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Reader question: Can I use euros to pay in Switzerland?

Although the national currency of Switzerland is the Swiss franc, you can also pay in euros in many places. However, you may not always get a fair exchange rate. Here's what you should know.

A person holds euros
A person holds a handful of euro notes. Photo by Christian Dubovan on Unsplash

Switzerland is not part of the European Union, so its official currency is the Swiss franc – not the euro. The Swiss franc is widely considered one of the world’s most stable currencies and indicatively worth 1.02 euros. One euro, on the other hand, is currently worth around 0.98 francs.

For tourists travelling to Switzerland for pleasure or work as well as for cross-border commuters with a spare chunk of change, it is good to know that Swiss merchants will accept payment in euros, but the exchange rate will often be unfavourable and you’re always better off sticking to the local currency if you’re hoping to save money.

Where in Switzerland can I pay in euros?

You can pay in euros in every major Swiss department store as well as many other shops, such a souvenir shops, hotels, businesses, and restaurants. However, note that your change will always be given in Swiss francs, if you pay in cash rather than card.

Is it a good idea to pay in euros?

The short answer is, no. While keeping a few euros in your pocket is not the end of the world, you will often be offered a poor exchange rate when paying in euros in Switzerland and it is generally advised to pay as much as you can in Swiss francs.

In Switzerland, exchange rates are in fact not set by the bank, but by your payment partner. This means that in many places – particularly in tourist locations – companies profit from additional transactions with exchange rate surcharges.

A cafe in St Gallen, Switzerland.

A cafe in St Gallen, Switzerland. Photo by Niklas Tidbury on Unsplash

It’s smarter to withdraw money instead

If you’re looking to enjoy a holiday on a budget, paying in euros is not the way to get around Switzerland. The cheapest option to get Swiss francs is to withdraw money from a bank ATM in the country. Those usually don’t charge locals or tourists for the withdrawal – with a few exceptions.

The ATMs from Euronet are known for their high fees in Switzerland, so you’d be wise to avoid those altogether. Additionally, many Swiss ATMs will attempt to charge you additional fees with the so-called dynamic currency conversion (DCC). Generally, it is smarter (and safer) to drop by a local bank to withdraw cash for your stay in Switzerland.

Cash is king

You may argue (and you would be right) that carrying a wad of money in your pocket or purse is very inconvenient, not to mention dangerous, as it can be easily stolen and you will never see the likes of it again (unlike a credit card, where suspicious transactions can be disputed).

You could argue all of the above, but you would still not persuade some Swiss to switch from cash to plastic.

According to a survey by Moneyland consumer platform, 67 percent of Switzerland’s residents consider cash to be completely indispensable, while 96 percent use cash for payments.

In fact, the Swiss love their coins and banknotes so much that not every shop is equipped with ATMs and POS terminals, while others impose a minimum payment threshold for payment by card. It is therefore advisable to always carry a bit of cash – in Swiss francs – and not solely rely on the use of cards, whether they be credit, debit or prepaid.

Remember, in Switzerland you can pay with large bank notes (think 100-franc note) for the smallest item. The shopkeeper will simply hand you the change without batting an eyelash.

READ MORE: ‘Cash is freedom:’ Why do the Swiss love coins and banknotes so much?

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COST OF LIVING

One in 10 struggle to make ends meet: Poverty in Switzerland revealed

Switzerland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world which contributes to overall high satisfaction, but many people still have financial worries.

One in 10 struggle to make ends meet: Poverty in Switzerland revealed

People in Switzerland have the highest level of life satisfaction in Europe, according to a study published his week by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

However, that doesn’t mean that everyone in the Alpine nation is satisfied with their quality of life. 

According to the FSO, who carried out the survey on income, poverty and living conditions in 2022, almost one in 10 people in Switzerland struggled to make ends meet financially, and nearly 5 percent of the population had to do without important goods, services and social activities due to financial reasons.

The poverty rate in Switzerland was measured as 8.2 percent. 

READ ALSO: The Swiss cantons with the highest (and lowest) incomes

How satisfied are people in Switzerland?

On a scale of 0 to 10, the mean score for satisfaction with current lifestyle in Switzerland was 8, compared to 7.9 in Austria, 7.2 in Italy, 7.0 in France and 6.5 in Germany. In Switzerland, life satisfaction has hardly changed since 2014 and increases with age, level of education and income.

The population is particularly satisfied in interpersonal areas such as living together, the working atmosphere and personal relationships. More than half of people aged 16 and over were very satisfied in these areas in 2022 (scores of 9 or 10). In contrast, only one in three people were very satisfied with their leisure time or personal financial situation.

A person works on a laptop.

People were generally happy with work in Switzerland. Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

The FSO measured the general standard of living on the basis of the median available disposable income, whereby the price level differences between the countries were corrected. In Switzerland, disposable income is 2.5 times as high as in Greece, 1.5 times as high as in Italy, 1.3 times as high as in France, 1.2 times as high as in Germany and 1.1 times as high as in Austria.

The FSO said: “Despite the high price level in Switzerland, the population’s standard of living is therefore higher than in neighbouring countries and the majority of EU countries.”

But there are stark differences between living conditions in Switzerland, a country of around 9 million people. 

In 2022, 9.9 percent of Swiss residents had difficulty making ends meet at the end of the month and 4.9 percent of the population were affected by material and social deprivation, according to the survey. This means that they had to do without important goods, services and social activities such as new clothes, regular leisure activities or meetings with friends for financial reasons, were unable to pay their bills on time or couldn’t pay for unexpected expenses.

As you would expect, those struggling to make ends meet have a significantly lower level of life satisfaction. In 2022, only one in nine of those facing financial issues were satisfied with their lives (10.9 percent vs. 37.9 percent of the total population). This group also stated that they felt discouraged or depressed most or all of the time (24.3 percent vs. 5.4 percent of the total population) and were less likely to be happy most or all of the time (37.1 percent vs. 76.6 percent of the total population).

How many people in Switzerland are in poverty?

In Switzerland, 8.2 percent of the population had low levels of income in 2022 – this corresponds to around 702,000 people. The poverty rate was therefore lower than in the previous year (8.7 percent), but the difference is not statistically significant, researchers said.

Furthermore, the price increases for electricity, heating costs and consumer goods since 2022 are not yet reflected in these figures. Although Switzerland has been shielded from severe inflation hikes seen elsewhere in Europe in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine, consumer prices have still gone up.

As in previous years, foreign nationals, people in single-parent households, people without further education and those in families or households where there are high levels of unemployment are frequently affected by income poverty. At 3.8 percent (144,000 people), the poverty rate among the working population was also slightly lower than in the previous year (4.2 percent), but again, researchers said that this development is not viewed as significant. 

In a previous study by the statistical office, the parts of Switzerland with the lowest incomes were found to be the cantons of Jura, Valais, and Ticino.

READ ALSO: Where are the poorest parts of Switzerland?

The poverty threshold comes from the guidelines of the Swiss Conference on Social Welfare (SKOS). In 2022 this amounted to an average of CHF 2,284 per month for an individual and CHF 4,010 per month for a family.

This income threshold is higher in Switzerland than elsewhere, but the cost of living is higher as well. 

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