Living in Switzerland made me rethink how I handle currency exchange and banking fees
Posted by Dry-Spray8539@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 7 comments
Living in Switzerland changed how I look at banking costs, especially when dealing with CHF and EUR.
Over time I noticed that international spending and currency conversions can quietly become quite expensive with traditional banks.
I started looking for alternatives and tested Revolut mainly for travel and EUR payments.
For my situation, the difference in FX fees compared to Swiss banks was noticeable when spending abroad.
Now I’m curious what other expats here actually use in practice to reduce banking and FX costs while living in Switzerland.
Puzzleheaded-Sun7418@reddit
Not sure about Revolut but I’ve been using wise for that for at least 10 years and it works great.
elevenblade@reddit
Same here
ibitmylip@reddit
do you happen to have an app or a service that solves this alleged problem that you’ve suddenly noticed?
Uncle_Richard98@reddit
How can you live in Europe and not use Revolut? At his point it’s kinda mandatory lol
thefxview@reddit
I think my best guidance would be to keep currency in multiple currencies. You never really know what's going to happen and you want to hedge against your main currency deprecating. You also prevent moving money back and forth. For a large transfer now to split your money into a different currency (another bank perhaps), I'd use a broker which is a more personable way of transferring and you can negotiate the best rate if you have substantial sums. I use the topmoneycompare.co.uk comparison.
GingerPrince72@reddit
I'm not an expat, I'm an immigrant to Switzerland who has settled here.
When travelling I use my WIR card, miles cheaper than Revolut.
vudsbrenda66@reddit
Same boat here. Swiss banks are great for stability but the FX margins are brutal. I've been using Wise for anything EUR related and it's been solid for a couple years now.