SWITZERLAND

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, June 2024.

• Switzerland's central bank is the Swiss National Bank (SNB – www.snb.ch).
• Clearing:
  The Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) payment system is Switzerland's central payment system, operated by SIX Interbank Clearing Ltd (SIC Ltd) on behalf of the Swiss National Bank. The SIC system processes large value transactions, as well as retail payments connected with services provided by financial market participants (bank transfers, card payments, direct debits, etc.).

link: https://www.snb.ch/de/the-snb/mandates-goals/payment-transactions/swiss-interbank-clearing 

Bank Supervision

• Swiss banks are supervised by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA – www.finma.ch).
• The Swiss banking sector is self-regulatory via the Swiss Bankers’ Association (www.swissbanking.org).

• Lifting fees are not applied on payments between resident and non-resident accounts.

• Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, and to make tax and treasury payments.
• The biggest Swiss banks are required to be able to process instant payments, with the remaining banks following suit by 2026.
• High-value and urgent CHF and EUR-denominated domestic and cross-border credit transfers can be settled on a same-day basis via SIC.
• High-value cross-border credit transfers in EUR can also be settled via euroSIC's connection to T2 (linked to Germany’s T2 component). Payments are cleared via swisseuroGATE.
• High-value and urgent cross-border credit transfers can also be settled with end-of-day value via the Euro Banking Association's (EBA) EURO1 system (accessed indirectly via international networks).
• Low-value and non-urgent credit transfers can be settled on a next-day basis via SIC.
• Low-value and non-urgent EUR-denominated cross-border transfers can be processed via the EBA’s STEP1 or STEP2 payment systems.
• The QR-bill was introduced in 2020 as part of efforts to harmonise and digitalise the Swiss payment transactions ecosystem. All financial institutions in Switzerland have discontinued processing legacy red and orange payment slips effective September 30, 2022.
• SEPA credit transfers can be settled via STEP2 or via correspondent banking networks. Approximately 188 banks in Switzerland participate in the SEPA credit transfer scheme.
• Cross-border transfers can be made via SWIFT and settled through correspondent banks abroad.
• The European Payment Council’s SCT Inst scheme (a pan-European 24/7 instant payment scheme for SEPA credit transfers) enables the transfer of funds (the maximum threshold value is EUR 100,000) to another account in less than ten seconds.
• EBA Clearing and Italy’s SIA Group have developed and implemented a pan-European platform for instant EUR payments called RT1. It is fully compliant with the SCT Insts scheme and is in line with the ISO 20022 global messaging standards for instant payments.
• EBA Clearing has launched a pan-European request to pay (R2P) infrastructure solution with the support of 27 payment service providers from 11 countries. The new 24/7 service is compatible with the SCT and SCT Inst schemes and allows payees to take the initiative to request a specific payment from the payer.
• TIPS is a pan-European service for the settlement of instant payments in central bank money. The service enables payment service providers and ACHs with access to TARGET2 to offer fund transfers 24/7, 365 days a year. TIPS is aligned with SCT Insts. It is primarily focused on EUR payments but is technically capable of settling payments denominated in other currencies.

Switzerland supports both local direct debit schemes, as well as SEPA direct debits.

• Cheques are rarely used in Switzerland.

• Card payments are increasingly popular, especially for retail transactions.
• Visa, Maestro and Postcard-branded debit cards are widely issued.
• Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club credit cards are available.
• Card payments are typically cleared via SIC.
• All cards are SEPA-compliant with EMV chips.

• There were 6,864 ATMs in Switzerland at the end of April 2021.
• There were 347,330 EFTPOS terminals in Switzerland at the end of 2019.
• All ATMs and POS terminals are EMV-compliant.

• Payments with a mobile device such as a cell phone, tablet, or smartwatch are now the third largest payment method, accounting for 21 percent of the total number of 
  transactions.
• MasterCard’s MasterPass electronic wallet payment platform facilitates online purchases by MasterCard, Visa and American Express card holders in Switzerland using PCs and mobile devices.
• The SwissWallet electronic wallet payment platform is connected to MasterPass and may also be used by MasterCard, Visa and American Express card holders for online purchases.
• Mobile payment schemes, including TWINT (the country’s most popular mobile payment service), Swatch Pay, Garmin and Apple Pay, are available and widely used.

Backed by the strong rating and excellent reputation of BNP Paribas and supported by a strong European hub in charge of the execution of import/ export letters of credit, collections and guarantees, it leverages on the strengths of a worldwide network of 250 specialists (plus additional local or regional back office/ operations departments) located in over 100 Trade Centres across more than 60 countries, which provides close contact points and expertise everywhere, advantageous prices through network synergy, a recognised execution capacity and expertise confirmed by recurring awards as well as large capacities to confirm L/Cs or re-issue guarantees. 

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, June 2024.