When someone says Swiss Bank all that comes to mind is Black Money, because some of the politicians and businessmen have ruined the reputation of Swiss banks by depositing their undisclosed income into their Swiss bank accounts.
How to open a Swiss bank account?
Opening a Swiss bank account is not much different from opening a regular bank account in India although bank accounts of Swiss banks have some privileges and they are considered to be very secure.
Steps to open an account in Swiss bank are listed below-
- Check if you are eligible or not- the very first thing you need to do to open a bank account in Swiss banks is check if you are eligible or not, the eligibility checks require your income verification and various other documents verification. These checks have been mandatory after various cases of tax evasion and frauds.
You will not be eligible to open a bank account in Swiss bank if you have been listed as any one of the below mentioned-
- If you are a citizen of Russia or Iraq.
- If you are a person with a doubtful reputation i.e you have involved in any scandal and you have been politically exposed
- Find a bank- If you have passed the eligibility criteria then the next thing you need to do is find a bank where you want to open a bank account in Switzerland. There are over 400 banks in Switzerland but two of the most popular ones are Union Bank of Switzerland and Credit Suisse group. They hold almost half of Switzerland’s total investments.
Tip for choosing a bank- go for a bank which has no intermediary branch in your home country, as the intermediary may have to provide your account’s information to the local government as per the rules.
- Select an account type- there are a number of accounts offered by the Swiss banks, go for the one which meets your requirement.
It is hard to find a bank which provides you with a savings account as Swiss banks let foreign nationals to open a bank account for wealth maximization and investment purposes.
To open an investment account
Like any other international investment account, you have to visit a bank branch which is operating in your area and the branch official can start operating on your behalf.
Second step is verification of documents, once you provide the documents, Swiss banks will do multiple checks on the information that you provide like your identity and income.
For address verification, the banks might send a mail to your registered address with a correspondence code to verify your address.
There is a lot of paperwork involved after the verification part. So be ready for that.
Swiss bank accounts are considered to be very secure as they can even let you open an anonymous account where your information will only be available to some top level employees and instead of using your name a number will be provided for your account which is a paid service. If you have successfully been able to open a bank account in Swiss bank then congratulations on opening a secure bank account.
