State-Owned Swiss Bank Postfinance to Offer Crypto Services to Retail Customers

State-Owned Swiss Bank Postfinance to Offer Crypto Services to Retail Customers

The banking unit of the Swiss Post Office, the state-owned Postfinance, is reportedly preparing to enter the crypto market. "Our clients want direct access to this market through their house bank."

Swiss Post Office’s Banking Division to Provide Crypto Services

The Banking and Financial Services Division of Swiss Post, the state-owned enterprise responsible for Switzerland’s postal and other essential public infrastructure services is reportedly planning to offer its retail customers crypto-related services.

The Swiss Parliament established Postfinance in 1906 to provide payment services to retail customers. Postfinance functioned as a division of Swiss Post till June 2013. Then it became a bank under Swiss law and is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

The bank is already providing crypto-related services to its customers through the Yuh app, which it co-developed with the banking group Swissquote. "Yuh facilitates payment, saving, and investing in one package," its website informs.

Sandra Lienhart, Postfinance's Head of Retail Banking, was quoted as saying:

"Our clients want direct access to this market through their house bank... Given the growing institutionalization [of cryptocurrencies] in the last 18 months, this is the ideal time to enter the market."

Swiss Post has been selling Crypto Stamps. The first collection was issued in November 2021 and consisted of 175,000 crypto stamps. They were sold out within five hours.

Last week, the post office announced that it was launching Swiss Crypto Stamp 2.0. Sources reveal, that "The second crypto stamp collection will be available at selected branches and postshop.ch from August 8, 2022, with an issue of 250,000 stamps." 

There will be ten different designs "reflecting the various values of Switzerland, such as solidarity, sustainable thinking, peace, and diversity," the announcement added, and when placed next to each other, the ten designs will form a larger picture.