Before you start

OCPM registration confirmation, permit card or legitimation card
Passport
Geneva address, or a French address plus a G permit for frontaliers
Employment contract, sometimes requested

Step-by-step

1
Register first, then apply
The registration confirmation is issued immediately and is what most banks accept as proof of residence. Waiting for the physical permit card, which takes weeks, delays your salary payment for no reason.
In personWho: You
2
Pick your tier deliberately
BCGE is the cantonal bank and widely used for everyday accounts; UBS is the remaining large universal bank; the Geneva private banks are wealth managers rather than current-account providers; Neon, Yuh and Zak are materially cheaper for ordinary banking.
OnlineWho: You
3
Declare US person status before you apply
FATCA reporting leads several Swiss banks to decline US citizens and green-card holders outright or to restrict services. Ask which institutions accept US clients rather than being refused after a formal application.
In personWho: You
4
Set up the QR-bill habit
Rent, health insurance, tax instalments and the Serafe broadcasting fee all arrive as QR-bills. You scan them in the banking app or set up eBill. Newcomers used to card autopay miss the first round of deadlines.
Mobile appWho: You
5
If you commute from France, keep both sides
Frontaliers generally need a Swiss account for salary and a French one for rent and local bills. Watch the conversion spread — a specialist transfer service usually beats a bank's retail FX rate by a wide margin on a monthly salary.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
OCPM registration confirmation, permit or legitimation card
Proof of address
Employment contract, sometimes requested

Things most newcomers don’t know

US citizens should identify a bank that accepts US persons before applying anywhere.

FATCA reporting obligations lead a number of Swiss institutions to decline US clients or charge extra. A formal refusal is awkward to explain to the next bank and can delay a salary payment by weeks. Ask on the phone before submitting anything, and expect the digital challengers to be less accommodating than the large banks here.

Source: Swiss banking practice under FATCA

The registration confirmation, not the plastic permit card, is what opens the account.

The OCPM slip is issued at the counter while the card takes weeks to arrive by post. Most banks accept the slip. Newcomers who wait for the card end up asking their employer to delay a salary run they did not need to delay.

Source: community-reported, consistently

Swiss retail banking carries real monthly fees, which surprises arrivals from the EU.

Account maintenance, debit cards and some transactions are all chargeable. The digital banks are used by ordinary residents, not just newcomers, and switching later is easy — but the default of walking into the nearest branch costs a few hundred francs a year for nothing.

Source: Swiss retail banking fee schedules

Legitimation card holders bank normally, but their tax status changes the paperwork.

International civil servants are not taxed on their organisation salary, so the certificates and withholding statements banks and mortgage lenders normally rely on look unusual. Mortgage affordability in particular is assessed differently for an untaxed international salary — raise it with the lender early rather than at offer stage.

Source: Canton of Geneva — taxation of international civil servants

Common mistakes to avoid

Applying before completing OCPM registration.
For US persons: applying without first confirming the bank accepts US clients.
Assuming free banking as in much of the EU.
Missing QR-bill deadlines because the format is unfamiliar and nothing auto-debits.
Converting a Swiss salary to euros at a retail bank rate every month instead of using a transfer service.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.