Neon bank: how the Swiss neobank works

Neon is a Swiss neobank: a private account managed in an app, with no base fees on its free plan and a Debit Mastercard. According to Neon's website, consulted on October 28, 2026, customers' money is held by its partner bank, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg. It is protected by the Swiss deposit insurance up to 100,000 francs. Neon claims more than 250,000 users.

This arrangement with a partner bank is not a detail. In Switzerland, the status of the institution that holds the money determines how it is protected in the event of bankruptcy, as explained on our page on the Swiss neobank.

Neon says it has been developing its account app since 2018. The other articles in this series are gathered in our section on neobanks and online banks.

How does the Neon account work?

The Neon account is managed entirely from a mobile app. Neon's "Account" page presents it as a private account "with no base fees", designed for "salary, leisure, travel". It brings together the usual functions:

• a Debit Mastercard for payments, according to the home page;
• Swiss payments: QR bills, scanned IBANs, standing orders, eBill and TWINT Prepaid;
• a personal transfer code to send money to other Neon customers in a few seconds;
• a joint account, intended for "duos under one roof";
• administrative tasks in the app: change of address, tax statement, and even closing the account.

Transfers abroad go through Wise, the money transfer service integrated into the app. Neon advertises the "real market rate" and a "small service fee", displayed before sending. The company claims that customers thus save up to 5% compared with traditional providers, without specifying the basis of calculation.

On security, Neon describes two-factor authentication. Transfers are only possible from the activated phone, with the PIN code, and login is by fingerprint or Face ID. According to Neon, customer data is stored in Switzerland.

How do you open a Neon account?

Neon advertises an opening "paperless and in less than 10 minutes", from the app. The conditions for opening an account are set out in its FAQ, whose answers are not reproduced in the pages consulted.

This type of remote account opening is governed by FINMA circular 2016/7 "Video and online identification". On October 8, 2026, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) adopted a partial revision of it, in force on November 1, 2026. It accepts the electronic identity (e-ID) under the new federal act and makes liveness detection mandatory.

How much does a Neon account cost?

Neon offers four plans, according to its "Account" page consulted on October 28, 2026. The site also displays "0 hidden costs" in its English version.

The pages consulted do not detail what each plan adds. From these sources, it is therefore not known what a cash withdrawal, a card payment in foreign currency or a replacement card costs depending on the plan.

Which bank holds the money and are deposits protected?

According to Neon, its customers' money is held by Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, its partner bank. The "Account" page specifies that it is protected by the Swiss deposit insurance up to 100,000 francs. The English version of the site uses the same wording.

This sets Neon apart from an institution holding a FinTech licence. Under FINMA rules as summarised by 2clics on October 27, 2026, the funds of customers of such an institution are neither privileged nor covered by deposit insurance in the event of bankruptcy. The law requires it to inform its prospective customers of this.

Neon's pages do not say under which licence Neon itself operates. Nor do they detail the terms of the deposit insurance, for example if a customer already holds assets with Hypothekarbank Lenzburg. FINMA's list of "Authorised institutions" and Neon's contractual documents make it possible to check this.

Can you invest and open a pillar 3a with Neon?

Yes for investments, according to Neon. Its "neon invest" offering gives access to the most traded shares, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and listed products linked to cryptocurrencies (crypto ETPs, for exchange-traded products). Neon also offers an investment plan.

The pages consulted give neither the brokerage fees nor the institution that holds the securities in custody. These securities are not deposits: nothing in our sources indicates that deposit insurance applies to them.

For pillar 3a, the tied individual pension, the menu of Neon's website includes a "Pillar 3a" section. The pages consulted give neither how it works, nor the fees, nor the provider. This article describes an offering and does not constitute investment advice.

How does Neon compare with Revolut in Switzerland?

Revolut, the neobank with more than 1.3 million users in Switzerland according to finews.ch (October 2026), serves as a benchmark. The table only uses data from our sources, published on different dates.

The user figures cannot be compared directly: Neon's is not limited to Switzerland in the pages consulted. The situation of Revolut in Switzerland shows that a neobank can serve Swiss customers without a Swiss banking licence of its own.

What do the reviews and rankings cited by Neon highlight?

Neon cites its ratings in the app stores: 4.5 on Apple's App Store (more than 7,700 reviews) and 4.4 on Google Play (more than 10,900 reviews). It presents itself as the top neobank in the 2025 "Top Banks" ranking by Handelszeitung and Statista.

These rankings and ratings are the ones Neon chooses to publish on its website. In 2019, according to the same page, four out of five "lions" backed Neon on the television show "Höhle der Löwen".

What should you check before opening a Neon account?

These checks follow from FINMA rules and from the gaps in Neon's pages. They do not amount to a product recommendation.

• The plan: what each plan includes, which the pages consulted do not detail.
• Deposit insurance: its terms in the contractual documents of Neon and its partner bank.
• Investments: the brokerage fees and the institution that holds the securities in custody.
• Continuity: on October 20, 2026, Revolut card payments and withdrawals were disrupted during a Google Cloud outage in London. According to 2clics' background page, a second means of payment with another institution limits the inconvenience on the day of an outage.

Key figures

• More than 250,000 users claimed by Neon (website consulted on October 28, 2026).
• 100,000 francs: ceiling of the Swiss deposit insurance announced by Neon, via Hypothekarbank Lenzburg.
• 0, 2, 8 and 15 francs per month: prices of the free, plus, global and metal plans (October 2026).
• Up to 5% savings on transfers abroad via Wise, according to Neon, compared with traditional providers.
• Less than 10 minutes to open an account, according to Neon.
• 2018: start of development of the app, according to Neon.

What we don't know yet

• The FINMA licence under which Neon itself operates, and the company's registered office, which is absent from the pages consulted.
• The terms of the 100,000-franc deposit insurance, particularly where assets are already held at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg.
• The content of each plan and card fees abroad.
• The brokerage fees and custody of shares, ETFs and crypto ETPs.
• How the pillar 3a offering works, its fees and its provider.
• The basis of calculation for the savings of "up to 5%" advertised on transfers.

In this series

• Yuh app: account, payments, investments and fees

Sources

• Neon: "Account" page neon-free.ch/fr/compte, consulted on October 28, 2026
• Neon: English home page neon-free.ch/en, consulted on October 28, 2026
• Neon: French home page neon-free.ch/fr, consulted on October 28, 2026
• FINMA: FinTech licence and information for FinTech service providers, based on the 2clics summary of October 27, 2026
• FINMA: partial revision of circular 2016/7, press release of October 8, 2026
• finews.ch: "Revolut startet eigenen Venture-Fonds", October 26, 2026 (in German), according to 2clics