Internet banking in Switzerland

In what is said to be the most advanced in banking, not even a single bank in switzerland, without the use of internet banking accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world round the clock without any additional software required. The swiss employ 128-168 encrypted login mechanism with 6 digit revolving codes generated dynamically.

In switzerland, domestic payments using internet banking are free of charge. Incoming payments is also free of charge. International payments from switzerland can be done by means of SWIFT transfer or using IBAN account number.

SWIFT Transfer

SWIFT is a very popular means of electronic transfer of funds across the globe. Inorder to receive incoming or make a outgoing payment, the following information is required.

1. Beneficary Name
2. Beneficiary account number
3. Beneficiary address
4. Bank Institution SWIFT code
5. Bank address
6. Amount

Using swiss postal account, it costs you only CHF 2.- per international transfer to any corner in the world.

IBAN (International bank account number)

As of 2004 all the payments exchanged between countries of EU are affected by means of using account numbers in IBAN format.

IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is an international account number standard that identifies the country, the financial institution and the account number of the beneficiary. This is nothing but a fragments of long code to better understand the destination country, bank institution code, and account number all in one for quick payments without any delay.

The IBAN number is a series of alphanumeric characters that uniquely identifies an account held at a bank anywhere in the world. The IBAN has a maximum of 34 alphanumeric characters. An IBAN is always indicated on the IPI (International Payment Instruction) in the "Account number" field with NO blank spaces.

Starting from July 2003, the banks of the european union country were informed to eliminate bank transfer charges for both incoming and outgoing payments, provided the following conditions are met

1. Payment done in EUR currency
2. IBAN account number is used with SWIFT code of the institution.
3. Transfer amount less than EUR 12'500.

IBAN formats (Countrywise)

Andorra AD12 0001 2030 2003 5910 0100 (24 digits)
Austria AT61 1904 3002 3457 3201 (20 digits)
Belgium BE68 5390 0754 7035 (16 digits)
Cyprus CY17 0020 0128 0000 0012 0052 7600 (28 digits)
Czech Republic 24 CZ65 0800 0000 1920 0014 5399 (24 digits)
Denmark DK50 0040 0440 1162 43 (18 digits)
Estonia EE38 2200 2210 2014 5685 (20 digits)
Finland FI21 1234 5600 0007 85 (18 digits)
France FR14 2004 1010 0505 0001 3M02 606 (27 digits)
Germany DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00 (22 digits)
Gibraltar GI75 NWBK 0000 0000 7099 453 (23 digits)
Greece GR16 0110 1250 0000 0001 2300 695 (27 digits)
Hungary HU42 1177 3016 1111 1018 0000 0000 (28 digits)
Iceland IS14 0159 2600 7654 5510 7303 39 (26 digits)
Ireland IE29 AIBK 9311 5212 3456 78 (22 digits)
Italy IT60 X054 2811 1010 0000 0123 456 (27 digits)
Latvia LV80 BANK 0000 4351 9500 1 (21 digits)
Lithuania LT12 1000 0111 0100 1000 (20 digits)
Luxembourg LU28 0019 4006 4475 0000 (20 digits)
Netherlands NL91 ABNA 0417 1643 00 (18 digits)
Norway NO93 8601 1117 947 (15 digits)
Poland PL27 1140 2004 0000 3002 0135 5387 (28 digits)
Portugal PT50 0002 0123 1234 5678 9015 4 (25 digits)
Slovak Republic SK31 1200 0000 1987 4263 7541 (24 digits)
Slovenia SI56 1910 0000 0123 438 (19 digits)
Spain ES80 2310 0001 1800 0001 2345 (24 digits)
Sweden SE35 5000 0000 0549 1000 0003 (24 digits)
Switzerland CH39 0070 0115 2018 4917 3 (21 digits)
United Kingdom GB29 NWBK 6016 1331 9268 19 (22 digits)

In general for use in paper, IBAN numbers are grouped by 4's with spaces.

CH39 0070 0115 2018 4917 3 (In paper)
CH3900700115201849173 (no spaces for payments)