Markets, clients and services

Raiffeisen is focussed on the Swiss market. With a total of 820 branches, Raiffeisen has a branch network that is denser than any other in Switzerland. The accessibility of Raiffeisen has remained unchanged for ten years: over 90 % of the Swiss population can reach a Raiffeisen bank within a 10-minute drive.

Raiffeisen is the third-largest player in the Swiss banking market and number 1 in real estate financing. Almost one in every five mortgages in Switzerland originates from Raiffeisen.

Raiffeisen is a market leader in the retail business. 42 % of the Swiss population are clients at Raffeisen. Raiffeisen is the main bank for around one-third of our more than 3.61 million clients. We also have over 218,500 corporate clients, who are another important client base. This means that Raiffeisen assists one in every three businesses in Switzerland with solutions and tailored advice.

Raiffeisen's strong local roots are complemented by digital solutions, forming a hybrid business model. Customers can choose which services they wish to use and on which channels.

 

Raiffeisen has a branch network denser than that of any other bank in Switzerland.

 

A strong an popular cooperative

Implementation of the Raiffeisen 2025 strategy commenced during the year under review. Raiffeisen further diversified its business model and added digital solutions to its offerings and services. The physical proximity of 219 Raiffeisen banks with a total of 820 branches and 1,732 ATMs means Raiffeisen remains a reliable partner to its clients. Raiffeisen can be reached by car within ten minutes by over 90 % of the population. More than 3.61 million people and over 218,000 companies are clients of Raiffeisen. This is equivalent to over 42 % of the Swiss population and one in every three businesses in Switzerland.

 

More than 3.61 million people and one company in three in Switzerland are customers of Raiffeisen.

Number of customers and volume

 

Cooperative generates added value

Anyone who subscribes to a share certificate of a Raiffeisen bank becomes one of its co-owners. In 2021, roughly 28,000 people made use of their right to subscribe and became part of the Raiffeisen community. There are now more than 1.96 million cooperative members actively shaping the Raiffeisen bank in their region. This number of owners makes Raiffeisen the largest cooperative bank in Switzerland. Cooperative members enjoy an attractive rate of interest on their share certificates and various benefits. Every year the Raiffeisen Group also gives a considerable sum to municipalities and associations – over CHF 200 million in the year under review – partly through taxes and partly through local sponsorship arrangements.

 

Cooperative members

 

Attractive member offers

Raiffeisen provides various member benefits to reward customer loyalty and active account relationships. Once again in 2021, the members of local Raiffeisen banks were able to make use of these offers. The museum pass in particular, which grants free entry to over 500 museums in Switzerland, was used more than a million times. Apart from that, in summer and autumn members can enjoy tourist offers in the Canton of Graubünden, with discounts on hotels and reduced prices on cable car tickets. For the winter season, a daily ski pass for thirty or so Swiss skiing areas was launched. It is now possible to order the daily passes online and save them straight to the ski card or SwissPass. In total, Raiffeisen members enjoyed benefits worth CHF 105 million in 2021.

Improving young people's financial skills

For years Raiffeisen has been committed to Money Mix as a way of improving young people's financial skills and supporting them as they move towards financial independence. In 2021 Raiffeisen expanded this commitment by entering into a partnership with the «Schlaufux» learning platform. Since January 2022 the platform has been known as «evulpo», supporting school children in maths, German, English and French, plus giving them tips on how to handle money.

 

Regional and national sponsorship

Thanks to their strong local roots, the Raiffeisen banks are committed to numerous local associations, projects and events involving sport, culture and social matters. At the national level, Raiffeisen has been supporting winter sports as a proud partner of Swiss-Ski since 2005: at top competitive level, helping to develop new talent, winter sports as enjoyed by the general public and by people with impairments.

 

Local solidarity

Between the launch of lokalhelden.ch some five years ago and the end of 2021, almost CHF 30 million were raised on the crowdfunding platform. Across Switzerland, more than 1,700 charitable cultural, sporting and social projects have become a reality. The largest project in terms of money in 2021 was LIBER, which supports writers and publishing houses in Switzerland; this raised more than CHF 600,000. True to the spirit of the banking group's cooperative principle, through lokalhelden.ch Raiffeisen takes a local and regional approach to crowdfunding, making an important contribution to a vibrant, athletic, cultural and pro-social Switzerland.

 

By the end of 2021, more than 1,700 projects had received almost CHF 30 million of support through lokalhelden.ch.

Challenging times demand pragmatic and creative solutions. So in March 2020 Raiffeisen opened up its lokalhelden.ch crowdfunding platform to Swiss SMEs too. Since then, more than 400 businesses have enjoyed support to the extent of over CHF 3.8 million. The numerous success stories showed the exceptional solidarity of Swiss citizens, even in a second difficult year overshadowed by the pandemic.

 

Developing the offering – focus on the digital customer experience

As part of the Raiffeisen 2025 strategy, Raiffeisen is investing substantial sums in further expanding its digital channels. By the end of 2025, a customer experience portal that brings together all of Raiffeisen's digital services for the purposes of self-service should be in place. Raiffeisen is aiming to have a beta version of the new application ready for interested private clients by the end of 2022. Functionalities will then be added to the app on an ongoing basis, with a complete, modern e-banking solution available by the end of 2025. In 2021 Raiffeisen launched the SME eServices multibanking platform for corporate clients, the Liiva residential property platform and the digital pillar 3a.

E-banking – the most frequently used interaction channel

E-banking is now the most frequently used interaction channel between clients and their Raiffeisen bank. In total more than 1.65 million users (previous year: 1.54 million) logged into e-banking over 124 million times (previous year: 113 million) in 2021. Some 51 % of logins were via the mobile banking app (previous year: 49 %). On average, users logged into e-banking five times a month or 75 times a year. Every day the system processed more than 426,000 payments.

Raiffeisen is striving to create a seamless interaction between digital channels and personal contact points. Clients should be able to choose how they want to interact with Raiffeisen. Besides local personal advisory services for clients, Raiffeisen e-banking is the prime channel for quickly and securely establishing contact with Raiffeisen and transacting banking business.

 

Use of e-banking

 

In 2021, all users were gradually migrated from the existing e-banking login to the new Raiffeisen login. The new login further increased security. It also forms the basis for accessing other digital Raiffeisen services, such as Raiffeisen Rio, MemberPlus, the stock exchange application and the newly launched digital pillar 3a.

 

Raiffeisen Twint with continued success

In November 2021, Twint exceeded the four million users mark. This shows how popular the Swiss digital payment solution is. With more than 900,000 registered users (up 30 % on the previous year) and an active use rate of over 70 %, Raiffeisen's Twint app also continues to be successful. The standard uses like transferring money between friends and acquaintances, online shopping and making purchases in farm shops are seeing buoyant activity. Jointly with Twint AG, the digital marketplace available via the Twint+ button in the app is constantly being extended with attractive offers. For example, Twint can be used to pay parking charges, donate money, buy or give digital vouchers and order coffee capsules and food for home delivery.

 

Over 900,000 people are registered on Raiffeisen Twint. More than 70 % of them use Twint actively.

New debit cards with extended functions

Following a successful pilot phase for the new debit cards Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard among Raiffeisen staff, Visa Debit was launched for YoungMember customers at the end of 2021. Since the start of 2022, the new Visa Debit card is being distributed to all Raiffeisen clients. The new Debit Mastercard will follow in spring 2022. They replace the previous VPAY and Maestro debit cards. Along with the tried and tested functionalities, the new cards also have an e-commerce function and so can be used for online shopping.

 

Pension and investment solutions

The investing and saving for retirement business is a particularly important pillar of the Raiffeisen 2025 strategy. The intention is to strengthen and expand this business. The focus is on customers and their financial needs. Raiffeisen supports them through all stages of life. Processes and solutions are designed to be transparent and easy to understand. That way, Raiffeisen can provide all its customers with easy access to professional pension and investment solutions – both physically and digitally. Raiffeisen expanded this hybrid approach – personal advice with digital solutions – in the year under review.

Holistic and sustainable saving for retirement

The fourth annual Raiffeisen Pension Barometer survey conducted in conjunction with Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW and pollsters LINK in 2021 shows that around one-third of the population is planning on taking early retirement. At the same time, people are expecting to need more money when they retire. These high expectations stand in stark contrast to the continued low level of attention given to personal retirement planning. This inadequate commitment goes hand in hand with a low degree of knowledge about pensions. Raiffeisen has therefore started various initiatives to make it easier to learn about retirement. For example, many customer events were held around the country on «Understanding your pension fund statement».

Raiffeisen advises its customers for the future based on their current situation in life – from their first salary account through to estate planning. In total, customer advisors held 15,000 advisory sessions concerning retirement. This covers pension planning, advice on protection against financial risk in the event of death, disability or old age, inheritance issues and individual provision choices (power of attorney and living will).

Consistent with its reinforced positioning as the leading firm for all issues to do with financial provision, Raiffeisen continues to broaden the expertise of its pension, retirement and inheritance planning specialists across the Group. This is to meet the rising demand for comprehensive advice on pension issues.

Raiffeisen's wide range of pension solutions support far-sighted and sustainable wealth creation. In 2021, the number of pillar 3a accounts increased by over 26,000 to 656,000 (+4.1 %). Retirement savings in deposits and linked to securities increased by nearly 4.8 % (+CHF 835 million) to reach CHF 18.4 billion. Deposits in vested benefit accounts including fund savings plans reached just under CHF 5.9 billion by the end of the year under review, a decline of around 0.5 % (–CHF 31 million). The use of pension products was once again significantly affected by the generally low interest rates in 2021. The number of retirement custody accounts, for example, increased by around 36.6 % (pillar 3a) and 25.7 % (vested assets).

 

Raiffeisen banks provide their customers with holistic advice and use a hybrid approach to do so: personal advice supported by digital solutions.

Holistic and sustainable saving for retirement

The fourth annual Raiffeisen Pension Barometer survey conducted in conjunction with Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW and pollsters LINK in 2021 shows that around one-third of the population is planning on taking early retirement. At the same time, people are expecting to need more money when they retire. These high expectations stand in stark contrast to the continued low level of attention given to personal retirement planning. This inadequate commitment goes hand in hand with a low degree of knowledge about pensions. Raiffeisen has therefore started various initiatives to make it easier to learn about retirement. For example, many customer events were held around the country on «Understanding your pension fund statement».

Raiffeisen advises its customers for the future based on their current situation in life – from their first salary account through to estate planning. In total, customer advisors held 15,000 advisory sessions concerning retirement. This covers pension planning, advice on protection against financial risk in the event of death, disability or old age, inheritance issues and individual provision choices (power of attorney and living will).

Consistent with its reinforced positioning as the leading firm for all issues to do with financial provision, Raiffeisen continues to broaden the expertise of its pension, retirement and inheritance planning specialists across the Group. This is to meet the rising demand for comprehensive advice on pension issues.

Raiffeisen's wide range of pension solutions support far-sighted and sustainable wealth creation. In 2021, the number of pillar 3a accounts increased by over 26,000 to 656,000 (+4.1 %). Retirement savings in deposits and linked to securities increased by nearly 4.8 % (+CHF 835 million) to reach CHF 18.4 billion. Deposits in vested benefit accounts including fund savings plans reached just under CHF 5.9 billion by the end of the year under review, a decline of around 0.5 % (–CHF 31 million). The use of pension products was once again significantly affected by the generally low interest rates in 2021. The number of retirement custody accounts, for example, increased by around 36.6 % (pillar 3a) and 25.7 % (vested assets).

 

In 2021 our retirement experts held more than 15'000 advisory sessions.

Launch of digital pillar 3a

In autumn 2021 Raiffeisen added a digital pension solution to its saving for retirement range – the digital pillar 3a Because it is integrated in e-banking, no additional registration is needed. In this way, Raiffeisen makes it possible for customers to open a pillar 3a pension account on their own in just a few minutes, and to invest in a suitable retirement fund if desired. They always have a full overview of their financial situation and can manage their pension assets themselves at any time. This offering and its functionality will be refined over the course of 2022.

 

The digital pillar 3a lets customers manage their pension as­sets inde­pendently and at any time.

Growth in customer deposits

Raiffeisen is committed to helping as many Swiss residents as possible with wealth planning. Saving money is very important to Raiffeisen customers, whether it is for their retirement or for investments and purchases such as residential property. In 2021 customer deposits at Raiffeisen grew faster than the market, by a total of 5.9 % (+CHF 11.3 billion). As a consequence, Raiffeisen's market share expanded in this area once again.

During the year under review, the number of customer accounts increased by 3.3 % to around six million transaction and savings accounts. Traditional savings (savings accounts) increased by 4.3 % or roughly CHF 3.2 billion, while growth was even stronger in transaction accounts (personal and current accounts). Here deposit volumes were up by more than CHF 7.9 billion (+9.8 %). At the same time, some 169,000 new transaction accounts were opened (+5.7 %). Because interest rates remain low and there is little difference between the interest rates on transaction accounts and those on savings accounts, transaction accounts are increasingly being used as a place to park liquidity for prolonged periods.

As other market participants have changed their interest rate policy in the end-customer business, Raiffeisen has seen large and sustained inflows above the average in recent months, even though it has been selectively applying negative interest rates. Raiffeisen Switzerland continues to recommend to the Raiffeisen banks and the branches of Raiffeisen Switzerland that, in the private customer business, they only apply negative interest rates or charge credit balance fees to those looking to deposit large amounts of liquidity or who have substantially increased deposits in the past few months. Raiffeisen Switzerland is still advising the Raiffeisen banks and branches not to apply negative interest rates or charge credit balance fees to long-standing private customers who have not exceeded the net new money threshold of CHF 250,000 in the past 18 months.

 

Investing becomes the new saving

Due to interest rates remaining low, the importance of investing as an alternative to saving continues to increase among customers. Over 4,000 investment advisors support Raiffeisen customers with advice on prudently and sustainably building up free and tied pension assets. They attach great importance to their customers being able to achieve their long-term financial goals.

 

Over 4,000 advisors support customers in their investment decisions.

Greater emphasis on sustainability in investment solutions

One of the objectives of the Raiffeisen 2025 strategy is to boost sustainability performance. It is 20 years since Raiffeisen launched its first sustainability funds under the Futura label and since then it has steadily expanded its range of sustainable investment and pension solutions. Over time, the existing and new Futura funds, and later the Futura asset management mandate, have become the backbone of the product range. As long ago as 2019, the entire Raiffeisen retirement fund range was made fully sustainable. In 2021 Raiffeisen took another major step towards its strategic objective of systematically and rigorously integrating sustainability aspects into the full range of pension and investment products. With only a few exceptions, the remaining Raiffeisen funds too have been applying the Futura approach since the middle of 2021. Consequently, the Futura funds now account for more than 94 % of the total volume of all Raiffeisen funds.

 

Successful further development in digital asset management

Customers have been able to use the Raiffeisen Rio digital asset management app since autumn 2020. This smartphone app was further enhanced in 2021. Now customers can focus their investments on the Swissness or Futura core portfolios. Raiffeisen Rio also has a new savings plan function for building up assets in the long term. Through Raiffeisen Rio Raiffeisen makes it possible for customers to invest in an asset management mandate from as little as CHF 5,000. The app gives them easy access to the world of investing and to professional investment expertise. Together with the individual selection of focus topics and daily news on financial markets and the portfolio, Raiffeisen Rio offers customers a digital investment experience. Raiffeisen Rio was awarded bronze in the Business Impact category at the Best of Swiss Apps Awards 2020.

 

The digital asset manage­ment app Raiffeisen Rio gives easy and rapid access to the world of investments.

Extending advisory and asset management mandates

Shortly before the end of the year, various extensions were implemented in the advisory and asset management mandates in response to the needs of both customers and Raiffeisen banks. The new transaction-based advisory mandate focused on individual stocks is another product in the advisory solutions offering. At the same time, various optimisations were made in the portfolio-related advisory mandate. Advisory mandates are ideal for investors who appreciate consulting with an advisor, but want to make their investment decisions themselves. The advisory mandate allows clients to select their personal investment focus, define the investment objective and benefit from Raiffeisen analyses, market assessments and recommendations.

The reporting was also adapted in line with customer needs and now gives a clearer overview of performance and portfolio composition. Mandate solutions, asset management mandates in particular, were extremely popular once again in 2021. Inflows into asset management mandates reached more than CHF 3.5 billion in 2021. The volume and number of mandates more than doubled. Over 50 new mandates net were being opened every day.

 

A provider of holistic solutions for residential property owners

At present, almost one mortgage in five in Switzerland is taken out with one of the more than 200 Raiffeisen banks. As a result, Raiffeisen is very familiar with the challenges faced by existing or aspiring home owners, and also with what they want. Raiffeisen is using this position to develop new solutions for issues to do with housing. The associated expansion to the value chain can be summed up in the term «housing ecosystem».

 

In the housing ecosystem, Raiffeisen offers holistic solutions for all needs relating to private residential property.

Financing: growth in line with the market

Mortgage loans grew by 3.2 %, in line with the rest of the market. This took them to CHF 196.4 billion. Due to interest rates remaining low and property prices rising, 2021 again witnessed strong demand for mortgage financing.

Raiffeisen is actively involved in the renewable heating programme of the Federal Office of Energy and has integrated an energy property assessment in its financing advisory services so customers can get an initial evaluation based on energy efficiency classes – much like the cantonal GEAK® energy performance certificate. This forms the basis for working together with property owners to develop long-term renovation strategies and how they are financed. In this context, customer advisors can make good use of the Raiffeisen Modernisation Planner RAImo). This app won two bronze medals at the Best of Swiss Apps Awards 2021, in the Design and Functionality categories.

 

The share of the mortgage market was steady at 17.6 %. Mortgage loans grew in line with the m­arket.

Mortgage market share by canton

 

Switch in benchmark interest rates

For many years Swiss banks used Libor to calculate loan interest. With effect from 1 January 2022, Libor ceased to be the benchmark and was replaced by Saron. Raiffeisen started the switch in good time and acted as a pioneer in the industry. Starting in April 2020, Raiffeisen was the first national Swiss retail bank to offer its customers a Saron mortgage as a transparent and flexible replacement product. Since then, more than 50,000 Saron mortgages worth CHF 27.2 billion have been taken out with Raiffeisen. The existing LiborFlex products were migrated to Saron on 31 December 2021. Not only mortgage loans but also all other product categories are now based on the new benchmark interest rates.

 

Mortgage volume by mortgage model

 

Corporate Clients, Treasury & Markets

Since autumn 2021, all direct customer activities of Raiffeisen Switzerland have been grouped together in the Corporate Clients, Treasury & Markets department. Combining the corporate client business with Treasury & Markets means Raiffeisen can offer corporates access to a broad range of products from a single business unit. Depending on what the customer needs, Raiffeisen can provide both products and total solutions for financing, payments, trading in interest rates, currencies and precious metals, transactions in the money and capital markets and corporate finance services. Corporate clients thus benefit from advice and support from a single source and short decision paths.

 

Corporate clients

The corporate client business has an important part to play in the long-term income diversification of the Raiffeisen Group. Pleasingly, there was continued growth in this business area in the year under review. In 2021 Raiffeisen gained more than 9,000 new corporate clients, the vast majority of them in the SME segment. Local proximity coupled with national strength, an extensive portfolio of products and the associated advisory expertise also go down well with larger companies: Raiffeisen expanded its market share here too. A total of over 218,000 corporate clients, or more than one-third of all companies in Switzerland, count on Raiffeisen's skills. Not including Covid-19 loans, the lending volume in the corporate client business increased by CHF 1.5 billion to CHF 42 billion.

 

Raiffeisen expands its market share in the corporate client business.

Ongoing support for SMEs during the pandemic

Given the ongoing pandemic, at the start of 2021 Raiffeisen extended the maturities of Covid-19 loans from five years to eight, the maximum permitted under the Loan Guarantees Act. At the same time, the recommended start date for repayments was pushed out by one year to 31 March 2022. Raiffeisen was also an active participant in the various federal and cantonal programmes for cases of hardship at the start of 2021. As a result, an additional CHF 20 million or so of loans were disbursed to customers. Since the start of the pandemic, Raiffeisen’s Covid-19 loan book has shrunk by a total of CHF 500 million due to voluntary repayments and reclaims from the guarantee cooperatives. This is equivalent to a fall of about 25 % in the volume of lending since it peaked in summer 2020. As at 31 December 2021, the loans based on all Covid-19 lending programmes broke down as follows:

Covid-19 loans

 

The Raiffeisen Business Owner Centre (RUZ) also expanded its support offering for SMEs in early 2021. It launched a full-service package including strategy and financing support for the catering and hotel industry, which was hit hard by the pandemic, in the form of the RUZ Company Check. In view of the high demand, the existing offering of free liquidity and succession planning for Raiffeisen customers was continued. The accumulated experience of the RUZ advisors, who are all successful entrepreneurs themselves, provides considerable added value for the SMEs involved.

 

Successful start for the multibanking solution for SMEs

The successful introduction of the multibanking solution Raiffeisen SME eServices in September 2021 marked the completion of an important sub-project in the Group strategy Raiffeisen 2025. This digital platform lets corporate customers of Raiffeisen bring together all their payments and liquidity management in one place, where it is secure and multibanking-enabled. This saves companies expense, time and effort. The complete solution for multibanking-enabled payments and efficient cash management also provides strong protection against cyber attacks, with payments approved in the protected part of the platform. The dashboard has built-in aids for easy liquidity monitoring, planning and management, and can be configured to suit individual needs.

 

Raiffeisen ­SME ­eServices offers corporate clients a simple, multibanking-enabled solution for their pay­ments and liquidity management.

Pleasing growth in leasing business

One Swiss company in three uses leasing to finance its vehicles or capital goods. The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the benefits of leasing as a financing solution that goes easy on liquidity. The increased relevance of leasing for SMEs was also apparent at Raiffeisen: the growth in the leasing business seen in recent years was successfully maintained in 2021. Portfolio volumes grew by 13 % to CHF 661 million. Raiffeisen is one of the four largest providers of capital goods leasing in Switzerland. This has become a major product for corporate clients, thanks to its flexibility in terms of variable instalments, customised repayment profiles and the personal advice from the Raiffeisen banks on site.

 

Award for SMEs with sustainable business development

Every year since 2017, Raiffeisen has given awards to SMEs from different regions of Switzerland that show courage and foresight in their commitment to economically sustainable business development. Both the planned award ceremonies in 2020 fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic, but in September 2021 the «Golden David», the Raiffeisen entrepreneurship award, was presented to logistics company Krummen Kerzers AG at a fully Covid-compliant ceremony in the Espace Mittelland.