(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Zak is a free digital Swiss bank account from Bank Cler. It is the first fully digital bank account from Switzerland. It was launched in 2018.Since it is a digital bank account, you can use Zak from anywhere with your smartphone.The main feature of Zak is that it is free! For all your operations in Switzerland, you will not pay anything. Being free makes Zak very attractive.Some people dislike digital banks because they are afraid of not having a big bank behind them. But Zak is a bank account from Bank Cler. You have the advantages of a big bank with the free price of digital banks.In this article, I am going over the details of Zak: what is good with it and what is not great! I should have done this earlier. So now is the
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(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)
Zak is a free digital Swiss bank account from Bank Cler. It is the first fully digital bank account from Switzerland. It was launched in 2018.
Since it is a digital bank account, you can use Zak from anywhere with your smartphone.
The main feature of Zak is that it is free! For all your operations in Switzerland, you will not pay anything. Being free makes Zak very attractive.
Some people dislike digital banks because they are afraid of not having a big bank behind them. But Zak is a bank account from Bank Cler. You have the advantages of a big bank with the free price of digital banks.
In this article, I am going over the details of Zak: what is good with it and what is not great! I should have done this earlier. So now is the time!
Please note that Zak is only available in the three Swiss national languages: French, German and Italian. It is not available in English.
This article was written in collaboration with Bank Cler.
Zak
Zak is a great digital Swiss bank, owner by Bank Cler. And it is free!
Use the MRPOOR code to receive 50CHF for free, when opening your Zak account!
Zak is the first Swiss digital bank account. Bank Cler started offering Zak accounts in 2018. Bank Cler was previously known as Bank Coop. There are a few new digital bank accounts now. But it is interesting that they were the first ones to start.
This bank account is entirely digital. You can only use it from your smartphone. There is no e-banking access from your desktop.
The main selling point of Zak is to be entirely free for operations in Switzerland. These days, banks have no interest rate. So, it is essential to choose a free bank account. You do not want to waste your money on bank fees.
All people that are more than 15 years old can open a Zak bank account. And you need to be a resident in Switzerland.
With Zak, you will have a Maestro card with each account. Additionally, you can choose between a MasterCard credit card and a virtual prepaid Visa card. You can use your card for either Google Pay and Apple Pay if you want to pay with your phone.
There is one awesome thing with the prepaid virtual Visa card: you can pay abroad for free! Free purchases abroad are an awesome feature. With Zak, most people will not need a Revolut account just for traveling abroad.
I have not been using their mobile application for a long time. But it feels well-designed. It is easy to use and user-friendly. The app simplifies people’s life. You want your banking app to be as simple as possible.
One feature that is missing from Zak is eBill. I do not care since I do not want to automate anything with my money. But this could be a big deal for some people. The support of eBill is on Zak’s roadmap. But it could take some time until it is available.
As I mentioned before, Zak is only available in the three national languages (French, German, and Italian), but not in English. The absence of English is slightly disappointing for expats. But it should not be a problem for most people. Most expats that need a bank account should be familiar with at least one of the Swiss national languages.
Zak Fees
The main advantage of Zak compared to other Swiss bank accounts is the pricing. If you use the Zak account correctly, you will not have to pay for anything.
There are no management fees at Zak, and you will not pay any fees for monthly or yearly statements.
All payments through the application are free in CHF and EUR. Most bank accounts offer free payments in CHF, at least.
The Maestro card of Zak is free. You can withdraw money for free at all Bank Cler ATMs. If you withdraw cash at other ATMs, you will pay 2 CHF per withdrawal in CHF and 5 CHF per withdrawal in EUR. This limitation could be an issue if you have no ATM from Bank Cler close to you. If you withdraw money abroad, you will have to pay 5 CHF per withdrawal.
If you pay with the Maestro card in Switzerland, transactions will be free. If you pay abroad, you will pay 1.50 CHF per purchase. You can also deposit cash for free at a Bank Cler ATM.
They also offer a prepaid virtual prepaid Visa card for free. It is free for purchases in Switzerland and abroad! You cannot withdraw money with this card. But you can directly send money back and forth from your account or use it for mobile payment.
Zak also offers a free Mastercard. But this offer will be removed from the Zak package since the virtual prepaid Visa card offers better conditions. So, there is little reason to get this Mastercard currently.
It is great that Zak offers a Maestro card because, in Switzerland, not every shop accepts Mastercard and Visa. So, a Maestro card can be useful sometimes.
The fact that you can pay abroad with the Visa card is awesome! This extra feature can make a huge difference compared to other banks!
On the other hand, the credit card offer of Zak is not great for purchases in Switzerland. The Visa card does not offer any cashback. The absence of cashback is not a big deal since we have a very strong credit card strategy.
If you want all the details of Zak Pricing, they are available online on PDF.
Other features
Zak also has a few interesting extra features. These features could make a difference for some people.
One feature that could be very practical is Zak Illico. With this feature, you can directly send money to other Zak users, in real-time. You can imagine using that to pay your friends quickly or to split a bill.
This feature is excellent if you know many people that use the application. On the other hand, if you do not know any other users, this is less useful. Depending on how Zak becomes popular in the future, this could become a great thing.
You can also create common savings pots. These pots are like small accounts that are managed by up to ten people. You can use this to share expenses for projects with a group of people. I can see this being very useful if you are on vacation with some friends and want to keep an overview of the shared bills.
Another thing you can do is create savings pots with individual goals. These are like an account where you can save money for a goal (vacation or retirement). And you can automate some transfers to this account every month. If you need this to manage your finances, this could be a great feature. But if you keep it simple, like me, you probably will not need this feature.
Inside the app, you will also find some deals for shops and services. Depending on the offers, this could be interesting. But I do not see that as a selling point. There are more than enough deals on the internet already. And I will never open my bank application to look for deals.
Some of these features could be interesting for some people, especially the direct payment to other users. If you know people using the application, several of these features can be great.
Zak Plus
Zak also comes in a premium version: Zak Plus. This bank account will cost you 8 CHF per month.
With this option, you will have all the features of the standard account. And you will pay fewer fees for several things:
- All withdrawals are free regardless of the country or ATM.
- You can pay abroad for free with your Maestro.
You also have a few other advantages like a card with a unique design and free coffee in Bank Cler offices.
Honestly, I do not feel this is a great offer. Generally, abroad, you can avoid withdrawing money. And since you already can pay for free abroad with the Visa prepaid card, there is little advantage in doing the same with the Maestro.
Zak Plus is a great way to get cash abroad. If you travel a lot and need cash, 8 CHF per month is a little amount to pay. It will account for a small percentage as long as you withdraw large amounts regularly.
How to open a Zak account?
Opening a Zak bank account is very easy. Bank Cler made the process extremely straightforward.
You can open an account directly from your phone. You just have to download the app and follow all the steps. You can do that on Apple and Android devices, so I do not have to explain every single step. The process is incredibly easy. And all the questions asked are entirely standard.
You just need to make sure to have your identity documents ready at hand. They will verify your identity during the process through a video call. This video call may take a few minutes.
Overall, you should be able to create a new account from your couch in less than 10 minutes.
Once you are done, and your account is validated, you will be able to enter my referral code MRPOOR and get 50 CHF for free on your account.
Zak as a Credit Card
I think that Zak is a great bank account. And it also offers a very good Visa card for paying abroad for free.
However, it is not the best option for a credit card for Switzerland. That does not mean you should not use Zak. It merely means you should get a second card for your payment in Switzerland.
The reason is simple: you want a little cashback on your credit card. There are two great options in Switzerland currently:
- Swisscard Cashback American Express with 1% cashback. I am using this card every time it is possible.
- Cumulus Mastercard with 0.33% cashback. When American Express is not supported, I use this second card.
Both of these cards are free and offer some cashback. Zak credit card is free, but it does not offer any cashback.
So, Zak is an excellent bank account. But you should try to get another credit card.
Zak versus Neon
Neon is another great free digital Swiss bank account. We can make a small comparison of both bank accounts.
These two bank accounts are very similar. Zak has the advantage of having both a Maestro and a Mastercard. Neon only has a Mastercard. This limitation can be inconvenient in Switzerland sometimes. On the other hand, I only needed a Maestro card once in the last few years. So, this should not be a blocker for most people.
Both banks offer free purchases abroad in their basic plan. With Neon, you can use the Mastercard for this. And with Zak, you can use the prepaid Visa card. This free service can make a lot of difference. One difference is that the Mastercard from Neon is physical while the Visa from Zak is virtual. If you use your phone a lot, this will not be a problem. But if you are not using your phone regularly, you may prefer Neon here.
Also, Zak offers a system to send money directly to other users of the application. This feature can be practical if you know many people using it. And this is not possible with Neon.
Regarding their mobile applications, I think that Zak’s mobile application is a little better. It feels more polished and better finished. But this is not a huge difference. And in the end, you will probably spend very little time inside the application. So it should not matter much. If you know many people using Zak, some of the collaboration features could be a good selling point.
One advantage of Zak for some people is that it is offered by a standard bank (Bank Cler). A lot of people find this comforting. I know many people that do not want to use digital bank accounts because they prefer big banks. Neon, on the other hand, is not well-known and is only a digital bank and a startup.
One small advantage of Neon is that it is available in English. For people coming to Switzerland that do not yet speak any of the national languages, this could be an essential advantage.
Finally, another slight advantage of Neon is that they offer support for eBill. I do not use this myself, but many people seem to use that.
Overall, I believe that both free bank accounts have advantages and disadvantages. Zak and Neon are much better than most other Swiss bank accounts. Being the bank account of a large Swiss bank, Zak could be a better option for a principal bank account.
I will make a full comparison of these two bank accounts in the future. In the meantime, you can read my review of Neon. They are both free, so nothing prevents you from trying to both for a time and keep the one you prefer in the end!
Conclusion
Zak is a great digital Swiss bank, owner by Bank Cler. And it is free!
Use the MRPOOR code to receive 50CHF for free, when opening your Zak account!
If you want a free and good bank account, Zak is a great option! If you are using it correctly, you will have a fully functional bank account. And you will not have to pay any fees!
I am really glad digital banks are getting better and better in Switzerland. The fact that we can use Zak Prepaid Visa for purchases abroad for free is fantastic.
And if you know many people using Zak, it could be great to share some expenses easily. You can even plan project spending in groups inside the application.
If you are still using a non-free bank account, Zak is a great alternative! You should consider moving to a digital bank account, or at least a free bank account.
If you open a Zak account, you can use the MRPOOR code. With this, you will receive 50 CHF for free when your account is opened. And I will also receive a bonus. It is what helps the blog going!
If you want to consider an alternative, you may also want to look at Neon, another great Swiss digital bank. I will soon write a full comparison between both bank accounts.
What about you? What do you think of Zak? Which bank account are you using?