Best bank account for working as intern in Switzerland

catzee

My daughter will be starting a work placement in a Swiss company for 6 months and her monthly salary will be paid into a UK bank account. Which bank account would be best? Thank you.

grumbler

Metro Bank
https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/Personal/Bank-Accounts/CurrentAccounts/

Metro Bank will not charge you for international debit card transactions made in Europe***, and our rates in the rest of the world offer outstanding value. Find out more about using your credit or debit card abroad.
...
***Overseas transactions are free in Europe with fees applied in the rest of the world. Europe consists of the member countries of the Single European Payment Area (SEPA). To view a list of these countries, please click here

Switzerland is one of 'these countries'.

For other options see Top Travel Spending Cards
Halifax Clarity credit card is very good and can be paid off from any UK current account.

agrinnall

It would surely be better for her salary to be paid into a Swiss bank account. If it's paid into a UK account then she withdraws money from there while in Switzerland she'll be subject the CHF-GBP exchange costs in both directions.

eDicky

agrinnall wrote: »

It would surely be better for her salary to be paid into a Swiss bank account. If it's paid into a UK account then she withdraws money from there while in Switzerland she'll be subject the CHF-GBP exchange costs in both directions.

Surely it would be having the GBP salary paid into a CHF Swiss account that would incur the exchange costs, not the use of fee-free Metro Bank card or Halifax Clarity CC?

If Metro Bank's London-only branches are not convenient, an account with Norwich and Peterborough BS gives you a debit card for fee-free use worldwide.

grumbler

agrinnall wrote: »

If it's paid into a UK account then she withdraws money from there while in Switzerland she'll be subject the CHF-GBP exchange costs in both directions.

In one direction only with a correct account/card.

eDicky wrote: »

Surely it would be having the GBP salary paid into a CHF Swiss account that would incur the exchange costs, not the use of fee-free Metro Bank card or Halifax Clarity CC?

A Swiss company is unlikely to pay salary in GBP.

colsten

agrinnall wrote: »

It would surely be better for her salary to be paid into a Swiss bank account.

That would perhaps be true if she had a swiss bank account. I reckon there is a good reason why the swiss company want to pay into a UK account.

From http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-switzerland-banking

Resident individuals may open current accounts in which wages can be received or a savings account. Note that the bank may require you to be a current account holder before allowing you to open a savings account with them. Some banks will require a B residence permit to open an account for you, others will reportedly allow you to hold a basic account as long as you have an EU passport and a fixed address in Switzerland. Non-residents will not generally be eligible to open Swiss bank accounts unless maintaining a balance of several hundred CHF, although some accounts may be open to those resident in countries sharing borders with or in close geographic proximity to Switzerland.

eDicky

grumbler wrote: »

In one direction only with a correct account/card.
A Swiss company is unlikely to pay salary in GBP.

Aha - I read the OP wrongly. If she will be paid in CHF and living there then obviously a Swiss account would be most convenient and cost-effective. Then transfer any accumulated lump sum over to UK account at the end of the six months.

agrinnall

colsten wrote: »

That would perhaps be true if she had a swiss bank account. I reckon there is a good reason why the swiss company want to pay into a UK account.

I don't see anything in that extract that would prevent her from at least investigating the Swiss account option, whether her status in Switzerland is resident or non-resident. Of course, there may be fees for operating an account that would wipe out any exchange rate savings.

colsten

Sure, she can investigate her options. She should just not expect it to be easy to open a swiss bank account, and be prepared that she won't get one. If it was easy, her firm would probably have told her about it.

catzee

The info given by the company in Switzerland states that she is unlikely to be able to open a Swiss bank account and that she will need to use her UK bank account. Her salary will be paid in Swiss francs.

grumbler

Some banks charge flat fee for incoming foreign transfers (on the top of the poor currency exchange rate), some don't - something that is worth checking if you have several accounts to chose from.