ZKB abolishes annual fees for private account and debit card
Published: Wednesday, Dec 20th 2023, 08:20
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Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) is abolishing annual fees for debit cards and private accounts from January 1, 2024. The bank wants to set an example.
Specifically, ZBK customers could save up to 116 francs a year with the elimination of fees, ZKB announced on Wednesday. This includes up to two Visa debit cards and three private accounts in Swiss francs as well as savings accounts, e-banking, mobile banking and Twint. The prices for the package solution in conjunction with credit cards have also been reduced.
The fees will be waived for all existing customers, regardless of whether they use the bank's services digitally or in the branch, the statement continues. According to ZKB, this makes it the first major Swiss bank to offer free everyday banking both digitally and in branches. This should benefit all customers, regardless of their assets or digital affinity.
Returning success to the bank
"We want to send out a signal and give back our success in line with our performance mandate," explained ZKB CEO Urs Baumann in the press release. The reduction in fees is also likely to be linked to the bank's extraordinary success this year. At the end of the first half of 2023, the bank had posted a record profit of CHF 541 million - not least due to higher interest rates.
When asked by the news agency AWP, a spokesperson was unable to say what costs the bank would incur as a result of the abolition of fees. According to "Blick", which first reported on the changes, the approximately 700,000 private customers would lose at least CHF 36 million in fees.
Baumann does not want this step to be understood as a declaration of war against other cantonal banks. "If anything, this is a challenge to the digital banks," he told Blick on Wednesday.
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