Description
The Alternative Bank Schweiz (ABS) is a Swiss bank in Olten that lends only to projects meeting its ethical guidelines, and publishes the name of each borrower and what the loan is for.
It was founded in 1990 by ecological, self-managed and development groups, with groundwork from the Erklärung von Bern, today Public Eye. Its aim is not to maximise profit but to fund ecological and social projects. In eight areas, including renewable energy and organic farming, as well as for ecological building and renovation, it lends at reduced rates. An internal ethics office reviews its practices, including its interest rates and fees. At the end of 2025 it had 45,904 customers, a balance sheet of CHF 2.854 billion, and more than 9,500 shareholders who had paid in CHF 167.7 million of share capital. It is a member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values.
ABS offers accounts, savings, mortgages, loans and investments, with offices in Olten, Lausanne and Zurich. It was also the first Swiss bank to pass negative interest rates on to private customers, in October 2015, when the Swiss National Bank charged them to banks; it appealed to its customers’ solidarity, and gained new ones.
Strengths
- It publishes the names of borrowers and the purpose of each loan, which most banks keep confidential.
- Loans go only to projects that meet its ethical guidelines, with cheaper rates for renewable energy, organic farming and ecological building.
- Owned by more than 9,500 shareholders, it does not aim to maximise profit.
Weaknesses
- When interest rates were negative, it charged private customers negative rates from 2015 rather than hiding the cost in fees, which made saving there more expensive.
- Securities trading is costly: an execution-only trade of up to CHF 20,000 costs CHF 120 plus VAT.
- It has only three offices, in Olten, Lausanne and Zurich, far fewer than a cantonal or big bank.
Who it is for
Savers, households and small businesses in Switzerland who want to know exactly which projects their money finances, and accept higher fees for some services.
Sources
- Alternative Bank Schweiz: annual report 2025, securities fees (checked November 2026)
- Wikipedia: Alternative Bank Schweiz
- Bilanz: Alternative Bank verrechnet Negativzinsen und gewinnt Kunden dazu
- ABS: Ethik-Kontrollstelle, Resultate 2023
- swissinfo: Alternative bank sets high standards for sustainable and ethical business