The policy rate of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) sets the price of short-term money in francs, and therefore the framework within which banks pay interest on savings. As of 21 October 2026, it stood at 0%. According to our sources, an increase would affect both the cost of credit and the interest rate on savings accounts. How this is passed on, bank by bank, is not published, however.
This page of our SNB and interest rates guide addresses a single question: why the return on savings depends on monetary policy. How the National Bank reaches its decision is explained on our page about the SNB policy rate.
Why does the policy rate weigh on savings?
The policy rate weighs on savings because it sets what banks earn on their own francs. Banks, like other participants in the financial markets, hold sight deposits in francs in their account with the SNB. Up to a certain threshold, these deposits are remunerated at the policy rate.
Above this threshold, the SNB applies a discount. At its decision of 24 September 2026, this discount remained set at 0.25 percentage points. The press release did not specify the level of the threshold. According to the SNB's page on the implementation of its monetary policy, consulted on 22 October 2026, a negative rate applies to the portion above the threshold when the policy rate is at 0%, as it was on 21 October 2026. Deposits that banks hold to meet minimum reserve requirements, for their part, are not remunerated.
The SNB justifies this two-tier system as follows: it encourages account holders to trade liquidity among themselves, and thus keeps the money market active.
The SNB has two other levers, which it counts among its open market operations, to steer short-term rates:
- repo transactions, through which it lends or absorbs francs against securities;
- SNB Bills, its own short-term securities, issued in two auctions every Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., for terms of 28 to 336 days.
These instruments have a specific aim: to keep short-term rates on the secured money market in francs close to the policy rate. When the SNB changes its rate, the whole price of money between banks therefore shifts. The return on savings fits within this framework, without being an exact copy of it.
What does the SARON rate show about this link?
The SARON rate shows that market rates track the SNB's decision closely. SARON, short for Swiss Average Rate Overnight, measures the cost of a secured overnight loan between banks. The SIX group calculates and publishes it every day.
On 20 October 2026, SARON stood at -0.05%, against a policy rate of 0%. The gap was therefore 0.05 points. The sources consulted do not directly link this gap to the sight deposit threshold mechanism: it is a framework for interpretation, not a measurement.
SARON serves as the benchmark for Swiss mortgages and corporate loans. None of our sources presents it as the basis for calculating savings accounts. It illustrates the level of short-term rates, not the return offered to a customer.
Does the interest rate on a savings account follow the SNB exactly?
Nothing in our sources supports the claim that the savings rate follows the SNB point for point. They give no figure for any bank savings rate. The press release of 24 September 2026 says nothing about savings.
Forces other than the SNB weigh on bank rates, as mortgage lending shows. In the third quarter of 2026, fixed-rate mortgages became more expensive while the SNB kept its rate at 0%. According to Comparis indicative rates, an average of around thirty banks, at the end of September 2026:
- 1.75% over three years, compared with 1.38% three months earlier;
- 1.9% over five years;
- 2.07% over ten years, a level not seen since March 2025.
According to a Keystone-SDA report, rising interest rates abroad were feeding through to the Swiss capital market. This made refinancing more expensive for banks. The example concerns credit, not savings: it only shows that the policy rate is not the sole driver of the rates banks charge.
Which rates depend on what?
The table brings together the rates cited in our sources, along with what determines them according to those sources.
| Rate | Recorded level | What determines it according to our sources |
|---|---|---|
| SNB policy rate | 0.00% as of 21 October 2026 | SNB decision, in principle four times a year |
| SARON | -0.05% as of 20 October 2026 | Secured loans between banks, which the SNB seeks to keep close to its rate |
| Swiss Confederation bonds | 0.553% as of 21 October 2026 | Yield displayed by the SNB; our sources do not detail its causes |
| Ten-year fixed-rate mortgage | 2.07% at the end of September 2026 (Comparis indicative rate) | Also depends on the capital markets |
| Savings account | No figure in our sources | An increase in the policy rate would affect its return; the details are not published |
Why is the SNB keeping its rate at 0%?
The SNB is keeping its rate at 0% as long as inflation remains within the range it equates with price stability. Its mandate is to ensure this stability while taking account of economic developments. It would consider tightening its policy if inflation threatened to exceed 2% on a lasting basis.
The decision of 24 September 2026 serves as a dated example. On that day, the SNB kept its policy rate at 0%. Inflation had risen from 0.6% in May to 0.8% in August 2026, as the annual change in the Swiss consumer price index.
Its conditional inflation forecast, published in September 2026 on the assumption of a rate of 0%, remained low:
- 0.7% as an annual average in 2026;
- 0.8% in 2027;
- 0.8% in 2028.
SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel summed up this choice on the sidelines of the meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Inflation remained contained “in the middle of the 2% range”, which made it possible to leave the policy rate unchanged.
This situation contrasted with other countries. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) had recently raised their rates. This interest rate gap had weakened the franc, a few weeks before it became a safe haven again in October 2026.
What can a saver in Switzerland keep an eye on?
A saver can follow two public benchmarks: the SNB's decisions and inflation. Decisions are announced after the assessments in March, June, September and December. According to the SNB, each one is accompanied by a press release, a press conference and a new conditional inflation forecast. Since September 2025, the SNB has also published a summary of the deliberations four weeks after each decision. The next assessment is scheduled for 10 December 2026.
Opinions differ on this date. Raiffeisen economists believe a rate hike could come as early as 10 December 2026. For financial expert Dirk Renkert, quoted by Keystone-SDA, the SNB should not be “in any particular hurry to raise its rates” in the short term. These are interpretations, not commitments by the SNB.
Inflation remains the other useful benchmark, according to our sources. It makes it possible to compare what an account earns with the rise in prices over the same period. This article does not constitute investment advice.
Key figures
- SNB policy rate: 0.00% as of 21 October 2026.
- SARON: -0.05% as of 20 October 2026.
- Discount above the sight deposit threshold: 0.25 percentage points (September 2026).
- Annual inflation: 0.6% in May and 0.8% in August 2026.
- Inflation forecast by the SNB (September 2026): 0.7% in 2026, 0.8% in 2027 and in 2028.
- Swiss Confederation bonds: 0.553% as of 21 October 2026.
- Ten-year fixed-rate mortgage: 2.07% at the end of September 2026 (Comparis indicative rate).
- Next monetary policy assessment: 10 December 2026.
What we don't know yet
- The average interest rate on savings accounts in Switzerland: none of our sources gives a figure for it.
- How each bank passes the policy rate and SARON on to its savings accounts, and how quickly.
- The level of the sight deposit threshold above which the discount applies: the SNB's page on the implementation of its monetary policy does not give a figure for it either.
- The decision of 10 December 2026: Raiffeisen's forecast does not commit the SNB.
Sources
- 2clics.com, “SNB policy rate: how the Swiss National Bank sets it”, 22 October 2026, based on the SNB's pages on its strategy, its decisions and its current rates.
- 2clics.com, “SARON rate: calculation, publication and link with the policy rate”, 23 October 2026, based on pages from SIX and the SNB.
- 2clics.com, “Swiss franc: the National Bank did not step up its interventions”, 23 October 2026, based on AWP, Keystone-SDA and the SNB.
- Swiss National Bank, “Implementation of monetary policy”, page consulted on 22 October 2026.
- Swiss National Bank, “The SNB's monetary policy decisions”, page consulted on 21 October 2026.
- Swiss National Bank, home page and key rates, values of 20 and 21 October 2026.
