Exchange rates, financial fees and charges, withholding taxes

This page describes the factors that affect the amount of OASI/DI benefits paid by the Swiss Compensation Office (SCO).

Exchange rate

The benefit amount in Swiss francs is converted at the exchange rate applied by the SCO's financial partner or correspondent banks at the time the payment is made. The SCO has no control over the exchange rate at the time of the transaction.

The Swiss Compensation Office uses the financial services of PostFinance, the BPS (Banca Popolare di Sondrio) and the BPE (Santander Group) to execute its payments.

Currencies are converted using the rate set by PostFinance. The rates applied are based on the Swiss interbank rate.The Banca Popolare di Sondrio and the BPE (Santander Group) use their national interbank rate.

Financial costs

The SCO bears all transfer costs it incurs as the originator of the payment. Payments are “free of charge for the beneficiary”.

However, we would like to point out the following:

any administration charges applied by your bank or post office for processing the credit to your account from abroad remain at your expense,
if your bank or post office is not directly connected to the international payment system, the SCO cannot guarantee that the charges will be waived because they are imposed by your institution’s financial intermediary.

Italian withholding tax

Since 1 January 1992, all Swiss OASI/DI benefits paid in Italy are subject to a compulsory tax deduction of 5%, withheld by Italian financial institutions. This deduction is governed by the Italian law of 30 December 1991 and takes the place of the income tax owed by the beneficiary in respect of the benefit.