UBS is reportedly preparing to pilot day-to-day banking services for employees in the US within the coming months with an aim to build a full-service bank for affluent American clients by the middle of next year.
According to sources cited by the Financial Times, the Swiss bank could start opening accounts for US staff as early as December.
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The employee rollout is intended to help assess pricing and products before the services are introduced to wealth management customers from the middle of 2027.
This marks the initial stage of UBS’s effort to broaden its US offering after obtaining a national banking licence there earlier this year.
The charter gives UBS scope to provide services such as cheque and savings accounts, mortgages and other lending products in addition to investment advice in the US market.
Previously, UBS’s American wealth management clients have generally relied on other banks for routine banking needs, even when their investment assets were held with UBS, the report noted.
The push in the US has been an important part of the expansion plans led by wealth management co-heads Iqbal Khan and Rob Karofsky.
Sources said executives also believe that offering a broader set of banking services could reduce the risk of wealth management clients moving to competitors that already manage their everyday banking.
The US plan is moving ahead even as UBS remains in dispute with the Swiss government over stricter capital rules proposed after the collapse of Credit Suisse.
Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss finance minister, has said the changes would raise the cost of expanding in the US.
UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti has said that “shrinking is not an option”.
