No matter. Took about another 48 hours to get the cash. Doubt things changed much since 2018.

Things got worse since. 2018 is a distant memory of a world which was much more free and less invasive.

 

[JohnLocke]

I wonder what the ultra rich do when they relocate on mass to Switzerland in 2022 - They must be busy hiding from the Gendarmes and tax office in Switzerland.

Maybe the key to all trouble in this explained thread is that the money we are talking about is black money or even illegal and undocumented money. With that in mind all points raised here may be valid.

 

[JackAlabama]

I wonder what the ultra rich do when they relocate on mass to Switzerland in 2022 - They must be busy hiding from the Gendarmes and tax office in Switzerland.

Maybe the key to all trouble in this explained thread is that the money we are talking about is black money or even illegal and undocumented money. With that in mind all points raised here may be valid.

You can spend unlimited amounts by card.
It is the war on cash they are engaged on. As of this year, there are events in Switzerland where cash cannot be spend (only card or this local payement app).
They can make life hard for cash (physical bills) over 15k or so, again, this depends on the bank and your stance with them.

 

[GPT]

Announce to your bank what you want to withdraw and make an appointment to collect it. Perhaps the bank wants to know a why. Give them the why.

If you transport it crossborder be sure to file the correct documents with customs.

Sounds easy and it is easy. Done that plenty of times with amounts up to 50k. Last time was 2 months ago.

One thing to keep in mind. The landscape is changing. The Swiss government wants to ban cash. Right now cash is still possible. I don’t know for how long ‍

Good luck.

You can spend unlimited amounts by card.
It is the war on cash they are engaged on. As of this year, there are events in Switzerland where cash cannot be spend (only card or this local payement app).
They can make life hard for cash (physical bills) over 15k or so, again, this depends on the bank and your stance with them.

Twint, the local payment app is heavily promoted as they want to ban cash as much as possible.

Some companies have banned cash. It’s negligible. But as said before. The landscape is changing. Right now cash works without a problem I would say.

 

[JackAlabama]

Announce to your bank what you want to withdraw and make an appointment to collect it. Perhaps the bank wants to know a why. Give them the why.

If you transport it crossborder be sure to file the correct documents with customs.

Sounds easy and it is easy. Done that plenty of times with amounts up to 50k. Last time was 2 months ago.

One thing to keep in mind. The landscape is changing. The Swiss government wants to ban cash. Right now cash is still possible. I don’t know for how long ‍

Good luck.


Twint, the local payment app is heavily promoted as they want to ban cash as much as possible.

Some companies have banned cash. It’s negligible. But as said before. The landscape is changing. Right now cash works without a problem I would say.

yeah, good points. That is the impression, they want to push back the use of cash by sly means...

 

[tolstoy]

I would like to find a definition that doesn’t offend monkeys.

Maybe we can call them chimpanzees for the amount of trouble they create

Announce to your bank what you want to withdraw and make an appointment to collect it. Perhaps the bank wants to know a why. Give them the why.

If you transport it crossborder be sure to file the correct documents with customs.

Sounds easy and it is easy. Done that plenty of times with amounts up to 50k. Last time was 2 months ago.

One thing to keep in mind. The landscape is changing. The Swiss government wants to ban cash. Right now cash is still possible. I don’t know for how long ‍

Good luck.


Twint, the local payment app is heavily promoted as they want to ban cash as much as possible.

Some companies have banned cash. It’s negligible. But as said before. The landscape is changing. Right now cash works without a problem I would say.

What are the list of documents that you had to fill- might be good info for a lot of people here

 

[GPT]

Maybe we can call them chimpanzees for the amount of trouble they create


What are the list of documents that you had to fill- might be good info for a lot of people here

You walk up to the customs at the airport or border crossing. Declare what you want to do. You are given a form, you fill it, add proof if and when necessary and hand back the document. Don't complicate things.