WIR Bank (Switzerland)

WIR Bank serves small and medium sized companies across Switzerland with seven branches and two main businesses, which grew out of the self-help organization WIR Economic Circle, founded by Werner Zimmermann in 1934. What began as a network of 300 firms and private individuals today includes 50,000 small and medium sized enterprises, which, with the help of the complementary currency ‘WIR’, generated a turnover of 1.43 billion Swiss francs in 2013.

The WIR system functions as a cash-free payment medium with its own currency that is pegged 1:1 to the Swiss Franc (ISO certificate: CHW). Interest is not paid on WIR savings and WIR loans are often cheaper than loans in Swiss francs. WIR transactions are only possible with other WIR members. As an approved credit institute with a banking license, WIR Bank can offer its customers joint loans in Swiss francs (CHF) and WIR (CHW), which, according to WIR Bank, “from a long-term perspective offer the most cost-effective financial products on the Swiss market.”