Wonder

Switzerland Digital Banking

Delivered August 29th, 2019. Contributors: Lisa M., Karla A., Ivana, Oshione S., David K., Megan B., Neema, Barry, Sagar K., Kevin K., Mariana D. and

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Challenger Digital Banks: Switzerland

Revolut and N26 are challenger digital banks that offer business banking services in Switzerland.  Initium is planning to launch in Switzerland this year. 

SWITZERLAND & DIGITAL BANKING BACKGROUND Switzerland is lagging behind other companies when it comes to digital banking. Other than Revolut and N26, the big names in digital banking do not operate in Switzerland. 
Switzerland's customer base, lack of competition, and a regulator that has just "woken up" to the new digital players, are all mentioned reasons to enter the digital banking arena. 
 Barriers for entering the arena include the size of the country (their TAM is the size of a large US city), time to get a license, multiple official languages, and profit margins being largely driven by off-shore wealth. 
REVOLUT
Revolut was founded in 2015 and is based in London. In 2017, they reported $15.67 million in revenue, and $17.31 in 2018. From 2016-2017, their revenue growth was 443%. They offer personal and business products. 
Their market valuation is currently $1.7 billion, with $336.5 million in total funding over 12 rounds, with the last being March 27, 2019. They are a private company and considered a tech unicorn. 
Revolut has completed a total of 350 million transactions at a total value of $48.9 billion.
Revolut states they have 7,000 new accounts opened daily. 
They have nearly 20,000 businesses as customers, along with 4.5 million customers total. In the UK, they have 1.6 million customers. 
Businesses may hold, receive, and exchange 29 currencies without charge. 
Revolut claims they are ten times cheaper than a bank. 
They have had significant reported losses. 
Their business customers have an Open API to integrate their Revolut account into their current workflow and stack. 
Revolut operates in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 
Their website may be viewed here. 
N26 N26 has just launched in Switzerland. 
 N26 is a Berlin bank that operates in 20 countries in Europe. They have 2.5 million customers worldwide and were founded in 2013. They are a Late Stage Venture and have raised $682.2 million in funding over seven rounds. Their latest round was July 2019.
N26 has a current market valuation of $3.5 billion. 
In 2017, they generated revenue of 11.24 million Euros which was a 2000% increase over 2016.
In late 2018 they had two million customers. They currently have over 3.5 million. Their monthly transaction volume exceeds 1.5 billion Euros. 
N26 offers banking for freelancers and the self-employed. 
They operate in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
N26 is planning to expand to the US in 2019.
Their website may be viewed here.
INITIUM Initium, which is Switzerland based company has plans to build a corporate banking group. Initium was founded by Daniel Spier. 
They want to create a fully-licensed bank and have started their first round of investments. Initium will offer deposit taking, local payment clearing, card issuing, and acquiring, and liquidity services. 
Initium wants to target fintech, blockchain, and crypto. 
Their banking services may be viewed here. 
Their website may be viewed here. 
STARTUPS TO KEEP AN EYE ONNeon and Yapeal neither offer business banking, but they do offer digital banking. 
 Neon offers fully service digital accounts and has a goal to simplify customer relationships with banks. Their website may be viewed here. 
 Yapeal is a neo-bank that has a goal of redefining banking. They do not offer business services at this time. They have a fully digital on boarding process. Their website may be viewed here. 
RESEARCH STRATEGY
To locate the top challenger digital banks, we first located industry articles that stated who the best digital challenger banks were. To be included in the next stage of our research, a bank had to be mentioned multiple times. Once we had our list, we then researched each bank separately to obtain an across the board metric. This proved difficult, as some banks did not list their annual revenue. We believe this happened because some banks are operating at a loss due to how new they are. Our next approach was to order them by their customer numbers. This again proved difficult, as the biggest bank we researched did not separate their customer base, and some banks only do business banking. Active users and monthly transactions also ran into the same issues. To combat this problem, we holistically looked at all the metrics we obtained to get our top listings. 

Due to the small amount of banks that offer the desired services, and the unique relationship Switzerland has with digital banking, we have provided all challenger banks that operate. 

To assess the market penetration, we began by locating industry reports and market studies. This did not give us enough information to triangulate a market share, as most of the information was global. Consulting business press releases from Globe Newswire, PR Newswire and from each business’ website gave us the bulk of our information. To finish our research, we researched available banking information from the government. Again, this gave us a few facts. Ultimately, we were able to put together a snapshot of the market, but not exact figures. 

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Digital Services Trends: Switzerland

While there is no publicly available information to provide 5-7 trends in digital services in Switzerland, we have used the available data to pull together key findings stating that blockchain and crypto services, along with investing and asset management services are some recent trends in terms of digital services being offered to businesses in Switzerland. Below is an outline of our research strategies to better understand why the information requested is publicly unavailable, as well as a deep dive into our findings.

TRENDS IN DIGITAL SERVICES: SWITZERLAND1) BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTO SERVICESDESCRIPTION
According to the IFZ Fintech Study 2018, over 50% of new Fintech ventures incorporated in Switzerland in 2017 operated in the blockchain and crypto services space.
WHY IS IT TRENDING?
Political and government aid stimulates the growth of the crypto and blockchain industry. The segment is one of Switzerland’s most developed fintech segments with over one hundred new startups being established in the fintech field.
COMPANY EXAMPLE 
 Bitcoin Suisse was the first company in Switzerland to professionally offer crypto-assets and crypto-financial services.
The company offers a wide-range of crypto services like brokerage, crypto-assets storage, bespoke ICO services, and other crypto-financial services.
2) INVESTING AND ASSET MANAGEMENT SERVICESDESCRIPTION
 Wealthtech offers a digital alternative to wealth management services, providing technology tools like brokerage alternatives, self-service investment platforms, automated and semi-automated robo-advisors, asset class specific marketplaces, and other tools to facilitate wealth management.
WHY IS IT TRENDING?
Wealthtech is considered as the second most influential segment in the fintech services in Switzerland. The sector features over 75 emerging companies.
COMPANY EXAMPLE
According to FintechNews, some companies providing technology software to build robo-advisory structures, enable digital pensions solutions, or allocate crypto assets, include Viac, SELMA, and CleverCircles.
HELPFUL FINDINGSCROWD FUNDING
 Crowdfunding is an emerging fintech segment which provides loans for businesses and individuals, using a peer-to-peer (p2p) lending system. Some company examples include Cashare, CreditGate24, Lend, and Crowd4cash.
OPEN BANKING
Switzerland is adopting a new trend based on API's, which should enable financial institutions to share access to their data seamlessly and securely.
According to FintechNews, consumers can gain more financial freedom to compare financial products while keeping their hard-earned cash with traditional banks. 
Additionally, open information sharing can allow consumers to check real-time feeds on all finances in a single platform, enabling consumers to keep better tabs on their finances.

RESEARCH STRATEGYTo determine trends around digital services being offered to business in Switzerland, we searched through the directly available list of trends and market reports that show the most recurrent insights about digital financial services; for example, a boost of new fintech startups focused on b2b services. Additionally, we were able to identify some recurring financial services insights from these sites. Next, we compiled a list of most common trends to determine the most prominent trends in the industry. Alternatively, we were not able to find a list of 5 to 7 trends in terms of digital services being offered to businesses in Switzerland.
 
We began our search for trends in terms of digital services being offered in the financial services sector to businesses in Switzerland through trusted media sites focused on financial services like Fintech Switzerland, MEDICI, and Swiss.com, among others. We tried to find articles with pre-compiled information mentioning digital services for business in the financial services in Switzerland. We were able to find two visible trends using this strategy. 

Next, we changed tactics and searched for trends in terms of digital services being offered in the financial services sector to businesses in Switzerland through published investor reports in the finance field. We found some relevant information about the fintech services in Switzerland, but they reinforced the previous trends gathered using our previous strategy. 

Finally, we searched for trends by scouring specialized magazines, journals, and trusted media sites like Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, among others. We focused on finding case studies about digital services being offered to businesses in Switzerland. However, this strategy provided no insights, because although publications expressed about new financial services provided in digital platforms, those were not focused on business services and could not be considered as a trend since it was emerging in the Swiss market. 

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FinTech Companies: Switzerland

Loanboox, BRD, Annanow Group AG, Monito, NovaDAX, and Pexapark are six FinTech companies that are based in Switzerland have received Series A, B, C or D funding in 2018 or 2019. Crowdhouse announced its last funding round in November 2017, while Sonnect raised an undisclosed funding round that might or might not be Series A, B, C or D.
 LOANBOOX Loanboox is a "transparent, safe and convenient debt capital market platform". The company operates a debt financing platform for public sector borrowers and institutional investors and banks.
Loanboox secured €20 million in its Series B funding round. With investors like Deutsche Kreditbank and the LGT Group, the company's post-money valuation stood at €110 million.
The funding was first announced on 1/31/2019.
 BRD BRD creates mobile financial software. Specifically, BRD's main app is a cryptocurrency wallet that is available to Android and iOS users and that allows them to purchase and store bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
BRD raised $15 million from Japanese SBI Crypto Investment in a Series B funding round. The funds will allow BRD to expand into the Asian market.
The funding was first announced on 1/25/2019.
 ANNANOW GROUP AG Annanow Group AG is a last mile delivery service provider. Annanow provides Software as a Service (SaaS) to the retail industry, "connecting shops, courier services and end customers via immediate payments against immediate deliveries over the last mile".
Annanow announced its Series A funding round on 1/3/2019, but it did not disclose the amount of funding received or the investors. However, a local Swiss IT magazine reported that Annanow raised about 4 million Swiss francs, citing anonymous sources.
 MONITO Monito is a website that offers comparisons of different international money transfer services. The company created a comparison engine that finds the cheapest options for transferring money between any two specific countries.
Monito's $2.5 million Series A funding round was led by Tamedia, which is Switzerland’s largest private media group.
The funding was first announced on 12/19/2018.
 NOVADAX NovaDAX is a cryptocurrency trading exchange. The company offers an advanced trading platform for traders of various cryptocurrency tokens.
NovaDAX secured $20 million in a Series A funding from Abakus Group.
The funding was first announced on 5/9/2018.
 PEXAPARK Pexapark operates a renewable energy platform. The community-powered platform helps renewable energy investors to sell their excess renewable energy.
Pexapark raised €3.5 million in a Series A funding round on 12/12/2018.
COMPANIES THAT DO NOT FIT ALL CRITERIA CROWDHOUSE Crowdhouse is a digital platform for investing in the Swiss real estate market. It offers support for real estate investments, transactions and financing.
Crowdhouse announced a Series B funding round on 11/1/2017, but closed it on 3/1/2018 for 7 million Swiss francs.
 SONNECT Sonnect is developing a smartphone ATM software product. The product enables local shops to act as "virtual ATMs".
Sonnect raised an undisclosed funding round on 11/12/2018 from backers like Loomis and Six-Thirty.
RESEARCH STRATEGYTo identify the Swiss FinTech companies that meet all criteria, we first consulted Crunchbase, a credible investment information database. This provided us with seven FinTech companies that are based in Switzerland and that have received Series A, B, C or D funding on or after 1/1/2018. We chose not to include Sonnect because it did not disclose its funding round, so we could not be sure if it was a Series A, B, C or D. To find more companies we have checked other databases like Craft and local startup investing databases like Startup.ch. Unfortunately, this did not yield any additional results. We have then performed a general press search to identify additional companies and we were able to find crowdhouse, which announced its funding round in 2017, but closed it in 2018. 

We have concluded that only six companies exist that fit all criteria. However, there are many more companies that closed Series A, B, C or D funding rounds in 2017, as well as those that received seed funding in 2018 or 2019.

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Business Statistics: Switzerland

The total number of businesses in Switzerland as of 2017 is estimated to be approximately 597,199. Sole traders, businesses with less than ten employees, businesses with 10 to 249 employees, and businesses with 250 or more employees accounted for 230,101 businesses, 198,807 businesses, 153,062 businesses, and 15,229 businesses respectively. 46,614 businesses were started in 2017.
SWITZERLAND BUSINESS STATISTICSTOTAL NUMBER OF BUSINESSES IN SWIZTERLAND FROM 2014 – 2016 
– 597,199
– 550,585
– 545,363 
– 540,196
BREAKDOWN OF NEW BUSINESSESSOLE TRADERS2017 – 230,101 (38.53%)
– 224,419 (40.76%)
– 217,109 (39.81%)
– 212,783 (39.39%)
BUSINESSES WITH ONE TO NINE EMPLOYEES
– 198,807 (33.29%)
– 165,781 (30.11%)
– 165,954 (30.43%)
– 161,951 (29.98%)
BUSINESSES WITH 10 – 249 EMPLOYEES
– 153,062 (25.63%)
– 121,955 (22.15%)
– 147,902 (27.12%)
– 150,661 (27.89%)
BUSINESSES WITH 250 AND ABOVE EMPLOYEES
– 15,229 (2.55%)
– 14,205 (2.58%)
– 14,452 (2.65%)
– 14,801 (2.74%)
NUMBER OF NEW BUSINESSES IN SWITZERLAND FROM 2014 – 2017
– 46,614 
– 45,437 
– 43,731 
– 42,119
BREAKDOWN OF NEW BUSINESSESSOLE TRADERS2017 – 17,961 
– 18,520
– 17,408 
– 16,590
 
BUSINESSES WITH ONE TO NINE EMPLOYEES
– 15,517 
– 13,680
– 13,308
– 12,626

BUSINESSES WITH 10 – 249 EMPLOYEES
– 11,947 
– 10,061 
– 11,858
– 11,748
BUSINESSES WITH 250 AND OVER 250 EMPLOYEES
– 1,189 
– 1,171 
– 1,157 
– 1,155
 
NUMBER OF BUSINESSES WITH ANNUAL REVENUE OF LESS THAN 50 MILLION EUROThere are approximately 108,807 businesses with annual turnover of less than 50 million euro in Switzerland.
RESEARCH STRATEGYAfter a thorough and wide-reaching search through Switzerland business authoritative agencies' databases, media sources, and company data aggregators' databases such as the Federal Statistics Bureau, Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the Business Group Statistics (STAGRE), Hoovers, and SWI/Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), we were able to publicly find some information regarding the total number of businesses and new businesses in Switzerland as well as data points (breakdown of new businesses) we leveraged to triangulate a proxy for those not found preexisting (breakdown of total of businesses, and number of businesses with annual turnover of less than 50 million euro) as outlined below.
ESTIMTION OF TOTAL NUMBER OF BUSINESSES AS OF 2017Total number of businesses in 2017 = total number of businesses in 2016 + number of new businesses in 2017
Total number of businesses in 2017 = 550,585 + 46,614 = 597,199
ESTIMTION OF THE NUMBER OF NEW BUSINESSES WITH 10 – 249 EMPLOYEES2017 – 7,975 (10 to 49) + 3,972 (50 to 249) = 11,947
– 8,001 (10 to 49) + 4,060 (50 to 249) = 10,061
– 7,854 (10 to 49) + 4,004 (50 to 249) = 11,858
– 7,722 (10 to 49) + 4,026 (50 to 249) = 11,748
TOTAL NUMBER OF BUSINESSES BREAKDOWN ESTIMATIONFirstly, we determine the share of each of the categories (sole traders, businesses with less than ten employees, businesses with 10 – 249 employees, and businesses with 250 and over 250 employees) of the new businesses. We then assumed that share/percentage of each of the business categories in the new businesses each year is directly same with the total businesses in the Switzerland, based on this assumption we then calculated the number of businesses in each category using their share as outlined below:
Categories Share/Percentage Estimation (New Businesses)Categories share/percentage = number of businesses in the category / total number of businesses * 100
SOLE TRADERS2017 – 17,961 / 46,614 * 100 = 38.53%
– 18,520 / 45,432 * 100 = 40.76%
– 17,408 / 43,731 * 100 = 39.81%
– 16,590 / 42,119 * 100 = 39.39%
– 9 EMPLOYEES
– 15,517 / 46,614 * 100 = 33.29%
– 13,680 / 45,432 * 100 = 30.11%
– 13,308 / 43,731 * 100 = 30.43%
– 12,626 / 42,119 * 100 = 29.98%
– 249 EMPLOYEES
– 11,947 / 46,614 * 100 = 25.63%
– 10,061 / 45,432 * 100 = 22.15%
– 11,858 / 43,731 * 100 = 27.12%
– 11,748 / 42,119 * 100 = 27.89%
AND ABOVE EMPLOYEES
– 1,189 / 46,614 * 100 = 2.55%
– 1,171 / 45,432 * 100 = 2.58%
– 1,157 / 43,731 * 100 = 2.65%
– 1,155 / 42,119 * 100 = 2.74%
Estimation of Number of Businesses in each CategoriesNumber of businesses in each category = total number of businesses * category share/percentage
SOLE TRADERS2017 – 597,199 * 0.3853 (38.53%) = 230,101
– 550,585 * 0.4076 (40.76%) = 224,419
– 545,363 * 0.3981 (39.81%) = 217,109
– 540,196 * 0.3939 (39.39%) = 212,783
– 9 EMPLOYEES
– 597,199 * 0.3329 (33.29%) = 198,807
– 550,585 * 0.3011 (30.11%) = 165,781
– 545,363 * 0.3043 (30.43%) = 165,954
– 540,196 * 0.2998 (29.98%) = 161,951
– 249 EMPLOYEES
– 597,199 * 0.2563 (25.63%) = 153,062
– 550,585 * 0.2215 (22.15%) = 121,955
– 545,363 * 0.2712 (27.12%) = 147,902
– 540,196 * 0.2789 (27.89%) = 150,661
AND ABOVE EMPLOYEES
– 597,199 * 0.0255 (2.55%) = 15,229
– 550,585 * 0.0258 (2.58%) = 14,205
– 545,363 * 0.0265 (2.65%) = 14,452
– 540,196 * 0.0274 (2.74%) = 14,801

We leveraged publicly available regarding the annual turnover of businesses in Switzerland to triangulate a proxy of the total number of businesses with annual turnover of less than 50 million euro. Hoover reported these businesses' turnover in USD, using Google currency converter, we converted all the reported values to euro at the rate of one USD to 0.90 euro. To get the total number of businesses with less than 50 million euro ($55.38 million), we aggregated all businesses with less than $55.38 million such as Business & Professional Associations Companies — 737, Retail — 17, Business Services Companies — 47, Agriculture & Forestry Companies — 518, and other industries.

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Digital Banking By Industry: Switzerland

Extensive searches did not uncover reports that accurately state the top industries in Switzerland that have most embraced digital business banking services. Instead, research findings did reveal several helpful findings regarding the digital banking landscape in the country. Below are the useful findings found in the course of the research to provide more insights into Switzerland's digital banking landscape.
HELPFUL FINDINGSAccording to Ivan Büchi, Digital Banking Director at Swisscom Enterprise Customers, digital banking services in Switzerland are insufficiently developed and utilized. While digital services for private customers exist and are in widespread use, Swiss banks are not putting effort to digitalize their services for businesses.
In Switzerland, journalism, hospitality, and the transport industry have seen the most digitization in recent years, which has, in turn, influenced digital innovations in the financial sector.
 1% of Swiss businesses rely on digital services to do business, while the global average is 15%. However, 11% of Swiss companies use blockchain.
In a Swiss study, it was found that business owners in the hospitality and manufacturing industries find digital technologies most important in their business model. On the contrary, Swiss business owners in the life sciences sector and retail industries found that digital technology plays less of a role in their business models.
Small Swiss businesses express a smaller need for digital technologies. 20% of small businesses in Switzerland state digital technology plays a big role in their business model. On the contrary, big Swiss enterprises express a much larger demand for digital technology (55%).
In the same study, 27% of Swiss business owners stated digital technology is important for their business because it enables them to perform financial operations online, such as product sales or payment services.
 47% of businesses in the hospitality sector and 43% of businesses in the manufacturing sector expect digital technology to be of value to their business in the future, compared to 33% of businesses in the construction sector and 32% of businesses in the life sciences sector.
RESEARCH STRATEGYTo find the information, we searched through international and local business publications that focus on the banking industry in Switzerland. The focus was on finding information about industries that are increasing the use of digital banking services the most in Switzerland. The types of sources we searched include media publications such as Forbes, Bloomberg, banking industry publications such as FUW, Economiesuisse, and economic news publications such as NZZ. On these reports, we hoped to find reports that focus on the digital banking industry and provide data on lines of business that use the services the most but no relevant reports were found. Most of the reports we found focused primarily on the process of digitization in banks themselves, or the effects of blockchain on the overall financial industry. Also, most of the reports focused on future predictions in the Swiss digital banking sector, mostly as it affects banking services.

Next, we searched through local and international research sources, such as research firms and university databases, which we hoped could feature studies or academic articles on this topic. We explored global business databases such as Deloitte, McKinsey, Research Gate, Google Scholar, local university databases such as Unibas, UZH, and local research sources such as SBFI Admin. Unfortunately, the only relevant studies we found mainly compare the European banking industry with the Swiss banking industry, without going in-depth or mentioning industries that drive the digital banking sector the most. This was the closest we were able to find, which is also why this strategy failed as well.

Second, we searched for the information through business reports about digital-only banks that operate in Switzerland, such as N26 and Revolut. On the two sources, we hoped to find information on, which industries do most clients of these banks come from. This information would then be used as a proxy to determine the industries that most use digital banking services in Switzerland. Although general information regarding the financial industry, which most of the banks serve was available; however, the data's scope was global and not local. Therefore, we were unable to determine if any of the information applies specifically to Switzerland, which is why this strategy also failed.

As a last resort, we searched digital banking industry analyses reports hoping to find relevant mentions of increase in demand by industries. We have also determined the biggest industries in Switzerland and searched industry reports for information on the increase in demand for digital banking services. To find the industry reports, we searched through industry analysis sources such as Spglobal and BFS Admin, but still found no relevant insights concerning industry demand for digital banking services. The majority of the reports focused on the effects of the "fourth industrial revolution" on industries in Switzerland, which was the closest we came to finding the relevant information.

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Google Pay Statistics: Switzerland

Google Pay is relatively new to Switzerland, having only launched at the end of April this year. As such, along with Switzerland's low mobile wallet adoption rate, it is estimated to have a transaction volume of only €14.1 million per day, reaching 19,000 users and 122,500 transactions by the end of this year.
GOOGLE PAY IN SWITZERLAND OVERVIEWGoogle Pay was launched in Switzerland on April 30, 2019. 
Supported payment cards are Cornèrcard, Bonuscard, Swiss Bankers, Revolut, and boon.
Any merchant who offers NFC payments can accept Google Pay.
Transactions for 40 francs and below can be made without unlocking the phone. Amounts above this will have to be authorized.
Mobile wallet competitors Samsung and Apple were already available in the country. However, Switzerland is notorious for being a difficult country to be successful with digital payments, as its consumers tend to prefer cash.
 29% of surveyed Swiss consumers say they use mobile wallets, but this payment type still only accounts for less than 1% of the country's total transaction volume.
According to BusinessWire, the Swiss mobile wallet industry is expected to see a 10.6% CAGR between 2018-2025.
Worldwide, Google Pay users only make around 5.5 transactions per month, and make up a 6% market share.
GOOGLE PAY IN SWITZERLAND STATISTICSIt was calculated that Google Pay might have around 19,000 active users by the end of 2019 (calculations of this figure are located below).
There will be an estimated 122,500 transactions using Google Pay in Switzerland by the end of 2019 (calculations of this figure are located below).
It is estimated that Google Pay payments value is around CHF 15.3 million per day, which is €14.1 million (calculations of this figure are located below).
There was no information available on the number of merchants in Switzerland that accept Google Pay. Any NFC-enabled POS terminal would be able to take Google Pay as a payment method. Swiss Banker states that contactless payments are available at all supermarkets and "most shops" in the country. In 2016, there were over 100,000 contactless terminals in Switzerland.
RESEARCH STRATEGYThrough news releases and industry reports, we were able to gather information on Google Pay's launch in Switzerland. The service only started in that country less than four months ago, and it is only supported by a select number of banks or financial institutions. We leveraged market research reports from PwC, Deloitte and ResearchandMarkets to piece together a picture of the mobile wallet industry in Switzerland. Unfortunately, none of these reports contained confirmed statistics about Google Pay's adoption in Switzerland.

We then attempted to triangulate information about Google Pay by examining its usage in neighboring countries like Austria or the Benelux countries. We used official reports from the European Payments Council, Statista and industry news, but none of these provided data on the market share of Google Pay in neighboring countries or even Western Europe. Furthermore, we came to the conclusion that comparing neighboring countries could produce misleading information, as Google Pay launched in some of those countries much earlier than in Switzerland, and therefore would have a disproportionately larger market share.

What we found was that while several comprehensive industry reports gave qualitative information and outlooks on mobile (and mobile wallet) payments in Switzerland, there was no information specifically about Google Pay. For example, the PwC report gives survey results about mobile payments, but nothing about just mobile wallets like Google Pay, nor any transaction volumes or user numbers. A robust report from Deloitte on mobile wallet payments in Switzerland was written prior to Google Pay's launch, and therefore only gives us total market intelligence, rather than specific data about Google Pay.

CALCULATIONS
Therefore, we used the available data to triangulate some information about Google Pay's usage in the country. Worldwide, the service has around 6% market share. We also found that mobile wallet transactions in Switzerland are still less than 1% of all transactions, though the industry is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 10.6%. We also found information on the company with the largest market share, Twint, which allowed us to extrapolate information on Switzerland's total mobile wallet industry.

According to the Swiss National Bank, the country has around CHF 153 billion in daily payment volume, coming from around 1.8 million transactions. If mobile wallets are less than 1% of this total, this calculates to less than CHF 1.53 billion per day. Given that Google Pay only launched less than four months ago, and Switzerland has a notoriously low mobile wallet uptake rate, we estimate its market share would be 1% (or less) by now, especially since it is only available from five card providers. This means Google Pay could have a transaction value of around CHF 15.3 million per day.

Mobile wallet competitor Twint recorded 627,000 users at the end of 2017, having launched in April that year. Using a 10.6% annual growth rate for the mobile wallet industry as a whole, this figures translate to an estimated 766,967 users in 2019 terms. Twint also recorded 4 million transactions in that year. Again using the 10.6% CAGR, this would increase to roughly 4.9 million by 2019. According to Deloitte, Twint had a 40% market share prior to the launch of Google Pay. Using this, this means Switzerland approximately has 1.9 million mobile wallet users (766,967 / 40%) and 12.25 million transactions (4.9 million / 40%). Using the same logic as above of Google Pay having around 1% market share by now, we can then estimate the service will have 19,000 active users and 122,500 transactions by the end of the year.

MERCHANTS ACCEPTING GOOGLE PAY
Similar to the above, we checked several industry reports and news articles about mobile wallet payments in Switzerland. We found that Google Pay is accepted at any merchant using an NFC-enabled POS terminal, which is the same technology used for all types of contactless payments. Since none of these reports contained information on the number of NFC-enabled terminals in the country, we turned to checking information from official government entities like the Swiss National Bank. We had hoped to find data on the breakdown of merchants in Switzerland that accepted different payment methods like cash-only, debit cards, credit cards, contactless, e-payments or other. This information was not found. We then hoped to gather information from major terminal distributors like SumUP, SIX or Aduno on the number of NFC-enabled terminals they provide in the country. We could use this data to either sum up or triangulate based on percentages the total number of merchants in Switzerland accepting contactless payments. Of these, only Aduno and SIX provided any type of annual report, and even then they did not provide data on the number or percent of NFC-enabled terminals or merchants. The only information we could find on this topic was a generic statement from Swiss Banker that contactless payments are accepted at "most shops" and all major supermarkets. In 2016, when Apple Pay launched, one article stated the country had over 100,000 contactless terminals, but this figure is likely quite higher by now.

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FinTech Climate: Switzerland

Switzerland is one of the world's leading FinTech hubs. About 10% of all European FinTech businesses are located in the country and its cities of Zurich and Geneva consistently rank among the top five cities for FinTech in the world. This is mostly because, as early as 2016, Switzerland outlined a plan for the FinTech industry that included a liberal regulatory approach and a number of incentives for the FinTech industry in general, and blockchain technology in particular.
LIBERAL FINTECH REGULATIONSSwitzerland's president, Ueli Maurer, vowed that the country will not over-regulate the FinTech sector.
Maurer explained that Switzerland's regulatory strategy does not regulate technologies themselves, and it is instead aimed at overseeing specific impacts of those technologies.
This unique approach to regulating innovations is in stark contrast to what other developed economies are doing. Maurer explained that this high-risk approach, along with Switzerland's small size, is what enables the country to accommodate financial innovation and to "stay on top in the digital world".
RAPID FINTECH GROWTHThe Swiss FinTech industry grew by 62% in 2018, according to the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences.
Switzerland had 356 FinTech companies at the end of 2018, compared to 220 at the end of 2017. 
Out of the total of 356 companies "122 are in Distributed Ledger Technology, 66 in Investment Management, 56 in Banking Infrastructure, 42 in Deposit & Lending, 36 in Payment and 34 in Analytics".
OFFICIAL PLAN TO PROMOTE FINTECH INNOVATIONIn 2016, when Ueli Maurer was still the finance minister of Switzerland, he laid out the government's plan to promote innovation in FinTech. "We want to remain among the most important players in this sector," he said.
In addition to the outlined regulatory approach, the plan also introduced the concept of 'sandboxes'  that could be grounds for testing new ideas without the need for full regulatory supervision.
The plan also proposed that companies that provide deposit services and do not lend money could obtain a special banking license that would be much easier to obtain than the standard one.
Switzerland's government said it would also strive to ease crowdfunding efforts and to promote the so-called Crypto-valley around Zug.
SANDBOXESSwitzerland's Federal Council introduced a sandbox exemption, which all companies can apply for. The exemption allows the acceptance of public deposits of up to 1 million francs without a banking license.
Additionally, pure payment service providers that only accept deposits for settlement are now given an even greater exemption.
The exemption has been extended in April 2019 to include providing consumer loans.
Even companies that accept deposits from third parties up to a maximum amount of 100 million francs and that do not issue loans can enjoy more lax regulations by applying for the sandbox exemption.
BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTO-VALLEYSwitzerland's State Secretariat for International Financial Matters established a blockchain and ICO working group to revise the legal framework to best accommodate the new technologies.
In September 2018, there were over 100 blockchain-related businesses in Switzerland, and the number is expected to continue growing rapidly.
 More than half of the new FinTech ventures incorporated in Switzerland in 2017 operated in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, according to the IFZ FinTech Study 2018.
The Swiss canon of Zug, dubbed the crypto-valley, is known for its active involvement in the cryptocurrency industry.
GENERAL STATISTICSThe IFZ FinTech Study 2018 reveals that on a global scale the cities of Zurich and Geneva remain in second and third place for the best cities for FinTech, respectively. 
About 10% of all European FinTech businesses are located in Switzerland, 46% of them in the city of Zurich, making it a major global FinTech hub.

Part

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Part

Co-Working Space: Switzerland

Voisins, Redspace, Regus, Gotham, Coworking Switzerland and Impact Hub are the six major providers of co-working space in Switzerland.
VOISINSVoisins offers co-working spaces in Geneva, Carouge and Vernier in Switzerland. 
The company's website can be found here. 
IMPACT HUB SWITZERLANDImpact Hub Switzerland offers co-working spaces in Geneva, Zurich, Bern, Lausanne and Basel. 
The company's website can be found here. 
COWORKING SWITZERLANDCoworking Switzerland has co-working spaces in Bottighofen, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Zofingen, Meiringen, Sion, and Lugano.
A link to the company's website can be found here. 
REDSPACE COWORKINGRedspace offers co-working spaces in 3 locations in Switzerland. They include District 3, Startup space and Coworking Limmattal, all located in Zurich. 
A link to the company's website can be found here. 
REGUSRegus offers co-working spaces in various locations in Switzerland.
A link to the company's website can be found here. 
GOTHAMGotham offers coworking spaces in 5 locations in Switzerland.
A link to the company's website can be found here. 
RESEARCH STRATEGYTo provide the number of major co-working spaces providers in Switzerland, we searched for a pre-compiled list of co-working providers in Switzerland. We were able to find a list of co-working providers from databases like Coworker, CoworkBooking, and Coworking.Coffee. As these databases include thousands of co-working spaces across hundreds of countries, it is assumed that they would provide a comprehensive list of active locations/providers in Switzerland. 

To ensure that every co-working space provider in Switzerland has been examined in order to find the number of major providers, we also studied additional providers listed on articles published by EU Startups, Startup Guide and a Deloitte report on co-working landscape in Switzerland. These articles listed the best co-working spaces in different locations in Switzerland. The majority of the providers considered the "best" were already listed on the databases mentioned above. 

We then searched through the websites of the mentioned companies in the databases and articles for the number of locations they have in Switzerland. After finding the locations of the co-working space providers mentioned across all the above sources, there are only 6 co-working space providers with 3 or more locations in Switzerland. 

Part

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Part

Apple Pay Statistics: Switzerland

An estimated €129 million worth of mobile POS payment transactions are made using Apple Pay in Switzerland. The research team also estimates that Switzerland has about 52,800 Apple Pay users. Further details have been provided below.
Number of Apple Pay usersThere are about 52,800 (details below) Apple Pay users in Switzerland.
Number of Apple Pay Payment ValueAn estimated €129 million (details below) mobile POS payment transactions are made using Apple Pay in Switzerland.
Number of Merchants Accepting Apple PayWhile there is no specific data on the total number of merchants accepting Apple Pay in Switzerland, "ALDI SUISSE, Apple, Avec, Hublot, K Kiosk, Lidl, Louis Vuitton, Mobilezone, Press & Books, SPAR, and TAG Heuer" are some notable merchants accepting Apple Pay in the country.
Other related findingsAmerican Express, Master Card, Visa, Bonus Card, Boon, Corner Card, Credit Suisse, Monese, Neue Aargauer Bank, Revolute, Swiss Banker, and Swiss Card are financial organizations supporting Apple Pay in Switzerland.
Apple Pay was launched in Switzerland on July 7, 2016.
The average transaction value per mobile POS payment user is Switzerland is about €1,784.7 in 2019.
A report by PwC revealed that about 35% of transactions in Switzerland are made via mobile payment.
Research Strategy:To provide statistics on Apple Pay usage in Switzerland, we commenced our research with a thorough search of official reports and press releases specifically on the website of Apple Inc. in Switzerland. We also searched through articles from credible platforms and expert analysis for any useful data point on the usage of Apple Pay in the country. While we were able to find relevant data points that we could use to triangulate the requested data, relevant data related to the number of Apple pay payments by volume in the country was largely unavailable. 

Our next approach was to search on credible payment-related statistical databases such as the Central Bank of Switzerland, the European Central Bank and other notable sources such as PWC. While these sources provide information related to digital payments in Austria, there was no data or information specific to the number of Apple pay payments by volume in the country. 

Furthermore, we tried to triangulate this data using the available data on the share of Apple Pay in the country. We searched on third-party databases such as Statista, Deloitte, among others, however, there was no information on the total number of payments by volume processed in the country which could be used to determine data specific to Apple Pay. 
Triangulation In 2019, the total transaction value involving mobile POS payments in Switzerland amounts to €725 million (US $818 million), and there are about 0.4 million mobile POS payment users in the country. A report by Deloitte established that 54% of mobile payments in Switzerland are made on third-party providers such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and others. 

Therefore, €391,500,000 (i.e €725 million * 54%) mobile POS transactions are made on third-party providers. 

Furthermore, the report by Deloitte reports that among third-party providers in Switzerland, Apple Pay accounts for 33% of users. 

Therefore, €129,195,000 (i.e €391,500,000 * 33%) mobile POS transactions in Switzerland are completed on Apple Pay.

Similarly, there are 0.4 million mobile POS payment users in Switzerland. Assuming that third-party providers also account for 54% of users, then, there are 160,000 (i.e 400,000 * 54%) users of third-party mobile POS payments providers.

Therefore, based on the above assumption there are probably 52,800 (i.e 160,000 * 33%) Apple Pay users in Switzerland.

Part

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Part

Digital Banking: Switzerland

Cryptocurrency and blockchain are two fintech segments growing in Switzerland and potentially affecting its digital market. Further, according to a report by Deloitte, Swiss banks' digital offerings typically include a broad range of functionalities that appeal to customers and help their banks achieve high rankings. Complete details about digital banking in Switzerland and how people access digital banking services are presented below. 
Key Indicators of Digital Banking in SwitzerlandAccording to the Swiss National Bank (SNB), customer use of e-banking services is high in Switzerland and the entry of new participants such as fintechs, bigtechs and digital banks has, thus far, been relatively modest.
According to KPMG, Switzerland has been experiencing an emergence of digital players such as fintech startups or ‘big data’ technology giants such as Google and Apple offering financial services. Customers in Switzerland have started embracing new banking models with compelling digital user interfaces.
Larger banks in Switzerland have set themselves as more demanding digitalization targets compared to their smaller counterparts.
According to a survey conducted by the SNB, only about 50% of the Swiss population makes use of online banking services.
 Digital banks are emerging as new challengers in all key business segments in Switzerland.
According to Deloitte, Swiss banks rank high regarding their digital offerings on account of their broad range of functionalities. 
According to EY, consumer fintech adoption in Switzerland is at 64%. About 10% of all European fintech businesses are based in Switzerland, primarily in the city of Zurich as of 2019.
Two fintech segments (i.e., cryptocurrency and blockchain) and investment management are witnessing significant growth in Switzerland.
There are over 100 fintech companies in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry in Switzerland. There are over 75 fintech companies in the investing and asset management industry in Switzerland.
How People Access Digital Banking in SwitzerlandIn 2016, 18% of Swiss customers carried out more banking transactions via mobile end devices.
In 2016, 75% of Swiss customers conducted banking transactions online on their computers.
Only 25% of Swiss customers used their smartphones and 22% used their tablets for banking transactions in 2016.
According to the CREALOGIX Group, 43.6% of millennials in Switzerland were mobile banking customers in 2018.
In 2018, 50% of millennials in Switzerland preferred to conduct transactions on their desktops.
In 2018, German-speaking Swiss millennials were more likely to conduct transactions on their desktops, at around 58%, when compared with the western Swiss at 43%.

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Part

Registering a New Company: Switzerland

In Switzerland, the process of establishing a limited liability company is less complicated and expensive compared to that of establishing a corporation. Many small and medium-sized companies prefer limited liability company entity compared to other legal entities. On the other hand, creating a company in Switzerland only requires one founder or shareholder. 
Overview of starting a new business in SwitzerlandBoth local and foreign investors can open different types of Swiss legal entities. Legal entities in Switzerland include general partnerships, sole proprietorship, stock companies, and limited liability companies.
The process of company incorporation in Switzerland begins with opening a business bank account and depositing the paid-up capital. Once the amount is deposited in the bank account, the new company is issued with a bank receipt, which is necessary before registering the company. 
One of the major challenges of incorporating limited liability companies in Switzerland is that they are required to provide a minimum share capital of at least CHF 20,000 during the process of registration. 
On the other hand, founders of Stock Corporation are required to provide at least CHF 100,000 upon incorporation. 
 Swiss limited companies must have a minimum of two shareholders, which is advantageous to both small and medium companies and especially those with restricted financial contributions. 
All companies in Switzerland must have a registered office in Switzerland.
How long it takes to set up business banking accounts, and the challengesA newly formed company in Switzerland can be incorporated in approximately three weeks. However, this is dependent on the proper submission of relevant documents and successful submission of the share capital. 
One of the key challenges of new businesses in Switzerland is that the country has highly regulated markets, domestic rules, and regulations. Thus, to maneuver easily, new businesses in Switzerland are required to seek legal assistance, which may help shorten the time for registration and incorporation. 
Legal assistance plays a pivotal role in the formation of new businesses in Switzerland; new companies may be advised on any legal matter arising during the period of registration and incorporation 
Switzerland's business environment Switzerland’s policy of neutrality, its economic and political stability, banking secrecy guaranteed by law and non-involvement in any of the international conflicts makes the country a business-friendly environment for many companies across the globe. 
Being one of the largest financial centers in the world makes the Switzerland suitable for individuals’ and corporations. For instance, Swiss banks offer abroad range of offshore banking services to companies and individuals. 
Presently, Switzerland is one of the world’s leaders in asset management.
Despite lacking natural resources Switzerland remains one of the most developed, stable and prosperous countries across the globe. The country boasts of the highly skilled labor force, home to some of the world’s multinational corporations and the second highest GDP per capita in Europe after Luxembourg. 
Switzerland remains an excellent country to incorporate for trading companies and especially those conducting administrative functions and not commercial activities. Trading for companies may qualify for an advantageous tax regime. 
Challenges for those setting up businesses in Switzerland compared to other regionsOne of the major challenges of operating new businesses in Switzerland is that all Swiss companies are required to have a resident director.
The incorporation costs are very high in the country, for instance, all companies are required to have a minimum paid capital of CHF 20,000. 
Businesses in Switzerland are faced with high government annual fees.
Companies are required to cope with increased labor costs and high compliance requirements. 
Another notable challenge for businesses in Switzerland compared to other regions is that corporate income tax is levied on worldwide profits and especially for companies that have a global presence.
Other challenges include European Union standards not always being adopted compared to other regions in Europe. 
Tight domestic rules and regulations, and highly regulated markets are other notable challenges that companies in Switzerland go through.
Compared to consumers of other regions, Swiss consumers value quality and place a premium on quality, and thus cannot tolerate substandard products or services. 
Research strategy We focused our research on entities that are commonly used by small and medium-sized private companies. To determine the process of starting a new company in Switzerland and the challenges involved, we consulted experts through their respective websites and blogs. Our area of focus was the main challenges that new business owners in Switzerland experience while incorporating new companies in the country. Noteworthy, the research team was unable to establish any differences in the process involved in setting up brick and mortar business and online business.

Part

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Part

English Usage: Switzerland

English is currently becoming the fourth most used language in Switzerland and it is being used more commonly in the business sector. More information can be found in the following findings.
ENGLISH USAGE AS FIRST OR SECOND LANGUAGEAs of 2019, approximately 5.1% of the population in this country uses English as one of their primary languages. English is frequently used "to bridge the divides", and a lot of official documentation is available in this language.
English is "the fourth most common language in Switzerland" and has gradually turned into "a lingua franca". It is widely spoken and understood, particularly in cities.
Because of its importance as an international language of communication, it is "the second language learned in schools" and it is chosen by 35% of adult language learners.
 At home or when communicating with relatives, 5% of people in Switzerland speak English.
ENGLISH USAGE FOR BUSINESSEnglish is commonly being used as a language of business in the country.  
In this country, around 19% of people speak English at work.
English is being used as the primary language by many international companies in Switzerland, but most companies use German or French as a base.
ENGLISH USAGE FOR ADVERTISING/MEDIAThe use of English in this country can be seen in advertising and partly on the Internet, as many Swiss websites provide information in English.
The use of English as advertising language is increasing in the country.
Among the English-language radio media in Switzerland stands the BBC World Service and Voice of America.
 Print publications in this language include Geneva Times, Swiss News, Swiss Style, and Inside Switzerland Magazine.
Online news in English include GenevaLunch and Swiss.info.
Research Strategy:In order to provide quantitative and qualitative data regarding the use of English as a first or second language in Switzerland, we consulted reliable sources such as Swissinfo, TheLocal, and SantaderTrade. With this strategy we were able to provide quantitative data on the use of English by the general population and the use of this language for business. However, we were not able to provide quantitative data regarding the use of English on advertising or media in the country and more quantitative data on English use for business. 

For searching quantitative data on advertising/media and business, we tried implementing the following strategies. First, we searched through articles and news related to the use of English in the country hoping to find information on how the language is used in advertising or media and business. We found articles like "
French and foreign languages on rise in Switzerland" and 
"What Language is Spoken in Switzerland?". Unfortunately, these articles only contained information related to usage in schools, at home, and at work.

Our second approach was looking for reports or research articles related to foreign language usage in advertising or business in the country. With this strategy we found the article "Advertising in a Foreign Language or the Consumers' Native Language?", which did not contain any information related to the use of English in advertising or media in Switzerland and was focused on other countries like Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, and Spain.

Finally, we tried looking for statistic reports in sources like Statista in order to find quantitative insights on the use of English on media/advertising or business. However, with this last tactic we only found a few reports which were not related at all to the topics: "Digital Advertising—Switzerland", "Two Worlds: Languages IRL and Online", "Advertising expenditure of industries in Switzerland", and "Share of population with knowledge of English in non-native European countries". These sources only contained information related to the use of other languages in the web, advertising expenditure, advertising industry market size, and knowledge of English in Europe.

Even though the quantitative data for these topics was not publicly available, we found other sources through our research that provided us with qualitative data on English usage regarding the general population and its usage in business and advertising/media, which we provided on our findings.

Sources

From Part 01

Quotes

"Neon offers fully-service digital accounts that provides visa debit /credit card tracking and controlling facilities. The company’s mission is to unite technology and design to redesign and simplify people’s financial experience and their relationships with the banking system."
"Yapeal is an upcoming neo-bank in Switzerland that aims to redefine banking. The YapApp would be based on blockchain-inspired technology, and some features include a fully-digital onboarding process, AI to figure out one’s lifestyle and habits, a digital budget advisor called the Financial Amigo, among others."

neon

neon-free.ch

Yapeal

yapeal.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Swiss corporate challenger bank Initium enters fintech arena

fintechfutures.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Switzerland-based Initium has been unveiled with plans to build a multi-jurisdictional corporate banking group."
"In terms of details, it wants to create a fully licensed bank, and has started the first of three rounds of investment."
"On its website, it will offer deposit taking, local payment clearing, card issuing and acquiring, and liquidity services."
"Initium says: “The institutional infrastructure of the banking system, which has been built up over generations, is ill-suited to the demands of the new digital economy. Indeed, in some of the most innovative and forward-looking sectors of the economy, profitable businesses are finding it difficult or even impossible to secure basic corporate banking services.”"

The First Choice For Banking In The New Digital Economy - INITIUM Group

initium.group

Publication Year: 2019

The First Choice For Banking In The New Digital Economy - INITIUM Group

initium.group

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Acceptance of corporate funds into a bank account ● View and operate accounts via online banking platforms ● Settle operating expenditure and receive operating income ● Offer direct connections into the local clearing system in different countries ● Service offerings such as IBANs and HOCAs ● Support clients who want to issue cards or receive customer payments ● Offer API integration to customer platforms ● Provide corporate cards for clients’ staff ● Assist operators in the crypto space to convert crypto into fiat and effect a faster fiat pay-out to their customers "
"• Q1 2019 INITIUM GROUP AG INCORPORATION Fundraising commences and team engaged • Q3 2019 Build global infrastructure Incorporate Liechtenstein legal entity and commence banking license application • Q4 2019 Launch Security Token Offering to close first funding round • Q2 2020 Launch in European Economic Area(subject to the banking license being granted by the FMA Liechtenstein) "

N26 Switzerland: N26 Gears Up For Swiss Launch

fintechnews.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Germany’s challenger bank and fintech unicorn N26 is gearing up to launch in Switzerland. N26’s CEO and co-founder Valentin Stalf said at the Start Summit 2019 in St. Gallen last month that the startup’s entry into the Swiss market is expected to take place in two to three months."
"N26 currently serves 24 European markets but not Switzerland. The company said more than 10,000 people from Switzerland had enlisted for an account as of the end of January."
"Markus Gunter, CEO of N26’s banking arm, told Bloomberg in an interview earlier this week that the company is currently prioritizing international growth rather than product expansion, preferring to build up its international customer base first."

Switzerland launches a Challenger Bank - How far is this from Reality?

linkedin.com

Publication Year: 2018

Quotes

"I downloaded Revolut, with its 50,000 Swiss customers. "
"Then I checked out Europe's "full challenger banks" - Fidor, Atom, Starling, Monzo, Secco - and it turns out I can't use any of them. It just reminds me how isolated we are as customers here in Switzerland - and how little we have done from banking and Fintech to change our own destiny."
"Should a Challenger Bank come to Switzerland? YES: Top 3 Reasons: 1.• The prospect of establishing a highly profitable onshore business. You get access to a fantastic customer base: Switzerland despite its small population has a large, homogenous critical mass of affluent, complex clients who are willing to pay for a deep set of financial services. 2. • Mediocre competition from a set of legacy incumbent banks with huge overhead cost structures - whose e-banking is okay-ish but does not break any molds. 3. • A modernizing regulator who is still adjusting to new realities of digital, and whose relationship to the incumbent banks is strained in the best of times - and has just woken up to working in new ways with new players."
"What are the Main Barriers to Entry for Challenger Banks? #1. Size. With just over 8 million people - our growth comes mainly from new arrivals/immigrants who have little savings. Our total addressable banking market is actually around the size of one mid-sized US city - or a very small Chinese one. To make things worse, we have four official national languages - but 25% come from a diaspora including Italy, Portugal, Eastern Europe and Africa. #2. Retail Banking is not actually our Core strength. Swiss banking margins are largely driven by international wealth management and private banking, most of that coming from offshore clients. Look at the divisional PnL of the two major Swiss banks - a few hundred million in profit in Switzerland versus many billions earned on their wealthy international business."

Swiss corporate challenger bank Initium enters fintech arena

fintechfutures.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"The firm is targeting the new digital economy, including fintech, blockchain and crypto. A lot of its website is spent discussing this economy or globalisation."
"It reckons it can address this “challenge” by providing traditional banking services to the underbanked sectors of the digital economy."
"In terms of its core banking system, Initium says this is not yet decided. It is “closely working” with Swisscom Blockchain to conduct due diligence to either develop its own core system or use an existing one (third-party)."

Initium takes a crack and Blockchain-specific banking | Block Telegraph

blocktelegraph.io

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Or at least that’s set to happen thanks to entrepreneur, Daniel Spier, who founded Initium after his own difficulties getting basic banking services while operating in the often-scorned part of the fintech sector. "

The Huge Potential of the New Digital Economy

medium.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"By launching Initium Group as a multi-domicile bank specialising in providing financial services to firms in the NDE, Daniel will provide the missing element which innovative firms need to grow and thrive: a financial services platform for the New Digital Economy."

From Part 02

IFZ FinTech Study 2018 An Overview of Swiss FinTech

blog.hslu.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Switzerland’s Booming Fintech Startup Industry in 2019

medium.com

Publication Year: 2019

Bitcoin Suisse Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary | Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News - FintechNewsCH

fintechnews.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Top 11 Wealthtech Companies in Switzerland | Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News - FintechNewsCH

fintechnews.ch

Publication Year: 2019

http://fintechnews.ch/open-banking/switzerland-open-api-banking-sofa/22918/

fintechnews.ch

Publication Year: 2018

From Part 03

Loanboox

loanboox.com

Publication Year: 2019

Swiss lendtech Loanboox secures €20m funding

fintechfutures.com

Publication Year: 2019

BRD - bitcoin wallet

brd.com

Publication Year: 2019

Crypto wallet BRD raises $15M for Asian expansion – TechCrunch

social.techcrunch.com

Publication Year: 2019

Annanow - Sofort verkauft, geliefert und bezahlt - schneller als alle andern!

annanow.com

Publication Year: 2019

Annanow - Sofort verkauft, geliefert und bezahlt - schneller als alle andern!

annanow.com

Publication Year: 2019

IT Magazine

itmagazine.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Annanow Funding

crunchbase.com

Publication Year: 2019

Money transfer: compare ways to send money online with Monito

monito.com

Publication Year: 2019

Swiss fintech startup Monito raises $2.5 million - Tech.eu

tech.eu

Publication Year: 2018

NOVADAX | O menor preço é aqui

novadax.com.br

Publication Year: 2019

NOVADAX | O menor preço é aqui

novadax.com.br

Publication Year: 2019

NovaDAX Funding

crunchbase.com

Publication Year: 2019

Crowdhouse – Your access to the Swiss real estate market

crowdhouse.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Crowdhouse Funding

crunchbase.com

Publication Year: 2019

Sonect - Easy Cash. Everywhere.

sonect.net

Publication Year: 2019

Sonect Receives Funding from Loomis and SixThirty | FinSMEs

finsmes.com

Publication Year: 2018

Pexapark: Renewables made simple

pexapark.com

Publication Year: 2019

EUR3.5 million to grow a renewable energy-trading platform Startupticker.ch | The Swiss Startup News channel

startupticker.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Fintech Companies Switzerland

docs.google.com

Publication Year: 2019

From Part 04

Statistical Data on Switzerland 2017

bfs.admin.ch

Publication Year: 2017

Démographie des entreprises

bfs.admin.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Number of business, enterprise and job groups by type of group and country of origin

bfs.admin.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Switzerland’s love affair with multinationals

swissinfo.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Number of enterprises and jobs in enterprise groups by type of group, size class and branch (aggregated by section)

bfs.admin.ch

Publication Year: 2018

usd to euro - Google Search

google.com

Publication Year: 2019

Business & Professional Associations Companies In Switzerland

dnb.com

Publication Year: 2019

Retail Companies

dnb.com

Publication Year: 2019

Business Services Companies

dnb.com

Publication Year: 2019

Agriculture & Forestry Companies

dnb.com

Publication Year: 2019

Agriculture & Forestry Companies

dnb.com

Publication Year: 2019

From Part 05

Digitalisierung im Bankensektor – Schweiz vs. Europa – 1:0 in der Halbzeit

zeb.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Banking der Zukunft

swisscom.ch

Publication Year: 2017

Digital Innovation in Switzerland

digital.swiss

Publication Year: 2019

Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung für Bildung und Forschung in der Schweiz

sbfi.admin.ch

Publication Year: 2017

Mit diesem Angebot will N26 in der Schweiz debütieren

finews.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Schweizer Banken-Apps? So viel günstiger sind Revolut und Co. wirklich | Luzerner Zeitung

luzernerzeitung.ch

Publication Year: 2019

What Are The Biggest Industries In Switzerland?

worldatlas.com

Publication Year: 2019

Digitalisierung

swissbanking.org

Publication Year: 2019

Industrie 4.0 – Schweizer Unternehmen haben Aufholbedarf

blog.electrosuisse.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Digitalisierung der Schweizer Wirtschaft

ey.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Anteil „Ja, eine sehr grosse“ und „Ja, eine mittelgrosse“"
"Bedeutung für Grossunternehmen deutlich grösser als für kleinere Firmen"
"Inwiefern spielen digitale Technologien eine Rolle?"

From Part 06

Google Pay Rolls Out In Switzerland | Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News - FintechNewsCH

fintechnews.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Switzerland: Supported payment methods - Google Pay Help

support.google.com

Publication Year: 2019

Google Schweiz on Twitter

twitter.com

Publication Year: 2019

Google Pay now available in Switzerland – Here’s how it works | Techgarage

techgarage.blog

Publication Year: 2019

Google Pay expands to Switzerland

fintechmagazine.com

Publication Year: 2019

Study: Apple Pay leads in users, but Samsung Pay consumers more engaged

mobilepaymentstoday.com

Publication Year: 2018

Goodbye wallet, hello smartphone? | The extent and potential of digital payment systems in Swiss retail

www2.deloitte.com

Publication Year: 2017

Swiss payment methods: survey 2018 - moneyland.ch

moneyland.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Digital payment in Swiss retail

www2.deloitte.com

Publication Year: 2017

Mobile Payment Report 2019

pwc.de

Publication Year: 2019

Switzerland Mobile Wallet & Payment Market Opportunities (2019 Databook Series): Market Size & Forecast across 45+ Market Segments (2016-2025) - ResearchAndMarkets.com

businesswire.com

Publication Year: 2019

Twint report

six-group.com

Publication Year: 2018

The Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) payment system

snb.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Payment Methods Report 2019

europeanpaymentscouncil.eu

Publication Year: 2019

Are People In Germany Using Mobile Payments?

emarketer.com

Publication Year: 2018

15.3 million CHF to EUR - Google Search

google.com

Swiss Bankers Prepaid Services - Mobile Payment

swissbankers.ch

Credit Card Readers - Accept Card Payments including EMV and NFC | SumUp

sumup.com

Home - SIX Payment Services

six-payment-services.com

Publication Year: 2019

The Aduno Group

aduno-gruppe.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Aduno AR 2018

reports.aduno-gruppe.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Apple Pay launches in Switzerland with MasterCard and Visa bank cards - 9to5Mac

9to5mac.com

Publication Year: 2016

Twint annual report

six-group.com

Publication Year: 2018

From Part 07

Switzerland will not over-regulate fintech sector, says president

swissinfo.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Switzerland lays out fintech-friendly future plan

swissinfo.ch

Publication Year: 2016

Fintech in Switzerland | Lexology

lexology.com

Publication Year: 2019

Top 50 Crypto Valley Companies in Switzerland | Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News - FintechNewsCH

fintechnews.ch

Publication Year: 2019

IFZ FinTech Study

blog.hslu.ch

Publication Year: 2018

Wie hat sich der Schweizer FinTech Markt 2018 entwickelt?

blog.hslu.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Forget Chocolate, Cheese And Watches: Fintech Could Be Switzerland’s Hottest Industry

forbes.com

Publication Year: 2018

From Part 08

Coworking: louer une places de travail à Genève - Voisins

voisins.ch

Publication Year: 2018

We are a community of creators creating a radically collaborative world! - Impact Hub Zurich

zurich.impacthub.ch

Coworking Switzerland Map - coworking.ch

coworking.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Webdesign, Film und Post-Produktion, Coworking | REDSPACE AG

redspace.ch

Offices For Rent In Zurich | Regus CH

regus.ch

Coworking

gothamco.com

Coworking goes mainstream – overview of some of the coolest coworking spaces in SwitzerlandLondon-based The Qube, a coworking space for creatives, raises €2.1 millionInterview with three promising healthcare startups from the DayOne Accelerator (Sponsored)Coworking platform Knowork secures funding from student-led VC ASIF VenturesBarcelona Tech City opens it’s brand new technology hub Pier03The 5 coolest coworking spaces in MálagaOverview of 10 state-of-the-art co-working spaces in Zurich

eu-startups.com

Publication Year: 2017

Overview of 10 state-of-the-art co-working spaces in ZurichLondon-based The Qube, a coworking space for creatives, raises €2.1 millionCoworking platform Knowork secures funding from student-led VC ASIF VenturesBarcelona Tech City opens it’s brand new technology hub Pier03The 5 coolest coworking spaces in MálagaThe 10 coolest coworking spaces in TurinThe 10 coolest coworking spaces in Rotterdam

eu-startups.com

Publication Year: 2018

Switzerland Coworking Spaces

coworker.com

Deloitte

www2.deloitte.com

From Part 09

Apple Pay

apple.com

Publication Year: 2019

Apple Pay: All your questions answered

macrumors.com

Publication Year: 2019

Deloite Report

www2.deloitte.com

Publication Year: 2017

Mobile POS Payments - Switzerland | Statista Market Forecast

statista.com

Publication Year: 2019

PwC Report

pwc.de

Publication Year: 2019

From Part 10

Survey on Digitalisation and Fintech at Swiss Banks

snb.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"The larger banks have set themselves more demanding digitalisation targets than their smaller counterparts, in particular in the mortgage business"
"The differences are less pronounced in deposits and payments, where all banks are already well advanced in terms of digitalisation."
"In the payments area, the use of digital offerings is systematically recorded. Customer use of e-banking services is high. When it comes to opening a deposit account or establishing a lending relationship, digital channels are used less frequently."
"How dominant will new participants such as fintechs, bigtechs and digital banks become in the Swiss market? Although there have been significant developments in certain segments, the entry of such players into the market has thus far been relatively modest."
"The banks surveyed see digital banks emerging as new challengers in all key business segments over the next three years"
"In implementing their digitalisation strategies, the larger banks are focusing on deploying their own innovations and solutions (cf. chart 9). They are also seeking to engage in cooperation with other market participants, above all with fintech firms and providers of core banking systems (CBSs)."

Banking Maturity Study 2018

accounts.google.com

Publication Year: 2018

Quotes

"Swiss banks rank high when it comes to their digital offering, thanks to the particularly broad range of functionalities they offer on average."
"In terms of user experience, we observe a reversed picture for Switzerland. Swiss customers rate the user experience with their respective Swiss bank relatively poorly."

Only about half of Swiss population uses online banking: survey

reuters.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Only about half of population in banking-rich Switzerland uses online banking services, a representative survey conducted by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) among 34 banks showed on Tuesday."
"Overall, the banks have not yet reached their digitalization targets,” the SNB said."
"However, the survey also found risks linked to increasing competition from new market participants such as big technology firms or online banks that could lead to further margin pressures."

Eight ways FinTech adoption remains on the rise

ey.com

Publication Year: 2019

Digital banks making inroads

home.kpmg

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"A key shift in the market place has been the emergence of digital players such as Fintech start-ups or ‘big data’ technology giants such as Apple and Google offering financial services. "
"Customers have started embracing new banking models, which are decentralized and driven by compelling digital user interfaces, more aligned to their needs and lifestyle choices."
"New digital challengers are able to design agile business and operating models from scratch."

Banking customer survey: Open Banking is the new competitive factor for banks - CREALOGIX – We Create Digital Leaders

crealogix.com

Publication Year: 2018

Quotes

"The proportion of mobile banking customers totals 43.6 per cent – a growing market with high potential. "
"Asked about their preferred digital banking method – online banking on the desktop or mobile banking – half of the respondents said that they prefer to conduct transactions «traditionally» on their desktops. "
"The German-speaking Swiss are more likely to do so, at around 58 %, compared with the western Swiss at 43 %."

Switzerland’s Booming Fintech Startup Industry in 2019 | Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News - FintechNewsCH

fintechnews.ch

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"An estimated 10% of all European fintech businesses are now based in Switzerland, mainly in the city of Zurich."
"According to the IFZ Fintech Study 2018, 2017 was the year that the Swiss fintech industry matured, with the sector becoming widely acknowledged as an important innovation driver and startups penetrating the financial system on different levels."
"There were 220 fintech companies in Switzerland by the end of 2017, with 32 new companies being incorporated throughout the year. Two segments in particular have been witnessing significant growth: crypto and blockchain, and investment management."
"With over a hundred companies, the crypto and blockchain industry is Switzerland’s most developed fintech segment with ventures tackling multiple topics from cryptocurrencies and crypto-assets, to asset management and decentralized applications."
"Second to blockchain and crypto is the investing and asset management field, unsurprisingly. With over 75 companies, it is the second most crowded fintech segment in Switzerland."

EY News release - Global Consumer Banking Survey 2016

ey.com

Publication Year: 2016

Quotes

"One in three bank customers in Switzerland, for example, say that they used online banking more frequently last year than before, while 18% carried out more banking transactions via mobile end devices."
"While three in four customers conducted banking transactions online on their computers last year, only 25% used their smartphones and 22% their tablets."

From Part 11

Company Registration in Switzerland

lawyersswitzerland.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Foreign and local investors can choose from the following types of Swiss legal entities: limited liability companies, stock companies, sole proprietorships, limited partnerships and general partnerships."
"A Swiss limited liability company must have a minimum number of two shareholders which is very advantageous for small or medium enterprises started by businessmen who want to have limited responsibility restricted to their financial contributions. The company will also need to appoint a manager. "

Set up a company and open a bank account in Switzerland - Incorporations.IO

incorporations.io

Quotes

"Switzerland is an excellent jurisdiction to establish a holding company, ideal for investors who need to manage substantial shares of other entities, especially when they are resident for tax purposes outside the Swiss borders."
"The downsides of incorporating in Switzerland is that Swiss companies require a resident director, incorporation costs are high, including a minimum paid up capital of CHF 20,000, high government annual fees, increasing labor costs and high compliance requirements."
"Corporate income tax is levied on worldwide profits."

How to register a company in Switzerland (Zug/Zurich)

company-swiss.ch

5 Simple Steps to Start a Small Business in Switzerland 2019 | Business Setup Worldwide

businesssetup.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"The reason why Switzerland is the most sought-after country for starting a business is due to its political and economic stability, central European location and liberal legal framework."
"The Swiss constitution allows anyone, including the foreigners, to run a small business in Switzerland or to form a company or have a financial interest in one."
"At least one of the directors must be a Swiss resident for your company. The procedure for registering a small business at the Swiss company register is simple as long as you are aware of all the necessary documents that shall be submitted to the registry."

What are the challenges? - Doing Business in Switzerland Guide

switzerland.doingbusinessguide.co.uk

Quotes

"There are certain unique challenges when doing business in or with Switzerland, These include: EU standards are not always adopted, domestic rules and regulations apply and highly regulated market. "
"Swiss consumers place a premium on quality. "