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PostFinance is where millions of Swiss residents already keep their salary, so the real question is rarely whether to open an account. It is whether the account you have is good enough for investing, or whether you are paying for convenience. This review puts the everyday banking and the investing side on one page: the banking package, the card abroad, E-Trading, the savings plans, the 3a funds and crypto, every figure read from PostFinance’s own price lists. The short version: this is the traditional choice, you pay for its safety, and its online broker turned out better than I expected from a Swiss bank.
The traditional choice, and one of the safest places in Switzerland to keep your money. The surprise is E-Trading: for a Swiss bank it is genuinely competitive, with a flat CHF 72 custody fee that comes back as trading credit, cheaper than Swissquote on a larger portfolio. You pay for the safety elsewhere, and plenty of people will decide it is worth it. The account costs CHF 60 a year, the card charges 1.5% abroad, savings earn nothing, and the pillar 3a funds cost two to three times what the digital 3a apps charge.
PostFinance pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
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What a PostFinance account costs
PostFinance has no stand-alone account. The private account, the savings account and the card only come inside a banking package, and adults choose between two. Every figure below is from PostFinance’s price list for private customers, valid from 1 July 2026.
| Item | Smart | SmartPlus |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | CHF 5 | CHF 10 |
| With CHF 25’000 invested, a life policy or a PostFinance mortgage | Free | CHF 5 |
| PostFinance Card (debit) | Free | Free |
| Cash at Postomats | Free | Free |
| Cash at another bank’s ATM in Switzerland | CHF 2 | Free |
| Cash at an ATM abroad | CHF 5 | Free, third-party fees excepted |
| Card purchases in a foreign currency | 1.5% surcharge | 1.5% surcharge |
| Credit card | From CHF 50 a year | Classic or Standard included |
| SEPA transfer in the app | Free | Free |
| Other international transfer in the app | CHF 2, or CHF 7 to 22 if you pay all charges | Same |
| Paper statements and payment slips | CHF 5 a month extra | CHF 5 a month extra |
Packages for children, teenagers and students are free, up to age 20 or up to 30 while in education. Young adults aged 21 to 30 who no longer qualify get SmartPlus at half price, CHF 5, for up to three years. PostFinance’s own web page says this discount is for new customers up to 23, while the binding price list says 21 to 30, so check the age rule when you apply.
How the CHF 25’000 rule works. PostFinance counts the month-end value of what you hold in its investment products: E-Trading securities, funds, e-asset management, crypto, and 3a and vested-benefits funds. Cash in your accounts does not count. Cross CHF 25’000 and Smart is free, which is worth CHF 60 a year. It is a good reason to keep your investing at PostFinance if you already bank there, and a poor reason to move there.
Is PostFinance safe?
This is where PostFinance is strongest. PostFinance Ltd has been a bank with a FINMA licence since 2013, is wholly owned by Swiss Post, and Swiss Post is wholly owned by the Confederation. The Swiss National Bank classed it as systemically important on 1 September 2015, which puts it in the same group as UBS, Raiffeisen and Zürcher Kantonalbank, with tighter capital rules to match. S&P rates it AA with a stable outlook.
There is no state guarantee. Many people assume there is one. When PostFinance became a company in 2012, the law gave customer deposits a federal guarantee up to CHF 100’000 for five years only, and that ran out in 2017. Today your deposits are protected like those at any Swiss bank, through esisuisse up to CHF 100’000 per customer. S&P expects the government would most likely support PostFinance if it had to. That is a rating agency’s view, not a promise.
Securities in E-Trading and fund custody are held as segregated assets and do not belong to the bank if it fails. PostFinance’s legal limit is the other side of the coin: the law still bars it from making loans or mortgages of its own, so it earns less on your deposits than other banks can. That thin margin is a large part of why its fees have crept up over the years.
Interest: 0.00% on your savings
Since 1 August 2025, after the Swiss National Bank cut its rate to 0%, PostFinance pays 0.00% on both the private account and the savings account, with no tiers. The 3a account pays 0.05%, the youth savings account 0.25% up to CHF 25’000. A year earlier the savings account paid 0.50%.
The savings account is not a free parking space either. You can take out CHF 100’000 a year without notice. Beyond that, three months’ notice applies, and after ten withdrawals in a year each one costs CHF 8. If cash is sitting idle, my best Swiss bank accounts page shows who still pays something.
PostFinance E-Trading: fees and how the credit works
E-Trading is PostFinance’s online broker. You pay a custody fee of CHF 18 at the start of every quarter, CHF 72 a year, and you get CHF 18 of trading credit back for the same quarter. Unused credit expires at the end of the quarter, and closing mid-quarter refunds nothing.
The surprise: a Swiss bank with a decent broker. PostFinance has run E-Trading since 2001. I expected a big-bank price list and found something closer to a modern broker. Many Swiss banks, Zak among them, charge custody as a percentage of your portfolio, so the bill grows with your savings. PostFinance charges a flat CHF 72 a year and hands it back as trading credit. On a CHF 50’000 portfolio that is CHF 72 against about CHF 86 at Swissquote and around CHF 135 at Zak, with fractional shares, savings plans from CHF 1, more than 20 exchanges and TradingView charts on top. It is not the cheapest place to trade often. For a buy-and-hold investor who wants to stay with a Swiss bank, it is a fair deal.
| Order size | SIX and BX Swiss (CHF) | US, UK, Canada and main EU exchanges (local currency) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 500 | 6 | 15 |
| 501 to 1’000 | 12 | 20 |
| 1’001 to 5’000 | 20 | 30 |
| 5’001 to 10’000 | 30 | 35 |
| 10’001 to 15’000 | 40 | 40 |
| 15’001 to 20’000 | 60 | 60 |
| 20’001 to 30’000 | 80 | 80 |
| 30’001 to 50’000 | 105 | 105 |
| 50’001 to 100’000 | 160 | 160 |
| Above 100’000 | 240, then 300 above 150’000 | 240, then 300 above 150’000 |
On top come federal stamp duty (0.075% on Swiss securities, 0.15% on foreign ones), the exchange’s own fees at cost, and foreign transaction taxes where they apply. VAT is included. You can trade shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, structured products and crypto products on more than 20 exchanges, buy fractions of shares and ETFs, and chart with TradingView on the desktop platform.
What that means in practice
- A small saver pays CHF 72 a year, not much more. Buy CHF 500 of an ETF on SIX every month and each order costs CHF 6. Three a quarter is CHF 18, exactly the credit. Add stamp duty of at most 75 Rappen an order, and a year costs at most CHF 81 for CHF 6’000 invested, about 1.35%.
- A large portfolio held still is cheap. Hold CHF 50’000 and trade twice a year and custody is CHF 72, or 0.14%.
- Mid-sized orders are where it hurts. A CHF 10’000 SIX order costs CHF 30 after the credit is used up. Interactive Brokers charges CHF 5 for the same trade.
- Foreign shares cost more than they show. A USD 3’000 order on NYSE costs USD 30, plus 0.15% stamp duty, plus a currency margin that PostFinance does not publish.
Three costs that are easy to miss. The Swiss tax statement costs CHF 97.30, where Yuh charges CHF 25 and many brokers nothing. Moving your shares to another bank costs CHF 108.10 per position, so leaving with ten ETFs and shares costs over CHF 1’000. And the currency margin on foreign trades is not in any price list I could find: PostFinance only says it holds back 1% extra when you place the order.
Going the other way is cheaper. PostFinance pays up to CHF 800 of the fees your old bank charges when you transfer a portfolio into E-Trading. You send the receipts through the chat in E-Finance and the money arrives the following month.
ETF savings plans: 1% per purchase
Inside E-Trading you can set up a savings plan on more than 100 ETFs and on selected shares, weekly to quarterly, from CHF 1. Each purchase costs 1% of the amount, minimum CHF 1. None is free, but the quarterly credit pays the fee as far as it goes: PostFinance’s own example is three CHF 600 plan payments a quarter at no cost.
Compared with a manual order on SIX, the plan is cheaper up to about CHF 2’000 a purchase. At CHF 1’000 the plan costs CHF 10 and a manual order CHF 12. At CHF 5’000 the plan costs CHF 50 and a manual order CHF 20. Neon invest and Yuh both offer selected ETFs in savings plans at 0%, which is the cheaper route for a small monthly amount if you do not need PostFinance for anything else.
Funds, e-asset management and advice
Beyond E-Trading, PostFinance sells three ways into funds. All three are fine if you want someone else to choose. None is cheap.
| Product | What you pay PostFinance | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Selfservice Fonds | 0.50% to 0.75% to buy, plus 0.15% a year custody | CHF 100, or CHF 20 a month in a plan |
| E-asset management (E-Vermögensverwaltung) | 0.75% a year plus VAT on 90% of it, about 0.80%, falling to 0.60% from CHF 1 million. Fund costs come on top | CHF 5’000 |
| Investment advice Plus | 0.90% a year plus VAT, minimum CHF 720 a year. Fund costs come on top | CHF 5’000, CHF 80’000 recommended |
The e-asset management is the one most readers ask about. PostFinance is clear that it is a mandate run by an investment committee, not a robo-advisor, and since February 2026 it has a “Future” focus with 5% in crypto. What it does not publish is the cost of the funds inside, so the all-in figure cannot be calculated. On my robo-advisor comparison, where every provider is ranked on total cost, the leaders charge less all-in than PostFinance charges before its fund costs.
PostFinance pillar 3a
PostFinance offers a 3a account at 0.05% and eight 3a funds: four ESG funds, the oldest launched in 2001, and four passive ones added in autumn 2025. There is no issuing or redemption commission and custody is free, but the funds’ own running costs are high. The official factsheets, dated 31 August 2026, show:
| Fund | Ongoing costs (TER) | On CHF 50’000 a year |
|---|---|---|
| PF Pension Passive 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 | 0.66% / 0.70% / 0.74% / 0.85% | CHF 330 to 425 |
| PF Pension ESG 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 | 1.1% / 1.2% / 1.3% / 1.3% | CHF 550 to 650 |
| finpension 3a, for comparison | 0.39% all-in | CHF 195 |
The one thing to remember. A 3a is a 30 or 40-year account, and at that length the difference between 0.74% and 0.39% compounds into five figures. The PostFinance 3a is convenient. It is not a good price. You can keep your everyday banking at PostFinance and open your 3a elsewhere; my pillar 3a comparison ranks every provider on the all-in cost.
The vested-benefits account pays 0.00% and costs CHF 9 a quarter. Money parked there between jobs is better placed with a vested-benefits foundation that invests it.
Crypto at PostFinance
Since February 2024 PostFinance customers can buy crypto in the app, with Sygnum, a FINMA-licensed crypto bank, behind the service. The range grew to 22 coins in February 2026, from bitcoin and ether to USDC and Sui.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Trading fee | 0.95%, falling to 0.75% from USD 250’000 |
| Custody | 0.15% a year plus VAT |
| Minimum order or savings plan | USD 50 |
| ETH staking | 20% of the rewards |
| Sending coins to your own wallet | Not possible |
It is a clean, safe way to hold a little crypto next to your salary, and the custody fee is small. The trading fee is not: 0.95% is close to ten times the spot fee on the big exchanges, and the coins cannot leave PostFinance. For anything more than a small allocation, my crypto comparison shows the cheaper routes.
The app, TWINT and paying day to day
Everything in this review runs in the PostFinance App or in E-Finance: payments, eBill, E-Trading, funds, 3a and crypto. The card works with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, and cash is free at every Postomat. TWINT is a separate app, PostFinance TWINT, which is free. Since 15 September 2026 it no longer shows linked credit cards, so TWINT payments now come straight from your account.
What PostFinance customers say
Reviews are harsh. Trustpilot shows about 1.5 out of 5 from more than 1’100 reviews. The complaints are mostly about fees that appeared over the years, customer service that is hard to reach, and changes to the app. PostFinance cut up to 141 jobs in 2025, mostly in administration. The praise is for reliability: the app works, payments go through, and nobody worries about the bank itself.
That split matches my own reading. PostFinance is a safe, dependable utility that has been charging more for the same service since interest rates fell.
Who PostFinance suits, and who it does not
PostFinance is the traditional choice, and a legitimate one. Some people want their money with the bank their parents used, owned by the Confederation, with branches across the country, and are happy to pay CHF 60 a year for that. If that is you, PostFinance is a sound pick, and E-Trading means you do not have to leave to start investing. It suits you if safety matters more to you than price, if you want bank, broker and 3a in one place with a Swiss tax statement available, or if you already have CHF 25’000 invested there so the package is free. It also suits a long-term investor with a large portfolio who trades rarely: CHF 72 a year of custody, most of it returned as credit, is a fair price.
It does not suit you if you spend abroad often, because of the 1.5% card surcharge, if you want interest on your savings, or if you are building a 3a from scratch. And a monthly saver putting CHF 200 into an ETF pays CHF 72 a year at PostFinance for what neon invest or Yuh do at close to zero.
PostFinance vs the alternatives
PostFinance vs neon for everyday banking
neon (★ 4.5) has no monthly fee (the first card costs CHF 20), charges 0.35% on card payments abroad against PostFinance’s 1.5%, and has an English app. PostFinance is the bank itself, rated AA and systemically important; neon runs its accounts through Hypothekarbank Lenzburg. If your worry is cost and travel, neon wins. If it is where your money sits, PostFinance does. Many people keep both.PostFinance vs Swissquote and Interactive Brokers for investing
Swissquote (★ 4.7) and PostFinance are both Swiss banks with a Swiss tax statement. Swissquote has more markets and better tools, PostFinance cheaper custody on a large portfolio. Interactive Brokers (★ 4.8) is far cheaper per trade and on currency, with no Swiss tax statement. My online trading comparison puts all of them side by side.PostFinance vs finpension for pillar 3a
finpension charges 0.39% all-in against 0.66% to 1.3% for PostFinance’s 3a funds. On CHF 50’000 that is CHF 195 a year against CHF 330 to 650. Moving an existing 3a starts with a transfer form from the new provider.
You can compare the account side yourself. Pick any account and the table builds from the same source-checked data as the rest of this page.
PostFinance comparison
| PostFinance | neon | |
|---|---|---|
| Account fee | CHF 5/month (Smart package; waivable with mortgage/insurance/invested assets) | 0 CHF (free plan) |
| Card | PostFinance Card included | First card CHF 20; replacement CHF 20 |
| Card payments abroad | 1.5% | 0.35% card surcharge; ATM abroad 1.5% |
| TWINT | Yes | TWINT Prepaid only |
| Apple Pay | Yes | Yes |
| Interest | 0.00% (debit interest 9.50%) | 0% (none since Dec 2024) |
| Notes | No standalone free account: the account comes inside a banking package, free for young people. | Plans changed on 18 Sep 2026: the free plan now charges for the first card and a 0.35% FX surcharge. TWINT only via TWINT Prepaid. |
| Reader deal | – | CHF 10 welcome bonus with code investinghero |
| My rating | ★ 3.5 | ★ 4.5 |
| Full review | – | Read the full neon review → |
Checked at source: PostFinance 23 September 2026 · neon 23 September 2026
No monthly fee, 0.35% on card payments abroad instead of 1.5%, investing and 3a in the same app. The account sits with a partner bank rather than neon itself.
Visit neon →Reader code investinghero: CHF 10 welcome bonus. Read the neon review.Index funds with every cost included in one figure, against 0.66% to 1.3% for the PostFinance 3a funds. Your everyday banking can stay where it is.
Compare pillar 3a →My market leader on the pillar 3a comparison.My rules for PostFinance customers
- Use the credit every quarter. CHF 18 of trading credit expires at the end of each quarter. Three small orders or plan payments a quarter use it up.
- Buy on SIX where you can. A CHF 500 order costs CHF 6 on SIX and 15 in dollars on NYSE, before a currency margin PostFinance does not publish.
- Keep plan payments under CHF 2’000. Above that, a manual SIX order is cheaper than the 1% plan fee.
- Count your investments towards the package. Once you hold CHF 25’000 in PostFinance investments, Smart is free.
- Put your 3a somewhere cheaper. The everyday account can stay; the 3a funds cost two to three times what the digital apps charge.
- Take a different card abroad. 1.5% on every foreign purchase adds up on a holiday. A free account with a cheaper card fixes it.
If you already bank with PostFinance, you can open E-Trading from E-Finance, and the first quarter costs CHF 18 that comes back as trading credit. Try a savings plan or a first ETF purchase before deciding whether to move money elsewhere.
PostFinance FAQ
Is PostFinance a good bank?
It is one of the safest: systemically important, rated AA by S&P and owned through Swiss Post by the Confederation. It is not one of the cheapest. The account costs CHF 60 a year unless you have CHF 25’000 invested there, savings earn 0.00% and the card charges 1.5% abroad.
Does PostFinance have a state guarantee?
No. A federal guarantee on deposits up to CHF 100’000 applied for five years after PostFinance became a company in 2012 and expired in 2017. Deposits are now protected through esisuisse up to CHF 100’000 per customer, like at any Swiss bank.
How safe is my money at PostFinance?
Very safe by Swiss standards. The Swiss National Bank classes PostFinance as systemically important, which means stricter capital rules, and S&P rates it AA with a stable outlook. Securities in E-Trading are held separately from the bank’s own assets.
Which bank is behind PostFinance?
PostFinance Ltd is itself a bank, with a FINMA licence since 2013. It is wholly owned by Swiss Post, which is wholly owned by the Swiss Confederation.
How much does a PostFinance account cost?
The Smart package costs CHF 5 a month and SmartPlus CHF 10. Smart is free, and SmartPlus drops to CHF 5, if you have more than CHF 25’000 invested at PostFinance, a life policy or a PostFinance mortgage. Packages for children, teenagers and students are free.
What does PostFinance E-Trading cost?
CHF 18 custody a quarter, returned as CHF 18 of trading credit that expires at quarter end. An order on SIX costs from CHF 6 up to CHF 500 to CHF 300 above CHF 150’000; US and main European exchanges start at 15 in the local currency. Stamp duty and exchange fees come on top.
How do PostFinance ETF savings plans work?
You choose from more than 100 ETFs, from CHF 1, weekly to quarterly. Each purchase costs 1%, minimum CHF 1, and the quarterly trading credit pays those fees until it runs out. Up to about CHF 2’000 per purchase the plan is cheaper than a manual SIX order.
How do I cancel PostFinance E-Trading?
Closing E-Trading is free, but the CHF 18 quarterly fee is charged at the start of each quarter and not refunded if you leave mid-quarter. Moving your securities to another bank costs CHF 108.10 per position, so selling can be cheaper for small holdings.
Is the PostFinance pillar 3a worth it?
It is convenient rather than cheap. The 3a account pays 0.05%, and the eight 3a funds cost 0.66% to 1.3% a year in running costs. finpension charges 0.39% all-in, which on CHF 50’000 saves CHF 135 to 455 a year.
Can I buy crypto with PostFinance?
Yes, 22 coins in the app since February 2026, with Sygnum behind the service. Trading costs 0.95%, custody 0.15% a year plus VAT, and the minimum is USD 50. Coins cannot be sent to your own wallet.
Compare & choose
The other comparisons on Investing Hero, each built the same way: every fee read from the provider’s own pricing page.
How this review is kept current. Every PostFinance figure on this page was read from postfinance.ch, its price lists and the official fund factsheets on 24 September 2026, not from a comparison site. I have no commercial relationship with PostFinance. Other providers’ figures come from my own reviews and comparison pages.
Sources. Banking packages, card, ATM, transfer, paper and savings withdrawal fees from PostFinance’s Services and prices for private customers, valid from 1 July 2026. Interest rates from the current interest rates page, valid since 1 August 2025. E-Trading custody, credit, courtage, savings plans, tax statement and transfer fees from the E-Trading price list dated 1 January 2026, and the CHF 800 transfer refund from the E-Trading page. Fund, e-asset management, advice and crypto fees from the price list for investment solutions (05.2026). 3a fund costs from the UBS Fund Management factsheets dated 31 August 2026. Systemic importance from the SNB decree of 1 September 2015, the S&P rating from PostFinance’s investor relations page, and the expired state guarantee from the Postal Organisation Act of 2010. Trustpilot score as shown on 24 September 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
