neon offers regarding the exchange rate surcharge
May 13, 2025
Getting an overview of all the fees in banking is often not so simple. Also, because some providers hide their fees pretty well. That's why we've committed to a simple pricing model from the very beginning.
And you've told and shown us: that's good, but not good enough. Paying a ton of fees during the holidays or on a trip is just not OK. Card payments and cash withdrawals abroad mean additional fees and surcharges each time (how they're calculated, you can read here).
But we have good news for you: with neon plus, neon global and neon metal, all card payments abroad are as uncomplicated as at home, namely completely free of charge. And for cash withdrawals abroad, the old fee of 1.5% has been reduced. And in both cases, you benefit from the best exchange rate – namely the Mastercard reference rate.
So, what does neon cost now?
From May 2025, we are expanding our plans to offer you more choice, flexibility and a better price-performance ratio. Below, you can see the costs for the various neon plans. And in this table here, you can see all the main differences between the four neon plans.
neon free | neon plus | neon global | neon metal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly fees | free of charge | 2 CHF / month or 20 CHF / year | 8 CHF / month or 80 CHF / year | 15 CHF / month or 150 CHF / year |
One-time card fee (first card) | 20 CHF | 20 CHF | 0 CHF | 0 CHF |
With neon abroad | ||||
Exchange rate surcharge for card payment | 0.35% | free of charge | free of charge | free of charge |
Cash withdrawals | 1.5% | 1.0% | 0.5% | free |
Cashback on fees for foreign transfers in the app (Wise) | – | – | 20% | 40% |
Shipping costs for cards worldwide | 80 CHF | 80 CHF | free of charge | free of charge |
Are there any exceptions?
Yes and no. Not on our side. We don't charge any fees for card payments abroad. However, merchants or ATM operators may charge fees or exchange rate surcharges. This, of course, applies to all cards, not just ours.
You can avoid foreign exchange rate surcharges by paying in the local currency (so not in CHF) abroad. It's the same online, which is why we recommend paying in CHF only with Swiss shops.
It's the same when withdrawing cash – always let it be charged in the local currency. You can often avoid fixed fees by withdrawing cash from an ATM of a larger bank. Here you can find more tips for withdrawing abroad.
How do we compare to others?
neon free remains affordable: Even with our exchange rate surcharge of 0.35% on card payments abroad, neon free is extremely attractive. The surcharge at Yuh is, for example, 2.7 times higher and applies not only to card transactions but also to several services like payments and trading in stocks and cryptos. In this article you can find out more about why neon free, our digital everyday account for full independence, remains the most competitive offer on the market in terms of simplicity, transparency, and low costs.
