Neo-banks are great!
In fact, I swear by them!
Substantial savings on management, account and card fees, and great ease of use are their number 1 assets.
But with the proliferation of new banking providers, it’s not easy to find your way around. So I thought I’d save you those long hours of research and give you a summary in a blog post.
That way, you can choose the neo-bank that’s right for you, based on your profile.
3-2-1, here we go!
Some relevant information
| Features | Yuh | Neon | Zak |
| Free account with free card | ?Mastercard | Not all free. Mastercard | ?Visa |
| Fast account opening | in 15 minutes | in 15 minutes | in 30 minutes (bug for video identification) |
| Use in Switzerland | ? | ? | ? |
| Fees when using abroad | 0.95% exchange fee and CHF 4.90/withdrawal | No exchange rate surcharge. 1.50% fee on withdrawals | 1.50 CHF/payment abroad and CHF 5 per withdrawal |
| Free transfers within Switzerland | ? | ? | ? |
| SEPA transfers abroad | ? | ? | ? |
| Non-SEPA payments abroad | ❌ | ? | ? |
| For trading | ? | ? | ❌ |
| Savings account / piggy bank | ? | ? | ? |
| EUR account availbale | ? | ❌ | ❌ |
| Security | Subsidiary Swissquote and PostFinance | Partner Hypothekarbank Lenzburg | Offer Bank Cler – Coop |
| IBAN | ? | ? | ? |
| eBill | ? | ? | ? |
| TWINT | ? | Via Twint UBS or Twint Prepaid | Not ideal. Only via TWINT Prepaid |
| Compatible Apple Pay, Google Pay | ? | ? | ? |
| Free debit card | ? | ❌ 10 CHF delivery fee | ? |
| Free withdrawals in CHF | ?1 withdrawal/week, then 1.90 CHF, limited to 10,000 CHF/month | ❌2 withdrawals/month then 2 CHF | All withdrawals are free at Banque Cler, otherwise 2 CHF |
| Free withdrawals abroad | ❌ 4.90 CHF/withdrawal | ❌ 1.5% | ❌ 5 CHF/withdrawal |
| Ergonomics of the app | ? | ? | Less ideal. you need to activate plugins to access eBill or activate common pots. Need ONE app in addition to track and manage bank card |
| Deposit protection up to 100,000 CHF | ? | ? | ? |
| Promo code | 50 CHF trading credit and 500 Swissqoins with code YUHMONEYMADAM | 10 CHF with code 19E53H |
Foreign currency accounts
Neon only offers an account in CHF, which means that any payment in EUR or any other currency will be subject to an exchange rate and possible charges. Neon uses Wise for foreign currency transfers and Wise often offers the best exchange rates.
Similarly, Zak only offers a CHF account, which also means that any payment in EUR or another currency will be subject to an exchange rate and possible charges. There is no mention of the exchange rate applied for currency conversion. CHF 1.50 is charged for each payment abroad and CHF 5 for each withdrawal.
Yuh offers a multi-currency account with a choice of main currency: CHF, EUR or USD, making it an ideal bank account for cross-border commuters and non-residents.
What’s more, Yuh lets you create sub-accounts in 13 different currencies: CHF – USD – EUR – GBP – JPY – AUD – CAD – SEK – HKD – NOK – DKK – AED – SGD.
If we look at incoming bank transfers, they are free in all available currencies, which is an advantage over Neon, which can only accept CHF free of charge.
But don’t forget that Yuh applies a 0.95% exchange rate charge, so crediting your Yuh account with CHF to convert it into EUR or another available currency will cost you 0.95%, which is not always an advantage over Neon.
To avoid exchange charges on the EURO, the trick would be to fund your Yuh account in EUR from another account in EUR, and you will then benefit from free payments in the EURO zone.
What about the trading account?
Yuh was the first Swiss neo-bank to offer a trading account for equities/bonds/ETFs/trading themes and 32+ crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin.
But since July 2023, Neon has also made it possible to use its application for Trading.
So here’s a quick overview of the fees.
| Trading account fees | Yuh | Neon | Zak |
| Free custody fees | ? | ? | ❌ |
| Trading Swiss ETFs | 0.50% | 0.50% | ❌ |
| Trading Swiss equities | 0.50% | 0.50% | ❌ |
| Trading foreign ETFs | 0.50% | 1.00% | ❌ |
| Trading foreign equities | 0.50% | 1.00% | ❌ |
| Trading Themes | 0.50% | ❌ | ❌ |
| Trading cryptocurrencies | 1.00% | ❌ | ❌ |
Loyalty program
Zak and Neon do not yet offer a loyalty programme (except for carbon offsetting with Neon Green).
In this area, only Yuh offers a loyalty programme that pays you in Swissqoins (SWQ), Yuh’s cryptocurrency.
At present, 1 Swissqoin is worth CHF 0.015, 50% more than when it was launched 2 years ago. Indeed, at the launch of the programme, 1 Swissqoin was equivalent to CHF 0.01. Since the Welcome Bonus is 250 Swissqoins, that’s CHF 3.80.
And, at all times, Yuh pays you on the following transactions as follows:
- One-off deposit of CHF 500 when you open your account = SWQ 250
- Each trade on the Yuh application = SWQ 10
- Each payment with the Yuh Mastercard = 2 SWQ
You’ll see that your quota rises very quickly. I’m already at 5,000 Swissqoins, without changing my buying or investing habits. Personally, I love it!
Conclusion: Which neo-bank is best?
In terms of the various criteria reviewed in the 2 tables, Yuh wins the round.
It offers a range of features similar to traditional banks, such as free withdrawals once a week. It is unbeatable for anyone wanting to have a CHF, EUR and USD account, free of charge. It offers payment with Twint and a very instinctive trading account for beginners. Yuh has also recently launched a pillar 3a solution (but we’ll look at that together in another article).
What’s really nice is that all the banks are very transparent about their charges, both in Switzerland and abroad.
Speaking of which, Yuh and Zak are heavily penalised by the CHF 4.90 and CHF 5 fixed charges for withdrawals abroad. Unless you withdraw EUR 1,000 – which is not always possible at foreign ATMs – Neon will always be cheaper on foreign withdrawals.
Yuh is also penalised on card payments because of the 0.95% fee on currency exchange. Neon therefore remains better positioned than Yuh when it comes to travel and exchange rates. But if you’re not against using several cards, then it would be wiser to open a Revolut account for all payments abroad. I talk about it in this YouTube video, so don’t hesitate to go and watch it.
So there you have it, if I had to choose a neo-bank to optimise my finances, my choice would be Yuh.
And if this article has inspired you to open an account with this super neo-bank, you can use the promo code YUHMONEYMADAM to receive CHF 50 in trading credit and 250 Swissqoins.
Whichever neo-bank you choose, you’ll always save money compared with traditional banks. The important thing is that the app suits you and allows you to manage your finances as well as possible.
So now… To your investments!
