Cross-border workers, Swiss citizens on holiday abroad, and companies in the Confederation: what unites these three very different categories?
The need to convert their Swiss Francs into Euros or other currencies. The first category needs them to pay their expenses in their countries of residence (Germany, France, Austria, and Italy); the second needs to pay in other currencies because the CHF is the national currency only in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Companies, by the very nature of the Confederation’s economy and geography, are naturally in contact with suppliers, clients, and partners who operate in Euros or Dollars.
For these reasons, among others, currency exchange is a recurring theme for a large part of the Swiss or cross-border population. There are obviously many ways to exchange currencies, and in this mini-guide, we analyze the difference between traditional banks and the Moneyswapp.com service.
Traditional banks:
First of all, let’s clarify the terminology: by traditional banks, we mean all banks with a physical presence in the territory, which offer all or almost all financial services (current accounts, mortgages and loans, wealth management, payment cards), which often have years of history and rely heavily on their reputation.
For years, if not decades or centuries, these financial institutions have been the point of reference for individuals and businesses seeking credit, or a safe place to store their savings or financial assets. More recently, they have become key institutions in the management of global politics and economics, interacting with each other and thus influencing the course of the global economy.
In recent years, however, these historic institutions have been challenged by more modern and technological solutions, which find their clients among individuals with fewer needs, simpler requests, or simply smaller assets to manage.
In this field, fintechs certainly stand out, such as Revolut and Trade Republic, which allow for fully online account management, without physical branches and with different licenses than those of traditional banks.
Going back to traditional banks, all the services that they offer, particularly the physical presence, impact the operating costs of the bank itself: maintaining branches, paying staff, having cash and ATMs available, providing credit, and assuming financial risks are costly operations that affect the balance sheets.
To cover these expenses, it is obviously necessary to increase revenues, which is often done by increasing costs for clients: interest rates on loans, fees for making a bank transfer or maintaining an account, and of course the spread applied to the exchange rate.
This can easily reach around 2 to 3%, which is deducted from your funds simply to be able to exchange the currency and use your money. Moreover, these costs are often hidden behind asterisks, footnotes, and very long, complex sentences.
Looking at the Moneyswapp.com service and its associated costs, on the other hand, we notice substantial differences.
First, the service specializes in currency exchange, which allows it to focus on a single service, a single need, and resolve it in the most efficient way possible.
Secondly, the exchange is carried out exclusively via bank transfer, with everything done online: this saves massive amounts of money that banks spend on managing offices and maintaining a physical presence in the territory. Furthermore, there are no closing hours: requests can arrive at any time, even on weekends, and the rate remains locked until the evening of the following business day; this way, you are always sure to get the best possible conditions, without unpleasant surprises. Finally, the pricing system of Moneyswapp.com is designed to offer the best possible rate to all types of clients: the exchange rate improves by amount brackets, so the higher the total amount to exchange, the greater the discount applied to our commissions.
This applies to all amounts starting from 100 CHF, whereas for banks, the possibility of receiving customized treatment usually only opens up when exchanging amounts exceeding a few million per year.
Moneyswapp.com vs traditional banks: the differences.
Feature
Traditional Bank
Moneyswapp.com
Exchanging currencies shouldn’t be such a high cost that you have to think long and hard about it, but unfortunately, the reality is that many financial intermediaries take advantage of clients’ needs to make safe and easy margins.
Banks already have many services that allow them to make a profit (mortgages for individuals, business loans, large wealth management) and gifting them 2% of your CHF just to change them into Euros is an expense that can be avoided. With Moneyswapp.com, you get the best exchange rate in Switzerland, costs reduced to a minimum, and a service personally dedicated to you, whether you are a cross-border worker, a company, or a Swiss citizen. Try the calculator on our homepage or contact us to discover the difference.