A Geneva resident returned home after fifteen years abroad and asked a seemingly innocent question: what’s wrong with UBS? The flood of responses revealed something far more troubling than simple dissatisfaction. Switzerland’s largest bank, once synonymous with reliability and discretion, is experiencing a quiet exodus of customers who’ve simply had enough.
The numbers tell part of the story. UBS plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs by 2027, reducing its workforce from nearly 120,000 to around 95,000. But behind these headline figures lies a more insidious problem: the systematic erosion of trust through fees, service failures, and a strategic pivot that leaves ordinary Swiss residents feeling abandoned.
The Fee Structure That Breaks Trust
UBS has quietly become the most expensive retail bank in Switzerland. Customers report paying premium prices for basic services that competitors offer for free or at fraction of the cost. The bank’s foreign exchange rates carry hefty markups, and using cards abroad triggers additional charges that savvy travelers now avoid by using Revolut or Neon for international transactions.
What stings most isn’t just the cost, it’s the feeling of being taken for granted. A basic checking account can cost CHF 5-10 monthly, while competitors like PostFinance or regional banks such as ZKB offer free alternatives. The wealth management division, which UBS is aggressively expanding, might justify premium pricing for millionaires, but for the teacher in Lausanne or the engineer in Basel, these fees feel increasingly disconnected from reality.
The irony? UBS’s own key4 product offers better rates for foreign transactions, yet most long-time customers remain stuck in legacy accounts with worse terms. The bank hasn’t exactly rushed to migrate them.
Customer Service That Vanished Into Thin Air
Try reaching UBS customer service, and you might as well be attempting to contact the Federal Palace on a Sunday. Callers report 15-20 minute waits with “annoying queue music” before reaching a human. Email responses, when they come, can take days. One customer described reporting a bug in the e-banking system, ironically, UBS then called daily when he didn’t respond immediately, showing the capacity exists but isn’t deployed for regular inquiries.
The technical glitches compound the frustration. The home screen in UBS’s e-banking platform has been known to display total assets incorrectly, double-counting certain accounts. For a bank whose brand rests on precision and reliability, such basic errors feel like a betrayal. Activating business prepaid cards for Apple devices requires a phone call, a process that should take seconds in 2025.
These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re symptoms of a bank that has scaled back investment in retail banking infrastructure while focusing its resources on wealth management for high-net-worth individuals.
The Credit Suisse Integration: A Poisoned Chalice
The forced marriage with Credit Suisse continues to haunt UBS. While the acquisition was framed as a rescue of the Swiss financial system, the execution has been messy. The integration is reportedly months behind schedule, particularly in wealth management, the very segment UBS cherishes most.
The bank must maintain two parallel systems, its own and Credit Suisse’s legacy infrastructure, costing hundreds of millions of francs annually. This operational drag shows up in customer experience: delayed transactions, confused account migrations, and advisors who seem unfamiliar with client histories that span decades.
More concerning is the human cost. “It’s brutal to see how one former colleague after another leaves the bank and has to register with the RAV”, one current employee noted. The planned cuts represent nearly 25% of the combined workforce, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty that inevitably affects service quality.
Legal Quicksand and Regulatory Headwinds
The AT1 bond scandal refuses to die. When Finma ordered the write-down of CHF 16 billion in Credit Suisse’s Additional Tier 1 bonds during the emergency takeover, it shattered assumptions about the Swiss financial system’s predictability. The recent Federal Court decision granting UBS’s request for suspensive effect in the legal proceedings only prolongs the uncertainty.
For customers watching from the sidelines, this legal drama raises uncomfortable questions. If the rules can change overnight for sophisticated bondholders, what’s sacrosanct about retail deposits? The trust that underpins banking rests on the belief that the system follows clear, stable rules. The AT1 saga suggests otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Federal Council is pushing stricter capital requirements that could force UBS to hold an additional CHF 20 billion in equity. While this enhances stability, it also constrains the bank’s ability to invest in improving customer experience. Sergio Ermotti’s goal of pivoting toward growth investments faces headwinds from regulators who want UBS to become even more bulletproof.
The Strategic Abandonment of Regular Customers
Perhaps most tellingly, UBS is quietly nudging retail customers toward the exit. The bank’s cost-to-income ratio sits at 77%, compared to Morgan Stanley’s 67%. Closing that gap requires either higher revenue or lower costs, and UBS is pursuing both by focusing on wealthy clients while letting service quality for average customers deteriorate.
This isn’t conspiracy theory, it’s arithmetic. A customer generating CHF 20 monthly in fees isn’t worth the same attention as one bringing CHF 20,000. The result? Basic services degrade. Branches close. Wait times lengthen. Digital platforms stagnate.
Swiss residents are voting with their feet. Young professionals in Zurich use Neon or Yuh for daily banking. Expats in Geneva rely on Revolut for international transfers. Even traditionalists are discovering that Raiffeisen and cantonal banks offer better service at lower cost.
What the Smart Money Is Actually Doing
The practical response isn’t revolutionary, it’s pragmatic. Keep a minimal UBS account if necessary for mortgage relationships or historical ties, but move daily banking elsewhere. Use specialized providers: Revolut or Wise for foreign currency, Neon or Yuh for fee-free Swiss banking, and PostFinance for reliable basic services.
For pillar 3a accounts, the calculation is more nuanced. UBS offers convenience but at higher costs than independent providers like Finpension or VIAC. The difference in fees can amount to tens of thousands of francs over a career, money that stays in your pocket rather than funding UBS’s wealth management expansion.
The key is decoupling: maintain relationships where UBS still adds value (complex mortgages, certain investment products) while refusing to subsidize poor service for basic banking needs.
The Paradeplatz Paradox
Standing on Paradeplatz in Zurich, you can see UBS’s imposing headquarters, the physical embodiment of Swiss banking power. Yet inside, the bank is shrinking, cutting, and refocusing. The contrast between the monumental exterior and the internal retreat is stark.
Switzerland’s banking secrecy and stability built UBS’s global brand. But that brand equity is being spent on integration costs and legal battles rather than customer experience. The bank that once defined Swiss financial excellence risks becoming a cautionary tale about what happens when institutions prioritize scale over service.
For the expat in Geneva who started this conversation, the answer is clear: UBS isn’t necessarily “wrong”, but it’s no longer right for most people. The fees are too high, the service too unreliable, and the strategic direction too clearly pointed away from everyday banking needs. In Switzerland’s competitive financial landscape, loyalty is earned through performance, not inherited through tradition.
The real question isn’t why customers are leaving UBS. It’s why anyone still stays.
