Research · Data report
Swiss Banking & TWINT Report 2026
Eight Swiss accounts look free until you pay in euros. This report models the yearly cost of card spending and cash withdrawals abroad, and puts the TWINT limits of seven bank and prepaid apps side by side. Every figure comes from a published price list or help page, checked in November 2026.
By Swiss Observer ResearchPublished November 12, 2026Data checked November 12, 2026
- active TWINT users in Switzerland, who made 901 million payments in 2025
- 6M+
- TWINT, 2025–2026
- published card surcharge on foreign-currency payments, lowest to highest account
- 0–1.75%
- Provider price lists, November 2026
- francs a month: the lowest and the highest TWINT limit for sending money
- 1,000–5,000
- Bank help pages, November 2026
- deposit protection per client and bank; three of the eight accounts are outside it
- CHF 100,000
- esisuisse
What a Swiss account costs when you spend in euros
Set your monthly card spending in foreign currency and the number of cash withdrawals abroad. The chart ranks the eight accounts by estimated yearly cost: account fee, currency surcharge and ATM fees.
Estimated yearly cost by account
CHF per year
Wise
Also open with a domicile abroad
CHF 19
Revolut Standard
Also open with a domicile abroad
CHF 24
Yapeal Loyalty
Also open with a domicile abroad
CHF 36
neon free
Swiss residents only
CHF 65
Alpian
Swiss residents only
CHF 84
UBS key4 banking Pure
Swiss residents only
CHF 207
Zak (Bank Cler)
Swiss residents only
CHF 228*
PostFinance Smart
Also open with a domicile abroad
CHF 246
With CHF 500 of card spending and 1 cash withdrawal a month, Wise is the cheapest account at CHF 19 a year. PostFinance Smart costs CHF 246. The gap is CHF 227 a year.
* Zak publishes no percentage: the margin sits in the bank’s exchange rate. The model uses an estimate of 2%.
The fee schedule behind the model
| Account | Monthly fee | Card surcharge, foreign currency | Cash withdrawal abroad | Card, one-off | Deposit protection |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| neon free | CHF 0 | 0.35% | 1.5% of the amount | CHF 20 for the first card | esisuisse, CHF 100,000 |
| Yapeal Loyalty | CHF 0 (Private CHF 4.90, Private+ CHF 8.90) | 0%: the Visa rate is passed on 1:1 | 1.5% of the amount | CHF 7 | None (fintech licence) |
| Alpian | CHF 0 | 0.20% on weekdays, 0.50% at weekends | 2.5% of the amount | Virtual card free; metal card CHF 60 on request | esisuisse, CHF 100,000 |
| Zak (Bank Cler) | CHF 0 (Zak Plus CHF 8) | About 2% (estimate): no fee line, the margin is in the exchange rate | CHF 5 per withdrawal (free with Zak Plus) | Included | esisuisse, CHF 100,000 |
| PostFinance Smart | CHF 5 (CHF 30 with a domicile abroad) | 1.5% | CHF 5 per withdrawal | Included | esisuisse, CHF 100,000 |
| UBS key4 banking Pure | CHF 0 (key4 banking Pro CHF 14) | 1.75% | CHF 5 per withdrawal | Included | esisuisse, CHF 100,000 |
| Wise | CHF 0 | 0.23% for CHF to EUR; other currencies vary | Free up to CHF 230 a month, then 2.69% | CHF 8 | None (safeguarding only) |
| Revolut Standard | CHF 0 | 0% on weekdays up to CHF 1,250 a month, then 1%; 1% at weekends | Free up to CHF 200 or 5 withdrawals a month, then 2% | Free card; a delivery fee applies | Lithuania, EUR 100,000 |
Fees as published by each provider on November 12, 2026. The account name links to the source. Providers can change fees at any time.
Deposit protection is not the same in every app
esisuisse protects up to CHF 100,000 per client and bank if a Swiss bank fails. Five of the eight accounts are held at a licensed Swiss bank and are covered: neon (at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg), Alpian, Zak, PostFinance and UBS. Yapeal works under a fintech licence. It keeps client money at the Swiss National Bank, but the esisuisse guarantee does not apply. Swiss customers of Revolut are clients of a Lithuanian bank, with the EU guarantee of EUR 100,000. Wise is not a bank. It safeguards client money but gives no deposit guarantee.
TWINT limits, bank by bank
TWINT is one brand but not one app. Each bank issues its own version and sets its own limits. TWINT Prepaid works with every bank account, including neon, which has no TWINT app of its own. It has the lowest limits for sending money.
| App | Funding | Limit can be changed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS TWINT | Bank account | not published | CHF 5,000 | not published | not published | CHF 4,000 | No |
| PostFinance TWINT | Bank account | not published | CHF 5,000 | not published | CHF 5,000 | CHF 4,000 | Yes |
| Raiffeisen TWINT | Bank account | CHF 2,000 | CHF 3,000 | CHF 3,000 | CHF 5,000 | not published | Yes |
| ZKB TWINT | Bank account | CHF 3,000 | CHF 5,000 | CHF 3,000 | CHF 10,000 | CHF 4,000 | Yes |
| Migros Bank TWINT | Bank account | CHF 1,000 | CHF 5,000 | CHF 1,000 | CHF 5,000 | CHF 4,000 | not published |
| neon + TWINT Prepaid | Prepaid balance | not published | CHF 1,000 | not published | CHF 10,000 | CHF 1,000 | No |
| TWINT Prepaid | Prepaid balance | not published | CHF 1,000 | not published | CHF 10,000 | CHF 1,000 | No |
- Limits as published for adult customers with a fully activated app, read on November 12, 2026. Lower limits apply to minors and to apps that are not yet activated. Select a column header to sort. A dash means that the bank publishes no figure.
- UBS: CHF 3,000 per payment to a private person; no daily limit is published. With a UBS card as the funding source, the card limit applies, up to CHF 20,000 across several cards.
- ZKB: maximum values. The app shows the personal limit.
- Migros Bank: the CHF 1,000 limit also applies to each transaction.
- TWINT Prepaid: the balance cannot be higher than CHF 3,000, and transfers between users stop at CHF 5,000 a year. neon customers link their neon account to TWINT Prepaid.
What is the same in every TWINT app
| Payment confirmation | Instant, in francs, for the payer and the merchant |
|---|---|
| Refunds | Back through TWINT to the paying app: to the bank account or the prepaid balance |
| Sending money between private users | CHF 0 |
| Merchant fee, QR-code sticker | 1.3% per payment, no fixed fee |
| Merchant fee, payment link and pay button | 1.35% + CHF 0.30 per payment |
| Merchant fee, terminals and integrated online shops | Set by the payment service provider, for example Worldline or Nexi |
| Payout to the merchant | Net of the fee, on the schedule in the acquiring contract |
Source: TWINT price pages for business customers. Private users pay no TWINT fee for payments or transfers.
Where TWINT dominates Swiss checkout: transport, retail and regulated concessions
TWINT processed 901 million transactions in 2025, 17% more than in 2024. In 2017 the figure was 4 million. Merchants now receive 77% of all TWINT payments. Transfers between private users make up the other 23%.
- 42017
- 112018
- 372019
- 1042020
- 2152021
- 3862022
- 5902023
- 7732024
- 9012025
Source: TWINT annual figures, 2017–2025.
In daily life, acceptance is close to complete. SBB sells tickets with TWINT in its app and at its ticket machines. Digitec Galaxus and Coop offer it at checkout, and Parkingpay uses it to pay for parking by phone.
- Physical shops in Switzerland that accept TWINT
- 81%
- Swiss online shops that accept TWINT
- 86%
- Share of TWINT payments that go to merchants
- 77%
Source: TWINT annual figures for 2025, published in February 2026.
A third group is less visible: regulated digital services that settle in francs inside Switzerland. Federal law reserves online casino games for operators with a Swiss concession, and their players must live in Switzerland. These operators pay in and pay out through domestic rails, and TWINT is a standard deposit method there. Our guide to TWINT payments at Swiss casinos lists which operators accept it. Our overview of licensed Swiss online casinos explains the rules, and the ESBK gaming market report has the revenue and tax figures.
Methodology
- Yearly cost = 12 × (monthly fee + currency surcharge on card spending and cash + ATM fees).
- Each cash withdrawal is CHF 200. A withdrawal abroad is a currency conversion, so the card surcharge also applies to that amount.
- Two days in seven count as weekend. This matters for Alpian and Revolut, which charge more when the currency markets are closed.
- Free allowances come first: at Wise, CHF 230 of cash a month; at Revolut, CHF 200 of cash or 5 withdrawals, and CHF 1,250 of conversions.
- Not in the model: card issue fees, fees of the foreign ATM operator, currency conversion offered by the terminal, and interest.
- Zak publishes no percentage. The model uses 2%, the middle of the 1.5% to 2.5% range that independent comparisons report.
- We read all fees and limits from the providers’ own price lists and help pages on November 12, 2026.
Sources
Primary documents and official price lists used for this report.
- neon: plans and prices
- Yapeal: private accounts and cards
- Alpian: pricing
- Bank Cler: Zak prices
- PostFinance: accounts and banking packages
- UBS: services and prices for private clients, valid from 23 September 2026
- Wise: card fees for Switzerland
- Revolut: Standard fees for Swiss customers
- UBS: TWINT transaction limits
- PostFinance: TWINT support
- Raiffeisen: TWINT limits
- Zürcher Kantonalbank: ZKB TWINT
- Migros Bank: TWINT help and support
- TWINT: limits of the TWINT Prepaid app
- TWINT: fees for business customers
- TWINT: more than 6 million people use TWINT
- Computerworld: TWINT annual figures for 2025
- esisuisse: Swiss deposit protection
Cite this report
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Suggested citation
Swiss Observer Research (2026): Swiss Banking & TWINT Report 2026. https://swissobserver.com/swiss-banking-twint-report/
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