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Zak from Bank Cler brings a breath of fresh air to the Swiss banking world. Our Zak Bank Cler experience report shows why this innovative app stands out from the rest and offers a real alternative in the digital banking sector.
In the comprehensive Zak Review, the offer achieves impressive 4.7 out of 5 points - You can find out exactly what makes this app so powerful in the article!
4,7
🏆 Best all-rounder 2024
🏆 Best all-rounder 2024 - Zak has done it!
With Zak, Bank Cler launched Switzerland's first fully-fledged smartphone bank in 2018. Today, Bank Cler offers a rounded offering of digital and offline banking. Because as a Zak customer, you also have access to all Branches of Bank Cler.
Zak is very innovative and is always coming up with new useful functions. Solutions such as the savings pots stand out in particular. These are interesting for couples, for example, who are looking for a Swiss Partner Account are. Money can be conveniently split between people here, provided both partners have a Zak account.</span
Before you learn more about the details and the Zak Bank Cler experience, you can find the review result here:
International fees: No matter if it's Postfinance, Yuh, Neon or Bank Cler - every bank has to pay employees and earn money to do so.
So you can assume that every bank focuses on certain topics and is favourable there, but has to charge fees for other topics in return.
At Bank Cler, the foreign fees perform somewhat worse in comparison than at banks that are specifically geared towards this. Is this criticism bad or even a no-go? No. Because especially if you have most of your expenses within Switzerland, it's not a problem for you.
If you do go abroad more often, you can either opt for Zak Plus or you can choose the Visa prepaid card from Zak take a closer look. This bank offers even better conditions abroad. You can find more information on this below in the Zak Bank Cler experience report.
AAlternatively, you could buy a 2. supplementary account View Neon is inexpensive abroad and could be an exciting duo for you in combination with Zak. Both accounts are free of charge, so the combination costs you nothing.
Especially when travelling, it is advisable to have several cards in case one card is not accepted.
Finding a Swiss partner account, i.e. a joint account, as a couple or family is not easy. At UBS and the like, a joint account doesn't exactly cost little money, as this partner account comparison shows.
Once set up, customers are of course well bound. Because the effort of a change for a couple, or a whole family, is not entirely small.
Neither with Neon while still at Yuh there is currently a partner account solution.
However, Zak has a particularly creative solution! The savings pots function as a Zak partner account. Here you can manage joint expenses with your partner or split a bill between friends and pay it directly.
As with Paypal or Twint, you can also request money from others and send it in real time by "Zak Instant" receive. This works as long as both partners have a Zak account. Zak does not yet offer a classic partner account (an account with several cards).
The Zak savings accounts offer you
Here's how: Download the app, open a free account & Code: CHFRAN don't forget!
Bank Cler's fee model is very transparent and fair. There are two different account models available to you. Depending on your user behaviour, you should decide which makes more sense and is cheaper for you. In general, it can be said that Zak Plus is particularly worthwhile if you travel a lot or make international payments.</span
You can find the exact cost here in the PDF factsheet from Zak. The most important points and differences are also listed here:
| Your performance | Zak | Zak Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Account maintenance fee | free of charge | 8 CHF / month |
| Interest on Zak account | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| Interest with Zak-Sparen | 1.3% | 1.3% |
| Savings pots | free of charge | free of charge |
| Zak Instant | free of charge | free of charge |
| Zak deals | free of charge | free of charge |
| mobile payment | free of charge | free of charge |
| Exclusive Maestro card design | not included | free of charge |
| Cash withdrawal at Bank Cler | free of charge | free of charge |
| Cash withdrawals at third-party ATMs (CH & abroad) | 2-5 CHF Fees | free of charge |
| Paying for purchases in Switzerland | free of charge | free of charge |
| Paying for purchases abroad | 1,50 CHF | free of charge |
In summer 2021, Bank Cler launched the free Zak Visa debit card. This combines a classic debit card with a credit card.
Bank Cler has recently launched the free Zak Prepaid Visa card. What's special about the Zak Prepaid Visa card?
Postfinance is a strongly represented one, reasonably priced bank with a wide range of products. At least that's the first impression. The Postfinance fees are lower than those of UBS or ZKB. But what is the comparison between Zak and Postfinance?
From the perspective of the Fees Zak has a clear lead here. Moneyland has done a survey with average user behaviour at banks. The Fees of Zak vs. Postfinance are about 77% higher here at Postfinance than at Bank Cler!
Fees are of course not the only decision criterion. Unfortunately, there were also some negative comments about Postfinance from the immediate environment. A look at the Postfinance experience on Trustpilot shows similar opinions. However, Postfinance should not be criticised here, as there are also very satisfied customers. Postfinance also offers the option of an online broker. A comparison of Zak vs. Postfinance is therefore generally not easy.
Here's how: Download the app, open a free account & Code: CHFRAN don't forget!
"Intelligent people learn from the mistakes of others".
We have compiled our top selection for you from all our tests and experience reports:
The Zak vs. Neon comparison is particularly exciting! This is probably the two Swiss smartphone banks in comparison. The detailed Neon experience report shows you everything about the newcomer Neon. But how does the Zak vs. Neon duel compare?
Both providers are Extremely cheap, both regulated in Switzerland and both offering free accounts an. Neon is younger and perhaps not yet as mature as Zak. Bank Cler's branches are an absolute must for some. However, this naturally incurs costs, which Neon slightly more favourable fees in comparison can offer.
Neither of them has a classic partner account, but with Zak you can easily set up savings pots to divide up amounts. Neon is ahead of the game when it comes to foreign fees and offers both video and photo identification... As you can see, there's no difference between them. No clear duel result can be achieved.
Neon does slightly better in terms of fees. Zak offers savings pots and access to Bank Cler branches. Which is more important to you? The good news: Both providers have free accounts. Why don't you just test them both yourself? 🤓
Revolut carved out a position for itself in the Swiss banking market for a while, seemingly unchecked. Everything digital, favourable foreign fees and a very good app. But watch out!
Revolut has raised the top-up fees for the Swiss to an extremely high level, which is why the Revolut app is no longer attractive for the Swiss. Here in brief is a Zak vs Revolut comparison: </span
Both providers offer free and chargeable cards. At Revolute The favourable exchange rate to the Interbank rate for over 150 currencies to highlight. Swiss Revolut customers pay up to 1.5% to load their card!
You should also note the major advantage with Zak: Bank Cler is a Swiss bank with Swiss deposit protection up to CHF 100,000. It offers branches and customer service in German. With the Zak Plus variant, there are of course also free foreign payments and cash withdrawals.</span
New: with the digital Zak Visa prepaid card, there are Free international payments even in the free model. This new upgrade also increases the ranking of the Zak Bank Cler experience report by a few points.
Zak Twint allows you to simply pay in online shops, shops with a Twint terminal or simply send money between your Zak Twint and another Twint user (regardless of whether they use Zak or not).
Also Zak Apple Pay and Zak Google Pay are of course available for payments with your prepaid card!
You may think that in 2024, being king as a customer and having an uncomplicated bank account opening will be a matter of course.
Schwiizerfranke has already tested many a bank and one thing stood out: Digitalisation and customer friendliness are not a top priority everywhere. But Bank Cler with Zak does!
Zak account opening
When you have Zak App you will be asked to enter the usual data. By the way, here you also have the option of Code "CHFRAN to enter CHF 50 starting credit as a gift. The Zak experience is extremely positive!
After just a few minutes, you'll be at the end of the data entry process and can be connected to an employee directly in the app. The identity is confirmed via Videoident and that's it! Your Zak account is open.</span
Only a few days later your Zak card will be sent to you by post.
Zak Bank Cler Field Report
The test went absolutely smoothly and the Zak Bank Cler experience has so far been exclusively positive. The Zak app runs smoothly, is intuitive to use and even surprises you time and again with exciting Zak deals. You can also use the app to manage your documents, block cards, find a bank branch or take out insurance for your mobile phone. As you can see, the range of services is very extensive and well thought-out. It is noticeable here that the customer experience is a top priority at Bank Cler.</span
The Zak Bank Cler experience report was opened with a rating of 4.7/5. If you have read the Zak Bank Cler review carefully, you will know why it has such a good rating. The Zak Review Rating is made up of the following ratings:</span
Zak is intuitive to use, offers a convenient and affordable banking solution and is even fun! The positioning on the market is clear, as Zak has positioned itself well with offers such as branches and savings pots. Everything works environmentally friendly, paperless and on the smartphone.
In a nutshell, our Zak experience has been VERY positive.
What more do you want? Let us know in the comments!
Will you make Zak your second account and test it?
Here's how: Download the app, open a free account & Code: CHFRAN don't forget!
"Intelligent people learn from the mistakes of others".
We have compiled our top selection for you from all our tests and experience reports:
The Zak Bank Cler experience report was created in cooperation with Bank Cler. At Schwiizerfranke.com we are independent and free. That's why we only recommend offers that we use ourselves and with which we are completely satisfied. Disadvantages for you? No. Advantages? Yes, because the collaboration enabled us to use the CHF 50 Zak voucher code for the Zak app. organize for you!
31 responses
At the moment, it's definitely worth checking out the latest ZAK/Cler reviews on Trustpilot. Something seems to have gone very wrong recently.
https://ch.trustpilot.com/review/cler.ch
Thanks for the tip - it's important, but be careful: This is how it looks on Trustpilot for almost every bank, because usually only disgruntled customers report online (satisfied customers don't write, while disgruntled customers write back). very out loud - unfortunately that's the way it is on the Internet).
According to the report, Bank Cler has over 250,000 clients, while only 175 people have commented on Trustpilot, i.e. less than 0.07%. Just to put it into perspective.
Hello,
Can you inform me if it is possible to open an account as a french national and resident and if yes the foreign transfers fees please.
Thanks,
Jean
Hello everyone - can the "partner account" be used as a direct debit? In other words, if my partner and I want to pay mortgage interest by direct debit from a partner account, does ZACK Bank also make sense here as a Zak partner account?
Many thanks and greetings
Hello, I would be interested in Zak as a partner account. As I understand it, it is not possible to open a joint account, is it? The account would then be in the name of a partner (also relevant for tax purposes)?
But would it theoretically be possible to use a second debit card?
Previously, two accounts had to be opened (which are then also allocated to each individual for tax purposes). Joint expenditure can then be managed via a linked savings pot. This means that two debit cards are also available, but these belong to separate accounts.
so i've tried Zak now and so far i'm pretty dissatisfied. the good thing was i was able to open it with my temporary residence permit, but otherwise i don't find anything good about it.
The app has been down several times in the last few weeks and I find it very confusing. You can't find bank details, only the IBAN, which is often not enough. The pots are not intuitive and not suitable for saving. I will cancel the account again as soon as I have found a new one.
Thank you for your feedback.
Each app has its own design, of course, and is ultimately a matter of taste.
Regarding help in the Zak app, I can highly recommend the chat function. If you enter "BIC" there, for example, you will instantly receive the BIC of Bank Cler.
You can find an alternative smartphone bank with savings function here.
ZAK is unfortunately out of the question for me just because of the bad exchange rates and/or hidden foreign currency fees.
Nevertheless, I registered with ZAK as a test (keywords "skin in the game") and in July 2022 I made two credit card payments in euros less than three minutes apart (in the same online shop).
ZAK (Visa prepaid) charged CHF 27.14 for EUR 26.87, Neon (Mastercard prepaid) charged only CHF 26.29 for EUR 26.89.
All in all, ZAK added 3,31% to the Neon price in this example! This is really not a good price, and larger sums can add up to quite a bit.
Hello, Eric,
Thanks for the review. What about negative interest rates? Haven't found anything on this...
Hi Karin, as far as I know there are currently no negative interest rates at Zak. Currently, there are even signs of an interest rate turnaround by the US Federal Reserve, so the issue may soon no longer be relevant anyway. If you want to be sure, just ask Zak. Or you can switch again if negative interest rates are charged.
Zak has now replaced the Maestro card with a (full-fledged?) VISA debit card and the costs abroad have also been reduced. Could you take this into account in the article, or adjust? Thank you.
The update is already in progress 🙂 Thanks for pointing it out!
Yuh... Hello, I would recommend the new Yuh app from PostFinance/Swissquote, I think it's absolutely amazing. lg
Hey Reto, I'm currently testing Yuh myself. However, I find it difficult to make a direct comparison. Yuh is a combination of bank account and trading platform. That sounds exciting (it may be for many - don't get me wrong), but I personally quickly come up against the limits of Yuh's attractive offering.
If you use Yuh as a bank account, it bothers me if I can only withdraw cash once a week. If you use Yuh for trading, it bothers me that the fees are higher and the offer is narrower than with comparable brokers (such as Swissquote direct).
For the entry certainly interesting because everything is kept simple and simple, or for digital minimalists (fewer apps / accounts on the phone). Nevertheless, Yuh has its justification and I am generally pleased that some movement comes into the online broker market in Switzerland because here we lag behind the offer in our neighboring countries years.
What makes yuh special to you 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!
Hello,
I understood that the ZAK Prepaid VISA card you described is available as a plastic card. But Bank Cler said it was only available virtually. Is that so?
Thanks for the answer
Hello Silvi
The prepaid card is a virtual card. It can be digitally attached to your normal Zak card if you wish: You top up the virtual card with credit and can therefore "delete" it again very easily. This is particularly advantageous if you pay at places where you are concerned about the security of your payment data.
Does that help you? 🙂
Dear greetings
Yes, merci vielmal
Hi Schwiizerfranke!
Couple of questions:
- does your Zak referral code still work if I were to open an account now? (is it still 50 opening balance?)
- do you know whether Zak plan on having their own Twint ? (i.e. not the UBS free for all)
Thanks!
Hi Chris
thanks for your message!
Yes and yes! The code is still working and TWINT is available already now with Zak!
Cheers 🙂
Hello Eric
Does this still apply a year later, meaning does the Zak Referral Code still work today?
Greetings and thanks
Hello Nicolas, yes the code still works today and credits you CHF 50 🙂
All right, thank you 👍
I do not agree with Bank ZAK. Response time from customer service takes 1 week and app partly does not work properly.
Anyway, I cancelled the account with them again today. Too unreliable for me.
Hello Schwiizerfranke
Can I also create a rental or deposit account with ZAK (or NEON)?
My landlord wants either that, or a bank guarantee (for 150 CHF+ per year)
Hello, Bernd,
with Zak and neon not directly. Zak belongs to Bank Cler, where you can do this for example: https://www.cler.ch/de/privatkunden/sparen/mietersparkonto
The same applies to the Migrosbank or other places, just pay attention to the fees.
Many greetings
Eric
Which banks are currently most worthwhile in Switzerland? At the moment I and my wife each have an account with ZKB with various savings accounts, 3a as well as a joint household account (a 2 cards)... but it also costs around 100.- pP..... per year. Lg
Hello, Christoph,
Thank you for your message!
An account or a bank must of course always fit your needs. The ZKB account with all Add Ons is certainly justified. But if you say that the 100CHF is bothering you then you can consider a change.
For this I can recommend to open the new account first and test it on the side and then move everything bit by bit. This gives you the possibility to test and avoids chaos or forgotten bills etc.
In general, it can also be said that a comparison of the individual products is often worthwhile. As with insurance, it is often a good idea to look at the products in detail. In other words, choose a good, suitable bank account and consider the 3a solution separately. This way, you can choose the variant that best meets your requirements.
To answer your question: A recommendation suitable for everyone cannot be made. For example, I use Zak and Neon as bank accounts, and Viac for pillar 3a.
Many greetings!
Hello Schwiizerfranke
I'm actually thinking about trying out Zak and Neon. I have a question about Neon. In your experience report you write: "We negotiated with Neon and landed a deal for you: Free account incl. cards and 10CHF starting credit as a gift with the code Schwiizerfranke" Is that still the case? Since Neon advertises the card on their website with 10 Fr for the plastic, so the card probably costs 10 Fr?
Hello Georg,
Thank you for your message and for studying the articles carefully!
Yes, the offer at Neon is still valid (if this changes, we will change the article) You will get 20CHF as an indirect gift. The card is free of charge and the 10HF starting balance will be credited to your account a few days after opening the account. Provided you enter the code Schwiizerfranke.
With Zak, you can enter the code CHFRAN after opening an account and you will be credited with 50CHF 🙂
Many greetings and see you soon!
Eric
Hi, Eric,
thanks for the answer, then I will try only neon for now (need the card mainly to make online purchases in foreign currency)
George