Economic news in stock ticker: SIX stock exchange chairman announces his departure at the end of January | Interest rates on Swiss savings accounts are on the rise again

7:14 a.m

The shift in interest rates at the SNB also has an impact on Mr. and Mrs. Suisse’s savings accounts. Adults currently receive a prime interest rate of 0.5 percent or more at many local banks, according to a study by comparison service Moneyland and published Tuesday.

Across all offerings, the unweighted average savings interest in January 2023 is about 0.19 percent. That’s more than four times what it was a year ago, when the average was 0.04 percent, Moneyland said.

Look closely at the conditions

In all, there were ten savings accounts in which adults—that is, not counting youth savings accounts—earned at least half a percent of the principal interest. It includes the banks of the cantons of Zug, Lucerne, Schaffhausen, Glarus and Zurich. Also on the list are some Clientis Regional Banks or Yuh, an app offered by Postfinance and Swissquote.

However, it is important to take a closer look at the circumstances. For example, many bank accounts with particularly good interest rates have stricter withdrawal terms and restrictions. For example, the 0.6 percent interest rate on Schaffhauser Kantonalbank’s Savings Plus account only applies to an amount of up to CHF 20,000.

The adults are lagging behind

Of the five largest Swiss banks, Zürcher Kantonalbank is the most generous with an interest rate of 0.5 percent, the Moneyland authors continue to write. At Postfinance, the interest rate is 0.4 percent, more than double the Swiss rate.

UBS raises interest rates on savings and pension accounts

For example, the large bank UBS will pay its customers more interest on their savings and pension accounts from February 2023. In the past few weeks, many banks have already announced higher interest rates for their savings customers.

From the beginning of February, UBS customers will receive an interest rate of 0.1% on traditional savings accounts. On UBS youth savings accounts, it will be increased to 0.5%, a bank spokesman told AWP news agency on Tuesday.

However, among the large organizations, UBS remains one of the least generous. There is more at Zürcher Kantonalbank with an interest of 0.5 percent, at Postfinance it is 0.4 percent.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has started an interest rate shift in 2022 and recently increased the key rate in another move to 1.0% in mid-December.