PostFinance CardSwitzerland's second domestic debit scheme, separate from the bank network and tied to the postal account. Debit Mastercard co-badging opened it up internationally without replacing it.PostFinance SA · since 1991About 2.5 million cards in circulation; co-badged with Debit Mastercard since April 2022 (German Wikipedia)
Global registry · Europe · Western Europe
Switzerland Payment systems
11 systems listed.
CurrencySwiss franc (CHF)
RegulatorSwiss National Bank (SNB) / FINMA
Leading payment methods
CardsTwintPurchase on invoiceCash
E-commerce shares
Cards · 33%Wallets · 32%Buy now, pay later · 13%Other · 12%Account-to-account · 10%
Twint. The Swiss interbank wallet (2014): more than 5 million active users and about 770 million transactions in 2024. QR at the point of sale, P2P, e-commerce, parking, or the farmers’ market: Twint covers it all, linked to bank accounts.
Twint transactions≈770M (2024)
Active Twint users>5M
In-store cash share≈30% of transactions (SNB)
A Swiss specialty: purchase on invoice (payment within 30 days of receipt) remains an e-commerce standard. The QR-bill replaced paper payment slips in 2022.
IBAN · Switzerland
21 charactersSEPA area1,079 bank codes1,904 BIC codes
- Total length
- 21 characters
- Bank code position
- 5–9
- BBAN structure
5!n12!c
Structurally valid example
CHcountry code93check digits00762bank011623852957account
CH93 0076 2011 6238 5295 7
Learn about this market. The guides and courses that cover it.
Payments in SwitzerlandMerchant, acquirer, PSPPayment regulationCentral banks and payment infrastructuresAgents, distributors, and banking-as-a-service: who is liable for whatPayments in the BalkansAccepting payments in Germany, Austria, and SwitzerlandAccepting payments in Spain and PortugalChoosing a jurisdiction for your payment institutionAccepting payments in the Netherlands and BelgiumAccepting payments in the NordicsAccepting payments in Poland and Central Europe
Card schemes
Instant payments
SIC (Swiss Interbank Clearing) and SIC Instant PaymentsSIX brought its new-generation SIC platform live in November 2023, then launched instant payments in Swiss francs on August 20, 2024, available 24/7. The Swiss model is unusual: instant payments settle directly in central bank money within the SIC RTGS itself, with no separate system, and the obligation to receive was imposed by the SNB rather than by law.SIX Interbank Clearing SA (operates the service on behalf of, and under the oversight of, the Swiss National Bank) · since 2023The largest Swiss banks have been required to receive instant payments since August 2024, and the requirement extends to all other institutions in 2026. These are mandatory onboarding deadlines, not go-live dates (SNB / SIX, 2024)
Clearing and settlement
LSV+ / Debit DirectSwitzerland’s two non-SEPA direct debit procedures: they coexist with SEPA direct debit for euro payments and are a classic source of implementation errors.SIX (LSV+) / PostFinance (Debit Direct)
Wallets
PaymitDiscontinuedTWINT’s original competitor. Merging the two is what brought critical mass, a lesson directly relevant to Wero.SIX / UBS / ZKB · since 2015Merged into TWINT in 2017
TWINTEurope’s only national wallet that has truly held Apple Pay and cards at bay. It runs on QR codes and directly on the bank account, off the card rails, which makes it Europe’s best case study.TWINT AG (owned by the major Swiss banks, PostFinance, and SIX) · since 2017901 million transactions in 2025 (up 17%), more than 6 million users, 77% merchant transactions and 23% person-to-person; accepted by about 81% of Swiss brick-and-mortar stores and 86% of Swiss online stores (TWINT AG, January 2026)
Interoperable QR
QR-bill (QR-Rechnung / QR-facture)National invoicing standard with a structured reference embedded in the QR code. The switchover forced every ERP operating in Switzerland to update.SIX / Swiss financial center · since 2020Red and orange payment slips (BVR/ESR) discontinued on September 30, 2022
Cross-border rails
euroSICLets Swiss banks settle in euros without being part of the Eurosystem; the gateway for any euro business conducted from Switzerland.SIX Interbank Clearing / SECB Swiss Euro Clearing Bank · since 1999
Central bank digital currency
Project Helvetia (phase III)PilotThe world’s only wholesale CBDC issued with real value and used to settle tokenized securities transactions in production. This is not a lab experiment: settlements are legally final. The go-to counterexample to claims that no wholesale CBDC exists.Swiss National Bank with SIX Digital Exchange and the BIS · since 2023
Other
eBillElectronic bills delivered straight into online banking, widely adopted by Swiss billers and paired with eBill Direct Debit.SIX · since 2018
Reka (Reka-Card / Reka-Check)Closed-loop complementary currency for leisure and travel, sold to employees at a discount by employers; a closed scheme that is still going, which is rare in Europe.Reka (Swiss Travel Fund, cooperative) · since 1939
SIC (Swiss Interbank Clearing)One of the world’s very first RTGS systems, and the only one in Western Europe that handles large-value and retail payments together in the same system.SIX Interbank Clearing SA (operates the SIC system on behalf of, and under the oversight of, the Swiss National Bank) · since 1987About 1,028 million transactions a year and up to about CHF 6 trillion in turnover between financial institutions in peak months (SIX Interbank Clearing, six-group.com, 2026)