Best Neobanks Switzerland October 2026: Neon, Yuh, Zak & More

Swiss neobanks compared: which is the best neobank?

Yuh takes the top spot with 4.8/5. CHF 0 per month, a free debit card, one free ATM withdrawal per week, and stocks, ETFs, crypto and pillar 3a in the same app you pay rent from. Nothing else in Switzerland packs that much into a free account.

Here's the odd thing: Switzerland has more than a dozen neobanks chasing your salary, yet most people still pay a traditional bank CHF 50 to CHF 200 a year for a branch they never visit. The table above ranks every neobank account we hold verified data on, sorted by score, not by marketing budget.

Want to narrow it down? Use Annual fees to hide paid accounts, Bank to show a single provider, See details for our verdict on each account, and Compare to put up to three side by side.

Spend a lot in foreign currency? Neon is still the simplest cheap option at a Swiss-licensed bank. Its 0.35% markup applies every day of the week, roughly a third of what Yuh charges. Expensive cash is what holds neon free down in fifth at 4.6/5.

Revolut Standard goes further on currency, with no exchange fee at all on weekdays inside a monthly limit. That's most of the reason it takes third place, right behind Yuh and Zak.

The top five are separated by just 0.2 stars, from Yuh's 4.8/5 down to neon free's 4.6/5. So the right account depends on how you actually spend, not on who sits one row higher.

What is a neobank?

A neobank is a bank you run entirely from a smartphone app, with no branches of its own. In Switzerland it's usually the digital brand of a licensed bank, like Yuh at Swissquote or Zak at Bank Cler. Our Swiss neobanks hub covers the category in more depth.

How do we rank Swiss neobanks?

We score every account out of 112 points across five pillars. The weights explain why the table looks the way it does:

• Cost of ownership (35 points): monthly account fee, debit card fee, and what it costs to reach your own cash.
• Everyday digital banking (25 points): app quality, QR-bill and eBill handling, TWINT, standing orders, and extras like investing or savings pots.
• Foreign currency (22 points): the card markup on non-CHF spending plus withdrawal costs abroad.
• Access and flexibility (18 points): web banking, joint accounts, sub-accounts, branch fallback, and how painlessly you can leave.
• Swiss integration (12 points): deposit protection, whether the CH IBAN is native or virtual, eBill, and TWINT.

Swiss integration is new, and Revolut is the reason we added it. We built the original four-pillar model when every product here was a Swiss-licensed bank with a Swiss IBAN, so there was nothing to tell apart. Once a cross-border EU bank entered the category, we had to price that difference in rather than pretend it didn't exist. Revolut currently scores 0 of those 12 points, for reasons we set out in the Revolut section.

Cost still carries the most weight, which is why the free accounts finish above the paid tiers. Foreign currency matters a lot but never dominates. That's why Neon's 0.35% markup alone can't lift neon free above accounts that also make cash cheap. We convert the total into the rating out of 5 you see in the table.

Every figure comes from published fee schedules, not from what the banks say about themselves in their app store listings.

Yuh: the best neobank overall4.8/5

Yuh wins the two heaviest pillars at once. The account costs CHF 0 per month, the Mastercard debit card is free, and you get one free ATM withdrawal every week. Most free accounts make you pick between no fees and useful features. Yuh doesn't.

The investing layer is the real differentiator. Swissquote has owned Yuh outright since July 2025, when PostFinance sold its 50% stake. So stocks, ETFs and crypto live inside the same app that receives your salary, with pillar 3a right next to them.

Trading costs 0.50%, which isn't the cheapest in Switzerland. You're paying for one login instead of three, and for most people that's a fair trade.

Here's the catch: foreign currency. Yuh charges a 0.95% markup on non-CHF card payments, nearly triple Neon's 0.35%. On CHF 5,000 of yearly spending abroad, that's CHF 30 more a year. Real money, but not enough to beat a free account with investing built in.

Yuh also supports 13 currency accounts, handy if you're paid in EUR, USD or GBP. Your deposits sit at Swissquote Bank, protected up to CHF 100,000 through esisuisse.

Best for: anyone who wants one free app for banking, investing and their third pillar.

Zak by Bank Cler: best for budgeting and savings pots4.7/5

Zak is the highest-ranked account here that isn't a standalone fintech. It's Bank Cler's digital banking app, and Bank Cler belongs to Basler Kantonalbank. Why does that matter? Your money sits inside a traditional Swiss bank, with branches, full payment infrastructure and esisuisse protection.

The base account is free, with a free Visa debit card and 0.05% interest on balances up to CHF 25,000. Tiny, sure, but still more than the 0% at Neon and Yuh.

The "Töpfli" savings pots are the best budgeting tool of any Swiss neobank. Withdrawals at Bank Cler and Basler Kantonalbank ATMs are free, then CHF 2 elsewhere.

Its weakness is obvious: a 2.00% FX markup. That's level with UBS key4 Pure for the worst in the ranking, and almost six times Neon's. If you spend abroad regularly, free Zak is the wrong account.

Zak also stopped being the "no investing" option this year. Since January 2026, Zak Invest lets you trade more than 12,000 stocks, funds and ETFs inside the app, and Zak Plus users get 50% off the brokerage fee. Bank Cler says it's the only neobank offer in Switzerland that also gives you branches and a personal adviser.

Zak Plus: the fix for that FX problem4.7/5

Zak Plus ties with free Zak, but gets there by a completely different route. You pay CHF 96 a year (CHF 8 per month), and in return the FX markup drops to 0% and ATM withdrawals become free worldwide. What it gains on foreign currency, it gives back on cost.

The maths is simple: Zak Plus pays for itself at around CHF 5,000 of yearly foreign currency spending, once you count the withdrawals. Spend less than that? Take neon free and keep the CHF 96.

Revolut: the cheapest way to spend abroad4.7/5

Revolut Standard earns third place almost entirely on cost and foreign currency. The account is CHF 0 per month, CHF 0 to open, with no annual card fee, and virtual cards are free. The first physical card is free too, though delivery costs CHF 5.99 standard or CHF 19.99 express, and a replacement is CHF 5.99.

The exchange deal is the best of any free account in this comparison. Revolut charges no exchange fee on weekdays, up to CHF 1,250 of currency exchange a month, then a 1% fair usage fee. Weekends cost 1%, from Friday 5pm to Sunday 6pm New York time. Compare that with 0.35% at neon free, 0.95% at Yuh and 2% at Zak on every single conversion.

Pro tip: convert before Friday evening. The weekend rate is the easiest Revolut fee to avoid.

Cash is tighter than the free headline suggests. You get five withdrawals or CHF 200 per rolling month, whichever comes first, then 2% with a CHF 1 minimum. That allowance covers Switzerland and abroad together, so one cash-heavy holiday week can eat the whole month.

Most transfers are free: local CHF payments, incoming payments, standing orders, SEPA transfers in euros, and instant transfers to other Revolut users. Other international payments cost 0.15% with a minimum that depends on the route (CHF 1.60 to send USD to the United States, for example). Sending USD, EUR, GBP or CHF outside that currency's home country costs a flat CHF 4.00.

So what costs it the top spot? Swiss clients bank with Revolut Bank UAB, a Lithuanian bank licensed by the European Central Bank and supervised by the Bank of Lithuania. Your deposits are covered by the Lithuanian guarantee scheme up to EUR 100,000, not by esisuisse's CHF 100,000. Revolut (Switzerland) AG is a FINMA-authorised representative office, not a Swiss banking licence.

The everyday gaps follow from that. There's no eBill, no QR-bill invoicing, no TWINT and no Swiss LSV direct debit, and CHF balances earn 0%. That adds up to 0 out of 12 on Swiss integration, against 12 for Yuh and Zak.

The Swiss IBAN is real, but it's virtual. Revolut issues it through a partnership with PostFinance and runs it on PostFinance's payment infrastructure, while Revolut Bank UAB holds your balance. Salary payments and CHF transfers work. But it isn't a native CH IBAN under Revolut's own banking licence, and that's exactly what the Swiss integration pillar measures.

Scale is firmly on its side. Around 1.3 million people in Switzerland use Revolut, against roughly 400,000 at Yuh and 250,000 at neon, which makes it the country's largest neobank by customers. Revolut Switzerland Payments AG issues its contactless, multi-currency Visa and Mastercard debit cards. There's no minimum deposit and no withdrawal limit, you must be 18 or older, and statements are PDF only.

In September 2026 Revolut applied to FINMA for a full Swiss banking licence and committed more than CHF 150 million to the Swiss market over five years. FINMA hasn't published a timeline. If it grants the licence, native Swiss IBANs, eBill and esisuisse cover all become possible, and the score moves. Until then, treat all three as pending, not coming.

Best for: anyone who converts currency regularly, as a second account next to a Swiss main bank rather than a replacement for one.

neon free: a low FX markup every day of the week4.6/5

neon free is still the account I recommend if your card sees a lot of foreign currency and you want that inside a Swiss-licensed bank. The 0.35% markup holds seven days a week. No other free Swiss-licensed account matches that, and it beats plenty of paid premium cards.

The account costs CHF 0 per month, with free domestic and SEPA transfers, eBill, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The debit card carries a CHF 20 one-off fee when it's issued, the only upfront cost you'll meet.

One gap people miss: neon has eBill but not native TWINT. You can use TWINT Prepaid or the UBS TWINT app alongside it, but neither debits your neon account directly, so you're topping up a separate balance every time. That one difference is why neon scores 10 out of 12 on Swiss integration, where Yuh and Zak take 12.

Cash is what holds it back. Every ATM withdrawal costs CHF 2.50 in Switzerland and 1.5% of the amount abroad (Sonect cash-back points are free). There's no built-in trading platform either, and your balance earns 0%.

Withdraw cash twice a month and you've handed back CHF 60 a year, which is most of what you saved on FX. So be honest with yourself about how often you use cash.

Neon also offers a joint account, Neon Duo, which is genuinely rare in this category and makes it a strong pick for couples. Deposits sit at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg under full FINMA supervision. To see how it stacks up against number one, read our Neon vs Yuh comparison.

Best for: people who spend abroad or shop from EU retailers and rarely touch cash.

Swissquote Light: the free account from the bank behind Yuh4.3/5

Swissquote Light ties with UBS key4 Pure and edges ahead of it on yearly cost. It's the free package from Swissquote Bank, the same bank that owns Yuh. You get CHF 0 per month and one IBAN holding 13 currencies, with the same 0.95% exchange fee on those currencies (Mastercard rate plus 1.5% on anything else).

Like UBS key4, it takes full marks on cost and Swiss integration. Native CH IBAN, full TWINT, eBill, esisuisse cover at Swissquote Bank, and both an app and full web banking.

The trade-offs are the card and the cash. The Debit Mastercard is virtual-only, so you pay with your phone or watch through Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, and there's no plastic to hand over.

Every ATM withdrawal costs CHF 1.90 in Switzerland and CHF 4.90 abroad, with no free allowance, and SEPA transfers cost EUR 2. Yuh gives you a free physical card and one free withdrawal a week at the same exchange fee, which is most of why it sits five places higher.

Best for: people who already invest with Swissquote, want their everyday account at the same bank, and rarely use cash.

UBS key4 Pure: the big-bank answer to neobanks4.3/5

UBS key4 Pure is the only big-bank account in this ranking. It's the online private account in UBS's key4 package for adults from 26. You get CHF 0 per month, a free debit card, free domestic payments, and free withdrawals at UBS ATMs.

It takes full marks on cost and Swiss integration. Native CH IBAN, full TWINT, eBill, and deposits at UBS covered by esisuisse. It's also one of the few accounts here with both a proper app and full web banking, which matters more than you'd expect at tax time.

Foreign currency is where it falls apart. Card payments in another currency cost 2% with a CHF 1 minimum, level with free Zak for the worst markup in the ranking. Using another bank's ATM costs CHF 2 in Switzerland and CHF 5 abroad.

UBS sells optional cash modules at CHF 2 or CHF 5 a month if you need more free withdrawals. At that point, though, you're paying for something the neobanks give you for free.

Best for: people who want a free UBS account for their Swiss life and never spend in another currency.

Is Neon metal worth CHF 180 a year?4.3/5

Short answer: rarely. Neon metal is the most expensive account in our ranking at CHF 180 a year. It buys you a 0% FX markup with no monthly cap, five free ATM withdrawals a month in Switzerland (then CHF 2.50 each), no neon fee on withdrawals abroad, and a metal card.

Two things hold it back. It costs nearly twice as much as Zak Plus for a broadly similar foreign currency benefit, and Neon still has no web banking at all. Everything runs through your phone, which is fine until you need to reconcile a year of statements or your phone is in for repair.

It also has to justify CHF 180 against Revolut, which converts for free on weekdays inside its monthly limit. That's a tough sell.

Best for: heavy travellers who already like Neon's app and withdraw cash abroad often enough to burn through CHF 180 in fees.

Alpian: best for holding EUR, USD and GBP4.1/5

Alpian is a Geneva bank with its own FINMA licence, and one Swiss IBAN holds balances in CHF, EUR, USD and GBP. There's no monthly fee, opening and closing are free, and card payments in any of those four currencies are free when you pay from the matching balance.

On weekdays, its exchange fee is the lowest of any Swiss-licensed account here without a yearly fee: 0.20%, against 0.35% at neon free. From Friday 21:00 to Monday 08:00 it rises to 0.50%. EUR and USD balances also earn interest (0.75% and 1% a year on the portion between 10,001 and 500,000), which no other ranked account offers.

So why ninth? The metal Visa debit card costs CHF 60 when it's issued, and again on replacement or renewal after five years (virtual cards are free). Cash is expensive, at CHF 2 per withdrawal in Switzerland and 2.5% of the amount abroad.

And there's no web banking and only TWINT Prepaid, which you top up by QR transfer rather than paying straight from the account.

Best for: people paid or saving in EUR, USD or GBP who mostly pay by card.

Do neobanks offer savings accounts?

Yes, but this ranking compares everyday accounts, so we rank the savings accounts from Yuh and Alpian alongside every other Swiss savings account. See neobank savings accounts to open that ranking with the Neobanks only filter switched on.

Which neobanks are not in the ranking?

Radicant is gone. It ceased all operations in November 2025, and its closure is why the free end of the Swiss market no longer has a 0% FX option.

N26 offers a Mastercard, free withdrawals and decent rates, but your IBAN is German. That still causes real friction with Swiss payroll and QR-bills, so N26 stays out of the table.

Wise is outstanding for international transfers and multi-currency balances, with genuinely transparent pricing. It isn't a bank, though. No Swiss IBAN, no domestic payment infrastructure, and it was never designed to be your main account.

Which neobank is right for you?

Good news: none of the ranked accounts is a bad choice. The right one depends on how you use your money.

Are neobanks safe in Switzerland?

Short answer: yes, almost all of them. Eight of the nine accounts in our ranking are, or run on, a FINMA-regulated Swiss bank. Your deposits are covered by esisuisse up to CHF 100,000 per depositor per bank, exactly as at UBS or a cantonal bank. The app is just the interface. The licence underneath is what protects your money:

• Yuh and Swissquote Light deposits sit at Swissquote Bank (FINMA-regulated)
• Neon deposits sit at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg (FINMA-regulated)
• Zak deposits sit at Bank Cler (FINMA-regulated, BKB group)
• UBS key4 deposits sit at UBS (FINMA-regulated)
• Alpian holds its own Swiss banking licence (FINMA-regulated)
• Revolut deposits sit at Revolut Bank UAB in Lithuania, covered up to EUR 100,000 by the Lithuanian scheme instead

Our guide to deposit protection explains how esisuisse works and what a cross-border scheme means in practice.

Common neobank mistakes to avoid

My recommendation: which neobank should you pick?

Want to weigh these accounts against traditional banks feature by feature? Use the bank account comparison tool. And if you only care about zero-fee options, our free bank accounts guide covers every one of them.

Frequently asked questions

Next steps

Use the comparison table above to filter by the fee that actually affects you, then open the detailed review for each account on your shortlist. That's the fastest way to find the best Swiss neobank for how you actually bank, not for how the ads say you should.