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Opening a Swiss bank account – PostFinance, TWINT, your permit card and the delayed e-ID

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

Banks, landlords and authorities in Switzerland all want paperwork from you, and the state e-ID that voters approved in 2025 has been postponed. Here is how to open a Swiss bank account now, which documents prove who you are and where you live, and how people pay – by card, TWINT or cash.

Smiling woman holding a phone and a bank card on a sofa at home
Photo: Jose Calsina/Adobe Stock

If you are opening a bank account in Switzerland in autumn 2026, one piece of the plan has slipped. Voters approved the state e-ID on 28 September 2025, and opening a bank account is among its listed future uses – but on 30 June 2026 the Federal Office of Justice postponed the launch and set no new date. For now you prove who you are with your passport or ID card and your Swiss permit card, and proof of address starts with registering at your commune.

How do you open a bank account in Switzerland?

One provider has a legal duty to serve you. Under the Postal Act, Swiss Post must provide basic payment services nationwide, and PostFinance carries out that mandate. According to OFCOM (the Federal Office of Communications), this includes opening and running a payment account in Swiss francs for anyone domiciled in Switzerland, and 90 per cent of residents must be able to reach a post office within 30 minutes to deposit or withdraw cash.

PostFinance says you must be of legal age and live in Switzerland; customers up to 20 get a free youth account. You open the account online in about ten minutes, then confirm your identity at a PostFinance or Swiss Post branch or by video chat. For other banks, ask which documents they want.

PostFinance private accountCost or rule
Banking package SmartCHF 5 a month; free if combined with a PostFinance mortgage, life insurance or invested assets
Banking package SmartPlusCHF 10 a month
Customer domiciled abroadCHF 25 a month per account
Cash with the PostFinance Card (Smart)Free at Postomats, post offices, Migros, Coop Pronto and Denner; CHF 2 at other banks; CHF 5 at banks abroad
Paper statementsCHF 5 a month
Interest on your balance0.00 per cent
If you go overdrawn9.50 per cent debit interest; an overdraft limit of CHF 1,000 may be granted after a credit check

Source: PostFinance, read 23 September 2026.

PostFinance's hotline is +41 58 448 14 14, Monday to Friday 8:00–20:00 and Saturday 8:00–17:00.

Two protections apply at any bank. Deposits up to CHF 100,000 per client are secured if a bank fails, according to the financial market supervisor, FINMA. And residents get the 35 per cent anticipatory tax on interest and dividends back by declaring the income in their tax return (part 7).

Which documents prove your identity and address?

Once you register, your canton issues your residence permit card, the Ausländerausweis / livret pour étrangers. For non-EU/EFTA nationals it holds a chip with two fingerprints and a facial image. EU/EFTA citizens get a card without a chip, though in the Canton of Zurich they still need a biometrics appointment for a photo and signature.

Renew a permit no earlier than three months and no later than two weeks before it expires; non-EU/EFTA passports must be valid for at least three months beyond the permit. If the card is lost or stolen, report it to the police, then request a duplicate from the residents' office or migration office with your passport, a photo and the loss notice.

For your address, the Swiss authorities' official portal says you are generally expected to register with your new commune within 14 days of moving (part 3); afterwards you can order a certificate of residence, Wohnsitzbestätigung / attestation de domicile. Banks ask for an extract from the debt enforcement register, Betreibungsregisterauszug / extrait du registre des poursuites, when you apply for a loan, and landlords often want one. It covers only the district where you request it.

DocumentWho issues itCost
Residence permit card (L, B or C)Your canton of residenceFederal caps: CHF 95 for the permit, CHF 22 for the card, CHF 20 for biometrics; EU/EFTA citizens at most CHF 65 in total
Duplicate permit cardResidents' office or cantonal migration officeUp to CHF 40
Certificate of residenceYour communeCity of Zurich: CHF 20 in German, CHF 30 in English, French or Italian, free for children
Debt enforcement register extractThe register for your districtCHF 17 plus postage

Source: SEM, the federal Fee Ordinance, the Swiss authorities' official portal and the City of Zurich, read 23 September 2026.

When will the Swiss e-ID be available?

Not yet, and there is no date. The e-ID Act passed narrowly, with 50.39 per cent yes – 1,384,586 votes to 1,363,362 – on a turnout of 49.55 per cent. The Federal Council validated the result only after the Federal Supreme Court had dealt with complaints from several cantons.

DateWhat happened
28 September 2025Voters approve the e-ID Act
25 February 2026Launch still planned for 1 December 2026, despite a CHF 1.7 million budget cut
30 April 2026The Federal Council validates the vote result by decree
30 June 2026Launch postponed for security work against AI-related risks such as deepfakes and malware; no new date
First half of 2027The swiyu trust infrastructure is expected to go live, and the e-ID Act to take effect at least in part, for example for the electronic driving licence

Source: the Federal Office of Justice e-ID programme and the Federal Gazette, read 23 September 2026.

The budget cut also dropped plans to connect to international e-ID systems, to run a federal back-up service and to issue the e-ID in third-party wallets, so it will live only in the federal swiyu wallet. The e-ID will be free, optional and valid only in Switzerland; foreign authorities, at a border for example, will not recognise it.

What the e-ID will mean for foreign residents

Everyone living in Switzerland will be able to order one; foreign residents will need their Swiss permit card. There is no minimum age, but for under-18s a parent who already has an e-ID orders it or consents. You will install the swiyu app, scan your document and record a short video of your face. Issue usually takes minutes, an in-depth check a few days, and you can add the e-ID to up to eight devices – only while you apply.

FINMA consulted from 16 December 2025 to 27 February 2026 on letting banks use the e-ID to open accounts online, expecting the law in force by mid-2026 – an assumption the postponement has overtaken. Meanwhile, federal, cantonal and communal authorities use the AGOV login. It is open to everyone worldwide, though some services require an AHV number (part 3), and for now it works only with the AGOV access app or a FIDO security key.

How do people pay in Switzerland – TWINT, card or cash?

The debit card is the most used payment method at the till, followed by cash and mobile payment apps, according to the Swiss National Bank's 2025 survey. The best-known app is TWINT, founded in September 2016 and owned by BCV, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, UBS, Zürcher Kantonalbank, SIX and Worldline; the company reports more than 6 million users.

Cash is getting harder to reach, not less wanted: in 2025, 81 per cent were satisfied with the options for withdrawing it, down from 88 per cent in 2024, and only 2 per cent favoured abolishing it. On 8 March 2026 voters accepted a constitutional provision on the Swiss currency and the supply of cash with 73.4 per cent and every canton; the 'cash is freedom' initiative itself won 45.6 per cent.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Register with your commune (part 3)Within 14 days of moving
2Open a PostFinance account online, or ask your bank which documents it wantsOnce you live in Switzerland
3Confirm your identity at a branch or by video chatRight after applying online
4Order a certificate of residence or debt enforcement extract if a landlord or bank asksWhen you apply for a flat or a loan
5Diary your permit renewal windowThree months to two weeks before expiry
6Watch for the e-ID launch dateNo date set yet

Source: PostFinance, the Swiss authorities' official portal and the Federal Office of Justice, read 23 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 23 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.