«Your personal Swiss IBAN is wating for you », is the subject of an email that the British neobank Revolut is currently sending to its customers in Switzerland.

The changes were first communicated last October, as reported by finews.ch: anyone who registers with the Lithuanian Revolut Bank UAB will now have access to investment products such as shares, ETFs and money market funds. Revolut's Swiss subsidiary, managed by former Blackrock man Julian Biegmann, has been in possession of a corresponding Finma license for a year now.

From Credit Suisse to Postfinance

Another innovation is that customers of Revolut Bank UAB recieve a Swiss IBAN number, for which the infrastructure is provided by Postfinance. 

However, many Swiss Revolut customers are not based at Revolut Bank UAB, but at the British Revolut Ltd. They previously had to make their payments via a collective account at Credit Suisse. They were then allocated based on the purpose of the payment.

Retail Banking in View

Neobank is now actively encouraging its Swiss customers to switch to the Lithuanian branch, reminding them to set up the new Swiss IBAN to avoid interruptions with their account.. Customers must give their consent for their funds to be managed by Revolut Bank UAB, accept its terms and conditions and provide their AHV number. 

Until now, Swiss customers have primarily valued Revolut for its favorable exchange rates when making payments abroad. However, with its current expansion, the neobank is increasingly competing with other areas of retail banking.

Initial Difficulties

However, a number of users have reported teething problems to finews.ch.

Numerous links in the Revolut email do not work. Clicking on «Save Swiss IBAN»—the key action required—does not guide users through the change but instead returns an error message: «We are already verifying your information.» 

Revolut's promise of a «personal» Swiss IBAN is sparking controversy among customers. Read our latest report here.