Credit Suisse To Launch Digital Banking App

Credit Suisse is planning to launch a digital banking app that will offer free foreign transactions and wealth management tools, the lender announced Thursday (Sept. 10).

Reuters reported Credit Suisse will offer a CSX banking app that will provide no-cost, online banking and a free online debit card that will allow customers to get a home loan, make and manage investments and plan their pensions, Switzerland’s second biggest bank said.

In its 2019 annual report, CEO Thomas Gottstein said one of the major opportunities in the years ahead is going digital.

“Digitalization is one of the main opportunities ahead, but at the same time also a challenge, not just for us but for all financial services providers,” he said.

The news service said Credit Suisse is taking aim at its digital competitors including N26, the German-based digital bank headquartered in Berlin, and Revolut Ltd., the London-based FinTech that has been described as the world’s fastest growing digital bank.

Between them, these billion-dollar neobanks that operate exclusively online have attracted millions of customers with inexpensive alternatives to traditional banking. Their low prices for foreign exchange, stock trading and money transfers especially appeal to younger customers.

As part of its entree into digital banking, Credit Suisse said it will close 25 percent of its branches in a cost-cutting move while at the same time working to bring younger customers into its network.

The CSX app is expected to debut in October, the bank said, will a fully digital wealth management service rollout in mid-November.

While cash withdrawals at ATMs will not be available on the app, customers can reduce costs with a Mastercard debit card at a price of 3.95 Swiss francs ($4.34) a month.

Credit Suisse said branches in the future will offer “digital bars,” while staff will also provide financial advice via video conference, Credit Suisse said.

Founded in 1856, Credit Suisse has 146 branches, including 26 branches of the Bank’s affiliate, Neue Aargauer Bank, as well as 18 Bank Now offices, a subsidiary of Credit Suisse AG.

In its Leveraging The Digital Banking Shift Report, a collaboration of PYMNTS and Feedzai, research reveals 46 percent of consumers have become ‘digital shifters’ since the onset of COVID-19, using online or mobile banking ‘somewhat’ or ‘much more’ than they did before the pandemic.

At the same time, mobile banking is seeing the biggest shift as nearly 45 percent of mobile banking users have increased their use, and 38 percent of online banking customers said they are using digital channels more.