Non traditional banks with possibility to withdraw large amount of cash?

[Sylvain]

Hello,

With my partner, we're using a combination of 2x PostFinance personal accounts + 1 PostFinance joint account together with 2x Neon personal accounts. We're exploring the possibility to close our PostFinance bank accounts, either only using Neon or in combination with a better quality/low rate bank. However, an experience we had a few month ago made me realise we might still need to keep an account in a 'traditional bank': we purchased a car second hand to its direct owner and therefore had the need to withdraw large amount of cash (40k CHF) as we wanted to pay when receiving the car & keys on the spot. It was very easy and practical to drop by a main PostFinance bank and withdraw the entire amount in one go and zero fees without any questions asked.
How do would you handle situations of needing large amounts of cash quickly with only neo banks or banks withouth many on-site branches like WIR? If no use of cash, what would you use to instantly transfer large amounts of money to someone else? Instant IBAN payments are still being rolled out progressively and will be capped at 20k.

Thank you so much for all those resources, explanations and reviews – the website is a true mine of knowledge!

 

[Baptiste Wicht]

Unfortunately, I do not think this solution exists. There are some non-traditional banks without limit for transactions (like Alpian), but they all have limits for withdrawal as far as I know.

 

[Gabbbi9]

Hello,

With my partner, we're using a combination of 2x PostFinance personal accounts + 1 PostFinance joint account together with 2x Neon personal accounts. We're exploring the possibility to close our PostFinance bank accounts, either only using Neon or in combination with a better quality/low rate bank. However, an experience we had a few month ago made me realise we might still need to keep an account in a 'traditional bank': we purchased a car second hand to its direct owner and therefore had the need to withdraw large amount of cash (40k CHF) as we wanted to pay when receiving the car & keys on the spot. It was very easy and practical to drop by a main PostFinance bank and withdraw the entire amount in one go and zero fees without any questions asked.
How do would you handle situations of needing large amounts of cash quickly with only neo banks or banks withouth many on-site branches like WIR? If no use of cash, what would you use to instantly transfer large amounts of money to someone else? Instant IBAN payments are still being rolled out progressively and will be capped at 20k.

Thank you so much for all those resources, explanations and reviews – the website is a true mine of knowledge!

In situations where you need to withdraw a large amount of cash, neo banks can be tricky since most don’t have physical branches. One workaround is using ATMs from partner networks (like the Swiss bank group or specific ATM providers) for larger withdrawals, but fees can apply. If cash isn't a must, for transferring large sums, you can look into using services like Twint, which can work instantly for peer-to-peer transfers, or PayPal for more international transactions. For larger IBAN payments, you're right instant payments are rolling out, but it's still capped.
If you still need to have the option for large cash sums, keeping an account at a traditional bank like PostFinance or considering one that allows high withdrawals without fees (like UBS or Raiffeisen) could be practical.