Coop, one of the largest supermarkets in Switzerland, has announced that it will be jumping back into the world of banking. The firm promises to offer digital banking services directly from mobile phones, alongside savings accounts and third-pillar pensions.
With the number of banks already on the Swiss high street, opening a new one may sound like a folly: but that’s exactly what Coop plans to do. In an announcement, they confirmed that they had launched Coop Finance+, a brand-new app that makes banking completely digital.
Coop has tried its hand at banking before, owning Coop Bank - formerly the Genossenschaftliche Zentralbank - between 1927 and 2017. Then renamed Bank Cler, the franchise was fully sold to Basler Kantonalbank in 2018.
Users of Coop Finance+ are able to open savings and private bank accounts with the supermarket app, alongside third pillar private pension plans. It needs to be noted that Coop itself is not licenced as a bank so the pensions themselves will be controlled by Liberty 3a and the bank and savings accounts will be secured by the Glarner Kantonalbank.
Account holders can order debit cards for use in shops, and can also use their account to withdraw money for free at the checkouts of all Coop supermarkets and department stores dotted across Swiss cities and cantons - the company noted that technically this makes Coop the largest provider of free ATMs in Switzerland. Those who use their debit card to do their shopping at Coop also receive double Superpoints.
The app itself will be available in all of the official languages of Switzerland, as well as English. In regard to savings accounts and pensions, the firm promised to offer “fair conditions”, with interest rates on third pillar accounts currently set at 1,4 percent per year, which Moneyland.ch noted was above average when compared to rates offered by other banks. For more information, check out the official press release.
Thumb image credit: Coop