Currency issues with Half Fare card

Katariina77

Hi! Anyone encountered issues with currency rates when extending the Half Fare card? I paid from my EU bank account 170 CHF for the renewal. My bank confirms that I paid 170 CHF. And the receipt proves that I paid 170 CHF which was 185 EUR. However, SBB says that I paid 158 CHF and I need to pay 12 CHF more plus a 15 CHF dunning fee. One of the possible reasons their not very friendly chat customer service gave me was that there was an additional charge because I paid in EUR. But I paid in CHF! The receipt wasn’t accepted as a proof because it wasn’t in German. I’m totally perplexed. Unfortunately I haven’t found a card payment option for the renewal.

Danhiel

Hi Katariina77

It could be a problem with banking fees. As example, if I make an international payment I can select this option:

In this case the beneficiary must pay the banking fees. Usually SEPA payments are free of charge, but it was perhaps not possible to use this type of payment.

You can submit a complaint here:

https://sbb-tickets.cc/en/help-and-contact/customer-service/praise-comments/reklamation.html

Kind regards
Danhiel

Nicole_B

Hello Katariina77

As far as I know, the transfer currency for SEPA must always be euros, regardless of whether the transfer is from Switzerland to the EU or from the EU to Switzerland. Currency exchange fees are usually also charged for SEPA transfers from or to Switzerland.
Many Swiss banks explain SEPA on their website (but only in DE, FR & IT). Examples:

Your bank may also have such an info page.

Katariina77 I paid from my EU bank account 170 CHF for the renewal. My bank confirms that I paid 170 CHF. And the receipt proves that I paid 170 CHF which was 185 EUR.

Therefore, I assume that a debit in CHF on an EU bank account is considered a normal international transfer, and corresponding fees have been deducted by the banks, which is why only CHF 158 of the transfer arrived.

I doubt there is any value in writing to SBB customer service additionally, as customer support has already confirmed in the chat that only CHF 158 of the transfer was received and SBB customer service cannot influence or understand the banks’ fees for international transfers. For questions about transfers, the bank is normally the correct point of contact.

Kind regards,
Nicole

Katariina77

Danhiel Hi Danhiel, thanks for a quick reply and for the link. Very helpful because I somehow seem to always struggle in finding contact forms on SBB’s site. 🙂 I believe I chose that type of payment but maybe something has gone wrong somewhere.

Katariina77

Nicole_B Hi! Probably not official enough for SBB and not in the language SBB accepts. I obviously asked my bank first before contacting SBB because that’s kind of a logical thing to do. My bank unfortunately doesn’t know what kind of fees SBB’s bank charges on foreign SEPA payments. My bank just charged its own fees which it charges on all foreign payments, which I paid separately. Would be extremely helpful if SBB stated on their bill that SBB’s bank collects a 12 CHF fee. The loyalty price of Half Fare is 170 CHF while buying a new one is 190 CHF. Thus, it’s practically pointless to renew the Half Fare if you’re a foreigner as SBB’s bank charges you 12 CHF extra = 182 CHF. Although I pay foreign SEPA payments regularly, I have never encountered a transaction before where a customer actually doesn’t know the price in advance, but pays something randomly and waits for the next invoice and the next and the next. In SBB’s case the customer pays 170 as stated in the invoice, the customer’s bank charges fees, but SBB is not happy and wants more because SBB’s bank wants 12 CHF. Now if I pay the “remaining” 12 CHF, SBB’s bank will again charge some fees, which I can’t know in advance. Luckily I don’t need to travel to Switzerland. Thanks!

Nicole_B

Katariina77
In this case, what was the verified statement of the bank, whether it was a SEPA transfer with currency exchange fees or a normal international transfer with settlement fees, bank fees of the sending bank, correspondent bank and/or receiving bank and exchange rates?

Kind regards,
Nicole

Katariina77

I mean it’s always fairer and more transparent if the invoice says please pay 170 CHF + 12 CHF for banking fees instead of asking for 170 CHF and later requesting more PLUS adding a 15 CHF dunning fee of a payment which wasn’t late. It’s more customer friendly like ÖBB tends to be.

Nicole_B

Katariina77
Since Switzerland is not an EU country and has CHF as its currency instead of euros, the banking networks have different rules with their fees for international bank transfers than bank transfers from one EU country to another EU country in the same currency.

As far as I know, for international bank transfers of different currencies, in addition to the sending and receiving bank, there are at least one, if not several intermediary correspondent banks (depending on the network) which can charge for international transfers. Depending on the network, these fees can be fixed and / or percentage of the transfer amount.

SBB does not operate any banks but, just like we private individuals, uses a normal bank to receive and make money transfers as an account holders. If even your bank, which carries on business in banking, cannot say what fees are charged for international transfers in other currencies, how can SBB demonstrate this transparently? Just because you have now charged an additional CHF 12 for CHF 170, does not mean that these fees are fixed. A bank transfer from another sender bank may involve other intermediary correspondent banks via a different network, which is why the fees can vary.

For your information: Most banks offer the option of international bank transfers with the «OUR» fee option, so that the full amount reaches the recipient.

Kind regards,
Nicole