This page is also available in:
Deutsch
At Investing Hero, I aim to provide the best investing platform reviews. To support this, some of the providers featured in reviews will generate an affiliate commission which helps pay to run this website. However, this doesn’t influence my reviews. My opinions are my own. The information provided on Investing Hero is for informational purposes only. Please read the disclaimer.
Interactive Brokers is the cheapest serious broker a Swiss resident can open. A CHF 2’000 ETF trade on SIX costs CHF 1.50, changing francs into dollars costs 0.002%, and there’s no custody fee, no minimum deposit and no Swiss stamp duty. In exchange, taxes are your job, and your account sits with a UK entity rather than a Swiss bank.
The broker for anyone investing long term who will do their own taxes. Costs sit far below every Swiss alternative, and it’s the only mainstream route to US ETFs like VT. You give up the Swiss tax statement, the FINMA licence, and an easy first hour.
Interactive Brokers pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
What Interactive Brokers actually costs
Interactive Brokers fees in Switzerland sit on public pricing pages, and unlike most brokers there’s nothing hiding in a plan grid: no subscription, no custody percentage quietly taken off the top, no tier to be upsold into. Two numbers decide most Swiss portfolios, the SIX minimum and the US minimum, and both are below what any Swiss provider charges for anything.
| Item | Tiered | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | 0.05% of order value | 0.05% of order value |
| Minimum per order | CHF 1.50 | CHF 5.00 |
| Maximum per order | CHF 49 | None |
| Exchange and clearing fees | Passed through, small | Included |
Source: IBKR’s own stock commissions page, Switzerland section, read 15 September 2026.
Tiered or fixed, decoded. Every account picks one of these pricing plans in settings and can switch anytime. Tiered has the lower minimum, CHF 1.50 against CHF 5.00, with small exchange fees added on top; fixed is one clean number with nothing added. For orders under about CHF 5’000, which is most people’s monthly savings plan, tiered is cheaper. Set it once and forget it.
| Item | Tiered | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | USD 0.0035 per share | USD 0.005 per share |
| Minimum per order | USD 0.35 | USD 1.00 |
| Maximum per order | 1% of order value | 1% of order value |
Source: IBKR’s stock commissions page, United States section, read 15 September 2026. Small US regulatory fees apply on sales; they are fractions of a cent per share. Buying five shares of VT costs USD 0.35, because five shares at USD 0.0035 rounds up to the minimum. That is the whole commission on roughly USD 650 of investment.
Currency exchange, the fee that decides everything
To buy US ETFs you first change francs into dollars. At IBKR a currency conversion costs 0.002% of the amount with a minimum of USD 2, at the live interbank rate with no markup. Converting CHF 10’000 costs about two dollars. The same conversion inside a typical Swiss banking app costs CHF 90 to CHF 150, buried in the exchange rate. Plenty of people keep an IBKR account purely as a currency changer, and the account pays for its own learning curve on the first large transfer.
Do the conversion yourself. IBKR can convert automatically when you place an order in a currency you don’t hold, but automatic conversion is priced differently and costs more on larger amounts. Learn the two-step: convert CHF to USD manually first, then place the order. It takes thirty seconds and it is the single habit that keeps IBKR as cheap as advertised.
Everything else
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Custody | CHF 0 |
| Account minimum | None |
| Inactivity fee | None |
| Deposits | Free |
| Withdrawals | 1 free per calendar month, then charged per withdrawal |
| Real-time market data | Optional paid subscriptions; delayed quotes free |
| Interest on cash | Paid above the equivalent of USD 10’000, near the currency’s reference rate |
With the SNB reference rate at zero, CHF cash at IBKR currently earns nothing, the same as everywhere else in Switzerland. Dollar balances above the threshold do earn interest, which matters once a portfolio holds USD cash between purchases.
The stamp duty nobody charges you
Every Swiss bank and Swiss broker must collect federal stamp duty on securities trades: 0.075% on Swiss securities and 0.15% on foreign ones, on every buy and every sell. IBKR isn’t a Swiss securities dealer, so the duty doesn’t apply. On a CHF 10’000 purchase of a foreign ETF that is CHF 15 saved before commissions are even compared, and it is a structural advantage no Swiss provider can match at any price.
Why Swiss investors choose Interactive Brokers
US ETFs. Since 2019, EU investment rules have pushed most European brokers to block US-domiciled ETFs like VT, VOO and VXUS for retail clients. Switzerland isn’t in the EU, and Swiss residents at IBKR are served by the UK entity with market access through the US parent, so these funds remain available. That makes IBKR the cheapest way to buy US stocks from Switzerland, and US ETFs typically carry lower ongoing costs than their European equivalents while recovering US withholding tax on dividends more efficiently. It’s one of the main reasons the Swiss long-term investing community keeps recommending IBKR.
The savings plan. Recurring investments let you automate a monthly buy of a stock or ETF from small CHF amounts using fractional shares, which turns IBKR into a savings-plan machine that costs 35 cents a month for a US ETF. No Swiss provider’s savings plan comes close on cost.
Financial strength. Interactive Brokers has been operating since 1978, is publicly listed, and holds equity capital far above regulatory requirements. When the argument against IBKR is that it isn’t a Swiss bank, the counterargument is that it’s one of the largest and most conservatively run brokers in the world.
Interactive Brokers has no minimum deposit and no monthly cost, so opening the account before you feel ready costs nothing. Fund it with CHF 100, place one CHF 1.50 trade, and the learning curve stops being theoretical.
Is my money safe at Interactive Brokers?
The setup is different from a Swiss broker, so here it is without varnish. As a Swiss resident you contract with Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited, regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Your securities and most of your cash are held in custody at the US parent, Interactive Brokers LLC, regulated by the SEC. There’s no FINMA licence and no esisuisse deposit insurance anywhere in this chain.
What you get instead. Segregation: your securities are held separately from IBKR’s own assets, so if the broker failed they are yours and would be transferred, not distributed to creditors, which is the same principle that protects securities at a Swiss bank. SIPC: because custody sits at the US entity, accounts are covered by the US Securities Investor Protection Corporation up to USD 500’000, including up to USD 250’000 in cash. SIPC covers securities that go missing in an insolvency, not market losses. Excess cover: on top of SIPC, IBKR carries private insurance with Lloyd’s of London underwriters for up to an additional USD 30 million per client, subject to an aggregate cap. Source: Interactive Brokers UK’s client protection page, read 15 September 2026.
The one thing to remember. Deposit insurance protects cash at a failed bank. Securities don’t need it: they’re your property and sit outside the broker’s estate. Keep large cash balances at your Swiss bank, keep investments at whichever broker is cheapest, and the safety question mostly answers itself.
Opening an Interactive Brokers account from Switzerland
The application runs online in English or German and took me about 20 minutes. It’s longer than a Swiss neobank sign-up because a US-linked broker wants to know more about you: identity, job, wealth and investing experience. Here’s every step, with screenshots from my own application in September 2026.
Before you start, have three things to hand: your passport, a document that shows your home address, and your AHV number. Choose CHF as your base currency when asked, so every statement and your tax declaration read in francs.
Step 1: create your login
Go to Interactive Brokers’ website and click the red Open Account button in the top right corner. The first form only wants an email address, a username and a password.
Step 2: confirm your email
IBKR sends you a confirmation email before it lets you go any further. Click the link in it and the full application opens.
Step 3: personal, employment and wealth details
This is the long part. IBKR asks for your identity details, including your AHV number, then your employment, wealth and investing experience. It’s all standard for a broker, just more thorough than a neobank. Answer the experience questions honestly, but don’t tick “no experience” everywhere, because that locks you out of ordinary shares and ETFs and takes a support ticket to fix. The section ends when you confirm your mobile number.
Step 4: regulatory questions and tax residence
Next come the regulatory questions, which decide the products you’re allowed to trade. The section finishes with a screen where you confirm and sign your tax residence.
The W-8BEN form is part of the application’s tax section. It confirms you’re not a US taxpayer and applies the Swiss-US tax treaty, cutting withholding on US dividends from 30% to 15%. You can reclaim that 15% through the DA-1 form in your Swiss tax return, which makes US ETFs unusually tax-efficient for Swiss investors. The form renews every three years and IBKR reminds you.
Step 5: review and sign the agreements
IBKR then lists the client agreements for you to review and sign. Take a moment to check everything first. A typo in your address or tax details is far easier to fix now than after approval.
Step 6: verify your identity
After signing, IBKR checks who you are with three things: your passport, a selfie, and a document that shows your residential address. Most of it runs in real time and it’s fairly quick.
Step 7: fund the account
Deposits are free on IBKR’s side. You can send a normal bank transfer from your Swiss account, or link Wise and fund the account straight from there. I like the Wise option, because I already use Wise for moving money between currencies.
Fund it while you wait. Approval can take up to 24 hours, and a funded account speeds it up. Send the first deposit as soon as the identity checks are done.
The platforms: pick the simple one
IBKR’s reputation for complexity comes from Trader Workstation, the desktop platform professionals use. You never have to open it. IBKR GlobalTrader is the app built for exactly the person reading this page: search a fund, set an amount, buy, done, with recurring investments built in. IBKR Mobile and the browser-based Client Portal sit in the middle, and the Client Portal is where account admin, currency conversion and statements live. A workable setup: GlobalTrader or the mobile app for buying, Client Portal once a month for everything else, Trader Workstation never.
What the account looks like once you’re in
Approval came through inside a day. What you land on is Client Portal, the browser version of the account, and it’s plainer than IBKR’s reputation suggests. GlobalTrader is still the gentler app, but you don’t need it: a purchase in the browser is four clicks. Screenshots from my own account, September 2026.
The dashboard
Balances, positions and performance sit on one screen with nothing to configure first. The menus above carry far more than a long-term investor will ever open, and nothing pushes you into them.
Buying your first ETF
The trade button sits top right on every screen. Click it, type a ticker, pick the exchange and currency, and the ticket opens underneath with the estimated cost before you commit. I used VT. Change your francs into dollars on the currency screen first, otherwise IBKR converts at order time and charges more for it.
Taxes: the real price of the low fees
A Swiss broker sends you an eTax statement your tax software imports in one click, and charges you hundreds of francs a year in fees for the privilege. IBKR charges you almost nothing and hands you an annual activity statement: every trade, dividend and fee, accurate and complete, but not in the Swiss tax format.
What declaring involves: list your year-end holdings and values in the securities register, enter dividends received, and file the DA-1 to reclaim US withholding tax. With a buy-and-hold ETF portfolio this is about an hour a year, and the federal ICTax database prices most listed funds for you. With dozens of positions and frequent trading it becomes genuinely tedious, and paid third-party services exist that turn an IBKR statement into a Swiss eTax file.
If that hour a year is a dealbreaker, stop here and open Swissquote. That’s not sarcasm; convenience is worth paying for if you will actually use it. But be clear about the price: on a CHF 100’000 portfolio the annual cost difference runs to several hundred francs, every year, compounding.
Interactive Brokers vs the Swiss alternatives
Interactive Brokers vs Swissquote
The choice is cost against comfort. Swissquote is a FINMA-licensed Swiss bank with esisuisse cover, a Swiss eTax statement, and fees an order of magnitude higher on every axis: commissions, custody and currency exchange. If you want everything Swiss and taxes done for you, Swissquote is the best version of that, and my Swissquote review makes its case. If you decide by the total you pay per year, IBKR wins on every portfolio size.
The same comparison as a table, built from source-verified data. Pick another provider to check any pairing yourself.
Interactive Brokers comparison
| Interactive Brokers | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss trade (CHF 2’000 on SIX) | CHF 1.50 (Tiered: 0.05%, min CHF 1.50); Fixed CHF 5 | CHF 10 + CHF 0.85 real-time fee; ETF Leaders CHF 9 |
| US trade (USD 2’000) | USD 0.35 (Tiered); Fixed USD 1 | CHF 10 + CHF 0.85 |
| Custody and account fees | None; no inactivity fee, no minimum | CHF 20–50 per quarter + VAT (max CHF 200 a year) |
| Currency exchange | 0.002%, min USD 2 | 0.95% (major currencies) |
| Swiss stamp duty charged | No | Yes |
| Savings plan | Recurring investments with fractional shares | Saving Plan with fractional shares, from CHF 3 per execution |
| Who holds your account | Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Ltd, FCA | Swissquote Bank Ltd, FINMA |
| Notes | Very low trading costs; the account sits with the UK entity, not a Swiss bank. | Swiss bank with a Swiss tax statement. The custody fee comes on top of trading fees. |
| Reader deal | – | CHF 100 trading credit with code MKT_INVESTINGHERO |
| My rating | ★ 4.8 | ★ 4.7 |
| Full review | – | Read the full Swissquote review → |
Checked at source: Interactive Brokers 23 September 2026 · Swissquote 23 September 2026
Interactive Brokers vs DEGIRO
DEGIRO competes on cheap commissions but charges materially more for currency exchange, adds small platform and exchange-connection fees, and can’t offer US ETFs. For a pure European-ETF portfolio DEGIRO is cheap and simpler; the moment dollars or US funds enter the plan, IBKR pulls ahead.
Interactive Brokers vs Saxo
Saxo is now a Swiss bank with a Swiss tax statement and cut its fees hard in recent years, which makes it the strongest Swiss-but-cheap option. Still more expensive than IBKR on commissions and currency exchange, and still no US ETFs. My Saxo Bank review has the full numbers, and the online trading comparison puts every broker’s numbers side by side.
Who shouldn’t open Interactive Brokers
Three honest redirects. If you want banking and investing in one Swiss app with a few taps, read my Yuh review. If the tax paragraph above made your stomach drop, pay for Swissquote and never think about it again. And if you haven’t started investing at all yet, the broker is the last decision that matters: start with the investing in Switzerland guide and come back here when you know what you are buying.
My rules for using Interactive Brokers
- Pick tiered pricing and leave it. For orders under about CHF 5’000 it’s the cheaper plan, and that covers most monthly savings plans. You can switch in settings if your order sizes grow.
- Convert currency manually, every time. The 0.002% rate is the whole point of the account. Automatic conversion at order time costs more.
- Set CHF as your base currency on day one. Statements, performance and the tax declaration all read in francs, which saves confusion every January.
- Book one hour each spring for the tax declaration. Holdings, dividends, DA-1, done. If you skip it once, it doesn’t go away, it compounds.
Interactive Brokers FAQ
Is Interactive Brokers available in Switzerland?
Yes. Swiss residents open an account online with Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited, the group’s UK entity, in English, German or French. There’s no Swiss office and none is needed; the application, funding and support all work normally from Switzerland, and deposits arrive by ordinary bank transfer from any Swiss account.
Is Interactive Brokers safe for Swiss investors?
Your securities are held in custody at the US parent, segregated from the broker’s own assets, with SIPC protection up to USD 500’000, of which USD 250’000 for cash, plus private excess insurance through Lloyd’s underwriters. There’s no FINMA supervision and no esisuisse cover, because it isn’t a Swiss bank. In an insolvency your securities are your property and would be transferred out, the same principle that protects them at a Swiss bank.
What does a CHF 1’000 monthly ETF purchase cost?
On the Swiss exchange, CHF 1.50 plus small exchange fees, so under CHF 2 all-in on tiered pricing. For a US ETF, converting the francs costs USD 2 and the purchase itself USD 0.35, so roughly CHF 2 as well. There’s no custody fee eating the position afterwards, which is where Swiss brokers claw their money back.
Do I pay Swiss stamp duty at Interactive Brokers?
No. Federal stamp duty, 0.075% on Swiss securities and 0.15% on foreign ones per trade, only applies to trades through Swiss securities dealers. IBKR isn’t one, so the duty never arises. This is a legal consequence of where the broker sits, not a loophole, and it saves CHF 15 on every CHF 10’000 of foreign ETFs bought.
How do taxes work with Interactive Brokers in Switzerland?
You declare your holdings and dividends yourself in your Swiss tax return, using IBKR’s annual activity statement, and file the DA-1 form to reclaim the 15% US withholding on US dividends. IBKR doesn’t produce a Swiss eTax statement. For a simple ETF portfolio it’s about an hour a year; paid services can generate a Swiss tax statement from your IBKR data if you’d rather not.
Can I buy US ETFs like VT at Interactive Brokers?
Yes, and for many Swiss investors this is the reason to open the account. Swiss residents are served by the UK entity with access through the US parent, so US-domiciled funds like VT, VOO and VXUS remain available, while EU-based brokers block them for retail clients. Check availability for a specific fund in the product search once your account is open, since regulatory access can change.
Interactive Brokers or Swissquote?
IBKR if you decide by total annual cost and accept doing your own tax declaration; the fee difference on a six-figure portfolio is hundreds of francs a year. Swissquote if you want a FINMA-licensed Swiss bank, a one-click tax statement and Swiss support, and are willing to pay for them. Plenty of people run both: IBKR for the portfolio, a Swiss account for everything else. My Swissquote review makes the other side’s case.
Is there a minimum deposit or a monthly fee?
Neither. No minimum to open, no custody fee, no inactivity fee, and delayed market data is free. An account you fund with CHF 100 and touch once a quarter costs nothing to keep open, which makes it a reasonable place to simply start.
Compare & choose
The other comparisons on Investing Hero, each built the same way: every fee read from the provider’s own pricing page.
Where Interactive Brokers sits against every broker available in Switzerland, with the numbers side by side, is on my online trading comparison. If the wider question is how to start investing at all, the investing in Switzerland guide is the place to begin.
How this review is kept current. Every Interactive Brokers figure on this page was read from IBKR’s own UK pricing and protection pages on 15 September 2026, not from a comparison site. The commissions page is on my monitoring list, so fee changes reach this page rather than quietly invalidating it.
Sources. Commissions from IBKR UK’s stock commissions page, Switzerland and United States sections, and the spot currencies page; protection details from IBKR UK’s client protection page; all read 15 September 2026. Stamp duty rates from the Federal Tax Administration. Nothing is quoted from a comparison site. Educational content, not financial advice.
