How to Open a Swiss Bank Account From Abroad: The Remote Route, Step by Step (2026)

Opening a Swiss bank account from abroad comes down to one problem: the bank has to be sure who you are, where you live and that the money is yours, without ever having you in the room. Swiss rules give it a short list of ways to do that at a distance, and each one comes with its own paperwork, its own delays and its own ways of going wrong.

This guide is about those mechanics. It explains how identification works when you are not in Switzerland, how to get documents certified in your own country, how the first transfer and the bank’s letters reach you, and what a Swiss bank may and may not do where you live. If your question is whether you can bank in Switzerland at all, start with our guide on how to open a Swiss bank account as a non-resident. For the paperwork itself, see the documents needed to open a Swiss bank account.

In brief: opening a Swiss bank account from abroad in 2026

• You can often do it without travelling. Swiss rules allow video identification, online identification, certified copies by post and a qualified electronic signature. The bank decides which it offers you.
• Online banks do most of the remote work. Of the 11 retail and online banks we checked, Swissquote and Dukascopy were the only two that open accounts online for residents of many countries. The others mostly require a Swiss address first.
• Your passport matters. A chip or a machine-readable zone opens the digital routes. A document without either usually means certified copies or a visit.
• The first transfer is part of the check. It normally has to come from an account in your own name, and for online identification from a bank in Switzerland, Liechtenstein or a qualifying FATF member state.
• Budget for the post. Address checks, activation codes and cards still travel by letter, which takes two to four working days to Germany and up to 20 to Brazil.

Why distance changes the process

A Swiss bank has to establish three things before it opens any account: who you are, where you live and who the money belongs to. Walk into a branch in Zurich and the first of those takes a few minutes with your passport on the counter. For a Swiss bank account opened from abroad, each one needs a substitute.

Two rulebooks define the substitutes. FINMA’s Circular 2016/7 on video and online identification sets out how banks may identify clients remotely, and its current text dates from May 2021. The Swiss Bankers Association’s due-diligence code, known as CDB 20, covers relationships opened by correspondence, including who may certify a copy of your passport. The SBA has said a revised code will not arrive before 1 January 2027, so CDB 20 remains the reference.

A third set of rules is easy to forget: those of your own country. A Swiss bank has to respect the rules on marketing financial services where you live, which is why it often waits for you to make the first move. We come back to this further down.

Meanwhile, digital opening has become normal for people who live in Switzerland. Deloitte’s digital banking maturity study, published in March 2025, found that all but one of 12 Swiss retail banks offer it. Very little of it is built for people abroad, though. Most online forms ask for a Swiss address, Swiss tax residence or a Swiss mobile number before anything else. The background checks, on the other hand, are the same for everyone; our article on what banks check before opening an account covers them.

Four ways to verify your identity for a Swiss bank account from abroad

Each route has to prove the same thing: that the person opening the account is the person in the passport. The table puts them side by side, and the sections below explain what actually happens in each.

The four remote identification routes under Swiss rules

Sources: FINMA Circular 2016/7, version of 6 May 2021; SBA Agreement on the Swiss banks’ code of conduct with regard to the exercise of due diligence (CDB 20).

Video identification: a recorded call with a trained employee

Video identification is the route most people abroad will meet first. The call is live, the bank’s employee must be specially trained for it and the whole conversation is audio-recorded. During the call the bank reads the machine-readable zone of your passport and checks one optically variable feature, such as a hologram that changes as you tilt the page, plus another security feature chosen at random. It also photographs you and the relevant pages so that it can compare them.

In practice it does not take long. Dukascopy, which runs its own video identification rather than outsourcing it, describes it as a short call with a bank employee. It holds the call in English unless you ask in advance for one of ten other languages. So have your passport, a stable connection and a quiet room ready, and expect to tilt the document and answer a few questions about the account you want.

Expect the checks to get stricter rather than looser. In guidance published in April 2026, FINMA warned that manipulated videos and forged identity documents are becoming harder to detect, and it pointed banks to technology that can spot deepfakes. Our article on how deepfakes are testing video KYC explains what that means for applicants.

Online identification and the first payment

Online identification is the app-based route. You photograph your passport and yourself, the software reads the machine-readable zone and checks at least two security features, and the picture of you has to be taken during the process rather than uploaded from your camera roll.

A photo alone is not enough, however. FINMA’s circular adds a second anchor: a payment from an account in your name at a bank in Switzerland or Liechtenstein. An account in a FATF member state also qualifies, provided the country’s FATF evaluation has not rated it non-compliant on customer due diligence and wire transfers and low on supervision and preventive measures. Since the revision of June 2021, the bank can drop the payment if it reads the chip in a biometric passport instead. It must also confirm your address, for example with a utility bill, a letter, a public register or geolocation.

The FATF condition matters more than it sounds. The FATF has 38 member jurisdictions, and many countries you might expect are not among them: the Baltic states, Poland, the UAE and Kazakhstan all take part through regional bodies instead. Russia’s membership has been suspended since February 2023. That explains a detail that puzzles many applicants. Swissquote’s list of countries for its fully digital opening consists entirely of Switzerland, Liechtenstein and FATF members, from Germany and the UK to Singapore and Saudi Arabia. Residents of other countries are sent to a video call instead.

Certified copies by post: the traditional route

The oldest remote route is still in daily use. Under the banks’ due-diligence code, a relationship opened by correspondence needs an authenticated copy of your identity document, and the bank has to confirm your address by post or an equivalent method. Article 11 of the code lists who may authenticate the copy:

• a branch, representative office or group company of the bank;
• a correspondent bank, another financial intermediary or an attorney licensed in Switzerland;
• a notary or another public body;
• a certification provider recognised under Swiss e-signature law.

A few details catch people out. The SBA’s commentary on the code says ordinary A or B post is enough for the address check, so the letter arrives without tracking and you have to watch for it. For an account opened this way, the beneficial-owner declaration (Form A) is required in every case, even when you are obviously the owner. The account also cannot be used until the documents are complete, apart from a 30-day grace period in exceptional cases.

Banks are free to be stricter than the code, and many are. Some ask for an apostille on a notarised copy, and others want the certification on the same page as the copy. The next section explains how to get that done where you live.

Qualified electronic signature: rare outside Switzerland

FINMA also allows identification with an electronic copy of your ID and a qualified electronic signature. For most people abroad this route stays theoretical, because the signature must come from a provider recognised in Switzerland, and few banks offer it to clients who live elsewhere.

Getting documents certified for a Swiss bank account from abroad

When a bank asks for a certified copy, the certification usually comes from a notary in your country. The Swiss bank then needs to know that the notary is genuine, and that is the job of an apostille or, in some countries, of legalisation.

Apostille or legalisation: it depends on your country

Switzerland is one of 130 parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so for most readers the process has two steps: a notary, then the local authority that issues apostilles. Where the Convention does not apply, documents need legalisation instead. The local authorities authenticate the notary’s signature, and the Swiss embassy or consulate responsible for your country then legalises that authority’s signature. Swiss representations cannot issue apostilles themselves.

Several countries that matter for Swiss banking are outside the Convention, and a few have joined only recently. Individual states have objected to some accessions, as Germany and Austria did to Uzbekistan, but Switzerland has objected to none of the countries in our planner below.

Apostille status of selected countries

Source: HCCH status table for the Apostille Convention, last updated 30 June 2026. The planner below covers 63 countries.

What a certification should look like

Each bank sets its own format, so ask for it in writing before you book a notary. Dukascopy publishes one of the clearest specifications. The certification must say it is a “certified true copy of the original” and give the certifier’s name, signature, date, capacity and contact details, with an official stamp. It must also sit on the same page as the copy, or the pages must be sealed together. The passport has to be valid and show your signature and place of birth, and if your signature has changed, you sign the copy in front of the certifier.

That list works as a template for any bank. Our guide to the documents Swiss banks ask for then explains how compliance reads the rest of your file, from proof of address to source of wealth.

Can a Swiss embassy certify your passport copy?

Sometimes. Under the consular services ordinance, Swiss representations may certify signatures and confirm that a copy matches the original for Swiss citizens. They may do the same for foreigners when the document is to be used in Switzerland, which a bank file is. The fee is CHF 40 per document; the embassy in Germany charges EUR 44 under its fee table valid from 1 April 2026.

There are limits, however. The service is discretionary, a confirmed copy carries a reservation about its content, and the ordinance lets the embassy refuse where Switzerland’s reputation is at risk, naming suspected money laundering and capital or tax flight. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs also points bank clients to the bank’s local subsidiary or intermediary where one exists. For foreigners, a local notary is usually the more practical choice.

How long certification takes: two examples

Timing depends on your country and the service you choose. In the UK, the FCDO charges £45 for a paper apostille, which usually takes up to 25 working days plus postage, or £35 for an e-Apostille issued within two working days. It currently cannot return legalised paper documents to Russia, Ukraine or Belarus. In Germany, the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs charges €22 per apostille for federal documents, while documents from the states and the courts go to the authority responsible for them.

Which banks open a Swiss bank account from abroad remotely

We checked the account-opening pages, help centres and price lists of 11 retail and online banks, and the public statements of several private banks, on 27 September 2026. The pattern is clear: remote opening for people abroad is the exception, and it sits almost entirely with online banks.

Online banks and neobanks

Online banks: remote opening for people who live outside Switzerland

Sources: each bank’s website, checked on 27 September 2026.

Retail and cantonal banks

The big retail names have built slick online opening, but almost all of it assumes a Swiss address. From abroad, the usual answer is a branch.

Retail and cantonal banks: what happens if you live abroad

Sources: each bank’s website, checked on 27 September 2026. A “no” means no online opening for people abroad; some banks still open accounts for them in a branch.

Private banks: the relationship manager decides

Private banks sit outside the table because they rarely publish a process. Onboarding runs through a relationship manager, who decides whether a video call, certified copies or a meeting will do. Julius Baer introduced video identification and electronic signatures for prospects served from Switzerland as early as 2021, Vontobel describes an advisory process led by the relationship manager, and Lombard Odier says its clients typically entrust it with more than CHF 1 million.

How much you bring shapes the process as much as where you live. Our guides to the Swiss bank account minimum deposit for non-residents and the top Swiss banks for foreigners cover that side.

Plan the remote route for your country

The planner combines the rules above with the data for your country: whether it applies the Apostille Convention, whether it is a FATF member, how long Swiss Post takes to get there and what the two online banks say about it.

Step by step: how to open a Swiss bank account from abroad

1. Check that the bank takes residents of your country, and on what terms. Rules differ by bank, residence and nationality; our guide on which nationalities can open a Swiss bank account covers the restrictions.
2. Ask which identification route the bank will use for you, and get the answer in writing. Video, online, certified copies and a meeting each need different preparation.
3. Prepare documents in the bank’s format. Have copies certified and apostilled or legalised only once you know exactly what the bank wants.
4. Complete the identification: the video call, the app, or posting the certified copies with the signed forms.
5. Answer the compliance questions. Source of wealth is where most files slow down, and a clear source of wealth declaration can save weeks.
6. Confirm your address. If the bank uses the postal check, watch for an unregistered letter.
7. Activate your access. E-banking activation letters, cards and PIN letters often arrive separately.
8. Make the first transfer from an account in your own name, exactly as the bank specified.

Steps 1 to 3 are in your hands, and that is where most time is won or lost. Steps 6 and 7 depend on the post, which is why the country you live in affects the timeline more than most applicants expect. If a bank has already turned you down, read why Swiss applications are rejected before you try again.

Funding a new Swiss bank account from abroad

The first transfer is not just money arriving; it is part of the identification. Swissquote, for example, requires the first deposit to come from an account in your name, excludes Wise accounts and, for clients who live outside Switzerland, wants it from a bank in their country of residence. Alpian, which serves Swiss residents, refuses first deposits from Revolut, N26, Wise and PayPal. The logic is the same in both cases: the bank wants a regulated bank at the other end that has already identified you.

Three practical points follow. First, use exactly the account name the Swiss bank gives you, since many European banks now warn when a payee’s name and IBAN do not match; our article on Verification of Payee explains how that works. Second, give your full address in the payment, because the new SWIFT address rules push banks towards structured address data. Finally, if you plan to move a large sum, ask whether to send the identification payment first and the main transfer once the account is fully open. A large payment held for review can slow both, as our note on SWIFT payments rejected by intermediary banks explains.

Running a Swiss bank account from abroad: letters, cards and access

Even digital banks still post things. For clients in Switzerland, Raiffeisen says e-banking login details and the debit card arrive by post a few days after opening; from abroad, the same letters take as long as the international post. Dukascopy sends cards by Swiss Post or UPS and warns that delivery can take several weeks, depending on the country. Swissquote sends physical debit cards only to residents of 15 countries, so everyone else relies on virtual cards.

Swiss Post’s own averages show why this matters. A letter reaches Germany or the UK in two to four working days, but the UAE in eight to 12, Russia in eight to 18 and Brazil in 10 to 20. If the address check, the activation code and the card travel one after another, a distant country can add several weeks before you can use the account.

Hold mail is not a way around the post

Some people who run a Swiss bank account from abroad ask the bank to keep their correspondence in Switzerland instead, a service known as hold mail. It still exists, but it no longer does what people once hoped. The Swiss tax administration’s 2026 guidance on the automatic exchange of information lists hold mail among the indicators banks weigh when they establish where a client is resident for tax purposes. It does not take an account outside the Common Reporting Standard, as our overview of CRS reporting countries explains.

What a Swiss bank may do in your country

Swiss banks are careful about contacting clients abroad, and for good reason. In a 2010 position paper, FINMA said it expects banks to observe the supervisory rules of every country they serve and to define a service model for each market, noting that cold calling is banned in many countries. Banks therefore set internal rules on what staff may do in each country: travel to meet you, send you material, or only respond once you get in touch. Three examples show how much this varies.

• European Union. From 11 January 2027, the CRD VI directive requires banks from outside the EU to use an EU branch to offer deposits and loans to EU residents. The main exception is a client who approaches the bank on their own initiative, so keep a record that you made first contact. Contracts concluded before 11 July 2026 are protected. Our analysis of CRD VI and Swiss banks goes into detail.
• United Kingdom. The Berne Financial Services Agreement has applied since 1 January 2026. For private individuals, it covers investment services to people with net assets above £2 million who opt in in writing (see our guide for UK clients).
• United States. Under SEC Rule 15a-6, foreign broker-dealers may only deal with US investors they have not solicited, and foreign advisers lose their exemption once they reach 15 US clients or USD 25 million from US investors. That is one reason many Swiss banks turn US persons away; our guide to a Swiss bank account for US citizens lists the realistic options.

For you, the practical consequence is simple. Expect to make the first move, and do not be surprised if a banker cannot visit you at home or send you a proposal out of the blue.

Swiss citizens opening a bank account from abroad

Swiss nationals abroad have more options, although fewer than they might assume. Zürcher Kantonalbank opens accounts for them with no minimum and whatever their domicile, and its online route works with a biometric passport. Yet moneyland.ch’s 2024 survey of 31 banks concluded that Swiss living abroad will normally have to visit Switzerland to open an account. Most banks also charge them the surcharge for a foreign address; see what Swiss banks charge clients who live abroad.

The e-ID was supposed to change this. Voters approved the federal e-ID law on 28 September 2025 with 50.39% in favour, and FINMA consulted in December 2025 on letting banks accept it for online identification. The launch had been expected from 1 December 2026. On 30 June 2026, however, the federal government postponed it, citing new security challenges from artificial intelligence, and the underlying infrastructure is now due in the first half of 2027. The e-ID law makes it available to holders of a Swiss passport or identity card and of a Swiss foreign-national permit, so it will not help foreigners who live abroad.

When travelling to Switzerland is the better option

Opening a Swiss bank account from abroad saves a trip, but not always time. A visit tends to be the better choice when:

• your identity document has no machine-readable zone, or your country is outside the Apostille Convention and legalisation would take weeks;
• you are opening an account for a company or a structure with several beneficial owners, which brings checks of its own (see Swiss business bank account opening);
• the bank is a private bank that wants to meet you before accepting a large relationship;
• you are a politically exposed person, or your wealth comes from several countries, and a conversation would settle questions faster than a long exchange of emails;
• letters from Switzerland take more than two weeks to reach you, and you would rather collect cards and codes in person, if the bank allows it.

A meeting at one of the bank’s own offices abroad can also work, because the code lets a branch, representative office or group company of the bank certify your documents.

Questions about opening a Swiss bank account from abroad

Can I open a Swiss bank account from abroad without visiting Switzerland?

Often, yes. Swiss rules allow video identification, online identification, certified copies by post and qualified electronic signatures. Online banks such as Swissquote and Dukascopy use these routes for residents of many countries, while most retail banks keep online opening for Swiss residents.

Which Swiss banks offer video identification to people living abroad?

Of the banks we checked, Dukascopy runs its own video identification for residents of most countries, and Swissquote uses a video call for countries outside its fully digital list. Private banks decide case by case.

Do I need an apostille on my passport copy?

Only if the bank asks, and many do when a local notary certifies the copy. If your country is not a party to the Apostille Convention, such as the UAE, Qatar or Malaysia, the copy needs legalisation by the local authorities and the Swiss embassy instead.

Can a Swiss embassy certify my passport copy?

It can for Swiss citizens, and for foreigners when the document is to be used in Switzerland, but the service is discretionary. The fee is CHF 40 per document. A Swiss embassy cannot issue an apostille.

Why must my first transfer come from an account in my own name?

The payment is part of the identification. Under FINMA’s rules for online identification it must come from your own account at a bank in Switzerland, Liechtenstein or a qualifying FATF member state, unless the bank reads your passport chip instead.

How long does it take to open a Swiss bank account from abroad?

The identification can take minutes, but certification, compliance questions and the post usually take longer. Swiss Post needs two to four working days to deliver a letter to Germany or the UK and eight to 18 to Russia, and several letters may follow one another.

Will the Swiss e-ID make opening a bank account from abroad easier?

For Swiss citizens, eventually. The launch was postponed in June 2026, and the e-ID is only for holders of Swiss identity documents or Swiss foreign-national permits, so it will not help foreigners who live abroad.

How we checked

We read FINMA’s Circular 2016/7 in its version of 6 May 2021, the SBA’s CDB 20 and its commentary, the HCCH status table as updated on 30 June 2026 and Swiss Post’s table of delivery times. On 27 September 2026 we also checked the account-opening pages, help centres and price lists of each bank named here. Where a bank’s statements were ambiguous, we describe only what its own pages say. Rules and bank practice change, so confirm the details with the bank before you act.

You are welcome to cite the planner, the apostille table or the delivery-time chart in your own work, with a link to this page as the source.

About the author. Asel Mamytova is an AML and cross-border banking specialist based in Chur, with more than fifteen years of experience in compliance and cross-border regulation, including several years at an institutional asset manager in Zug. She leads the Easy Global Banking team that prepares client files for banks in Switzerland and Singapore. If you would like help with a remote opening, our Swiss account opening service and fees are set out on our site, and the Swiss Banking Guide 2026 gives the wider picture.

Sources

Rules, authorities and studies

• FINMA: Circular 2016/7 Video and online identification, version of 6 May 2021
• FINMA: revised circular on online identification, May 2021
• FINMA: consultation on the partially revised Circular 2016/7, December 2025
• FINMA Guidance 02/2026: digital fraud risks, April 2026
• FINMA: legal and reputational risks in cross-border financial services, 2010
• Swiss Bankers Association: CDB 20 due-diligence agreement
• Swiss Bankers Association: commentary on CDB 20
• Swiss Bankers Association: the fight against money laundering (status of the CDB revision)
• FATF: members and observers
• HCCH: status table of the Apostille Convention, 30 June 2026
• Swiss embassy in Egypt: legalisation of official stamps and signatures
• Swiss embassy in Egypt: certification of private signatures
• Ordinance on consular services (V-ASG)
• Swiss embassy in Germany: fee table from 1 April 2026
• GOV.UK: get a document legalised
• German Federal Office for Foreign Affairs: apostille
• Swiss Post: price zones and delivery times for international documents
• Federal e-ID: result of the vote of 28 September 2025
• SRF: e-ID planned from 1 December 2026, February 2026
• Federal e-ID: new timetable, 30 June 2026
• Federal Act on Electronic Identity (BBl 2025 20)
• Swiss Federal Tax Administration: AEOI guidance 2026
• Directive (EU) 2024/1619 (CRD VI)
• Harneys: CRD VI and third-country banking services
• GOV.UK: the Berne Financial Services Agreement
• Berne Financial Services Agreement: treaty text
• SEC Rule 15a-6 (17 CFR 240.15a-6)
• SECO: FAQ on the Ukraine ordinance, status 30 June 2026
• Deloitte: digital banking maturity study, March 2025
• moneyland.ch: online account opening study 2024

Bank pages checked on 27 September 2026

• Swissquote account opening
• Swissquote help
• Swissquote debit cards
• Dukascopy FAQ
• PostFinance private account
• UBS key4
• UBS prices
• ZKB for Swiss abroad
• ZKB becoming a client
• Raiffeisen account opening
• Migros Bank private account
• BCGE online opening
• Yuh FAQ
• neon requirements
• Alpian FAQ
• Alpian 2025 results and Radicant integration
• Julius Baer digital onboarding (Hubbis, 2021)
• Vontobel: becoming a client
• Lombard Odier: private clients

This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Bank practices, eligibility rules and regulations change, and your own circumstances decide what applies to you. Check the current terms with the bank and take professional advice before acting.