Fee-Free Private Accounts – No More Account Fees at ZKB – News

Starting in 2024, ZKB will eliminate fees for private accounts. In this way, the bank meets the interest rate shift requirements.

New model: With the new “ZKB Banking” offer, Zürcher Kantonalbank eliminates fees for private accounts and debit cards. The free model includes three private accounts and two debit cards per person. It should be available throughout Switzerland: you can now also open an account digitally. ZKB advertises savings of up to 116 francs per year and confirms that the offer applies digitally and physically in the branch.

the hook: The new ZKB model includes no fees for up to three private accounts and two debit cards. However, they still charge fees for monthly statements, closing accounts, cash withdrawals at home and abroad, and purchases abroad. This means that the new offer is not completely free, as the only annual fee is 12 francs for a personal account and 40 francs for a debit card.

Main engines: Managing Director Urs Baumann explains the new model as follows: “We want to give back our success in the spirit of our performance mandate.” The bank achieved record profits amounting to 541 million francs in the last half of the year. The bank can now also save costs by digitizing everyday banking services. Due to the change in interest rates, fees are expected to be reduced in all banks. Negative interest rates had justified higher fees in recent years, but with rising interest rates there is no longer any reason for that.

We want to replicate our success in the spirit of our performance mandate.

The competition: Due to the change in interest rates, bank fees are under pressure. The question remains whether other banks will follow ZKB’s example. Aargauische Kantonalbank responded to the interest rate change in April and eliminated account management fees and booking fees for private and corporate accounts. But until now, no other traditional bank has taken this step.

Results: If you look at the small number of Swiss banks that no longer charge fees, you can assume that more customers are now changing banks. However, according to a study by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, this is unlikely because customers value product performance more highly than interest rate and fees. In addition, only a few customers know the interest rate of their bank and therefore do not think about switching. This knowledge gap therefore benefits banks that adhere to their fees.