As of April 1, Migros Bank will eliminate account management costs

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The success of neobanks such as Yuh or Neon, which attract large numbers of young customers thanks to their free services, has established banking players worried.

The first to jump in was Zürcher Kantonalbank, which has waived account management fees since the beginning of 2024. Thurgau and St. Gallen cantonal banks followed suit.

Now Migros Bank: The subsidiary of the Migros Cooperative Union will eliminate special account operating fees as of April 1, 2024. And from the first franc. Previously this was only guaranteed for loan balances over 7,500 francs. Meanwhile, the entrance fee of 20 cents per incoming payment will also be abolished.

Free daily banking is mandatory

Free daily banking is complemented by debit and credit cards with no annual fee. This has also happened before at Migros Bank. Migros Bank customers can withdraw money free of charge from nearly 250 of the bank’s own ATMs with their Visa debit card. Cash withdrawals are also free at more than 1,500 sales points of the Migros Group.

CEO Manuel Kunzelmann (49) also explains that Migros Bank has been “quickly transmitting interest rate changes to customers” since autumn 2022, that is, since the Swiss National Bank ended the negative interest rate phase. Six times in total.

Coop put pressure on

Migros Bank’s self-defined core values ​​are “closeness to the customer, justice and reliability”. First of all, Migros Bank cannot afford to lose credibility among small savers and the average Swiss. Especially after its nemesis Coop returns to the banking business in the fall of 2023 with its own neobank with free account management.

Thereupon, Migros Bank had to take action. Moreover, it is very important in the “general Migros system”: With a profit of 313 million francs, it saved Migros from the first red numbers in its history. For this reason, and also for image reasons, people are happy to waive some fees.

Source :Blick