E-trading

You can use your e-trading securities custody account to trade common types of securities such as:

• Equities
• Bonds
• Derivatives
• ETFs
• Funds
• Structured products
• Tracker certificates
• Wikifolio certificates in CHF and EUR
• Sponsored trades (special offers)
• Saving plans for ETFs, shares and themed certificates

More information on this can be found in our step-by-step guide on buying and selling shares in e-trading.

PostFinance gives security top priority for online financial transactions. E-trading uses a multi-level security system which effectively prevents attempts at fraud. The identification procedures ensure that only authorized people can access e-trading. Finally, automatic transaction monitoring ensures that there is additional security against fraudulent actions. The system recognizes suspicious transactions and blocks them, if necessary.

Please follow the safety recommendations from PostFinance.

E-trading provides analysis tools such as “Trading View” and a notification and news feature for the individual securities.

You don’t pay any tax on price gains. However, you do pay taxes on dividends, unless they are classed as tax-free capital gains. This is because dividends are considered to be income, while price gains are not.

More information in blog article “Paying tax on shares in Switzerland”.

Yes, e-trading is integrated into the PostFinance App. The PostFinance App can be downloaded from the relevant store.

The PostFinance App offers you a quick overview and the most important functions for when you’re on the go. In the desktop version, we offer you advanced functions and high-performance tools for your comprehensive trading experience.

When all the conditions have been met, e-trading will be available to you within a few minutes of starting your online subscription. If additional documents are required to start your subscription to e-trading, you will receive corresponding information in the mail.

PostFinance launched e-trading in 2001, making it one of the first banks in Switzerland to offer a platform for online securities trading.

Information on the most important market data, share indices and stock market news

• Equities
• Bonds
• Derivatives
• ETFs
• Funds
• Structured products
• Tracker certificates
• Wikifolio certificates in CHF and EUR
• Sponsored trades (special offers)

No, PostFinance does not grant lombard loans.

Your customer deposits and securities are stored with PostFinance. PostFinance is part of the depositor protection scheme, whereby customer deposits are protected up to a value of CHF 100,000 per customer. Securities do not fall under the depositor protection scheme, however they would be issued to you in the event PostFinance were to go bankrupt. Swissquote is the technical partner and is responsible for the handling of stock exchange orders.

Market order

A market order (at best order) is carried out to obtain the best possible strike price or bid price. The price can therefore neither be set in advance nor guaranteed.  

Advantage:

The advantage of a market order is that it can generally be carried out immediately.

Disadvantage:

If sales of a particular instrument are limited, a market order may be difficult. This is because the order may meet a limited offer in the order book, the limit of which is clearly above or below the prices for the instrument that would otherwise have been traded.

Limited order

When issuing a limited order, you set a maximum purchase price or minimum sale price.

Advantage:

In comparison to market orders, you eliminate the risk of an unexpectedly high purchase price or an unexpectedly low sale price. In other words, your order will be executed for a maximum (purchase) or minimum (sale) price according to the limits you have specified.

Disadvantage:

On the other hand, the probability of execution may be lower, because you have set a condition (the limit) for your order. In contrast to a market order, your order will not be carried out without this condition having been met.

Stop order

A stop order is issued when a stop rate that you have defined as a market order is reached. A market order is only placed once the stop rate (also known as trigger or stop limit) that you have set has been reached.

Stop limit

A stop limit order is issued when a stop rate that you have defined as a limit order is reached. A limited order is only placed once the stop rate (also known as trigger or stop limit) that you have set is reached.

Unlike a stop order, the stop limit order provides an improved level of control over the execution price, as once the stop rate is reached, a limit order is issued rather than a market order (please read the instructions on limit orders for more information).

Trailing stop           

Please read the information on stop orders before proceeding.

The trailing stop order is a stop order with a variable stop rate rather than a fixed stop rate (also known as a trigger or stop limit). In other words: unlike a fixed stop rate of the stop order, the stop rate follows the trailing stop order in accordance with current market development.

Example sale scenario:

• You own a share with a current share price of CHF 55.00
• You issue a trailing stop order; for the stop rate, you define a difference of CHF 3.00 from the current rate (alternatively, you define a difference in percent)
• When the rate falls to CHF 52.00 (CHF 55.00 minus CHF 3.00), a market order is placed
• If, however, your share price increases to CHF 59.00, the stop rate is increased to CHF 56.00 because you defined a difference of CHF 3.00 (CHF 59.00 minus CHF 3.00)

If the share price then falls, a market order is placed at the new stop rate of CHF 56.00.

This means you took profits, while at the same time being secured against losses.

In a purchasing scenario, the objective would be to optimize the starting level: the falling value is followed until the market value rises again.

Trailing stop limit

Please read the information on the stop limit and trailing stop order before proceeding.

The trailing stop limit order is a stop limit order with a variable stop rate rather than a fixed stop rate (also known as a trigger or stop limit). When the stop rate is reached, a limit order is issued.

OCO – one-cancels-the-other order          

Please first read the information on limit and stop orders.

An OCO order (one-cancels-the-other order) consists of two orders: a limit order and a stop order. When one of these orders is carried out, the other is automatically cancelled.

For the sale, this type of order allows a profit target to be set (limit order), while at the same time protecting against a falling price (stop order).

In a purchasing scenario, however, this type of order enables purchasing against a slump (limit order) or upon confirmation of an upward trend (stop order).

Note

Availability of order types: due to restrictions on certain stock exchanges, not all the different order types will be available on every stock exchange.

Immediate or cancel (accept)   

Orders with the “immediate or cancel” validity can only be issued during ongoing trading.

When an order with this validity is entered into the order book, it is carried out immediately in full or as far as possible.

Parts of the order that are not carried out are deleted and are not recorded in the order book.

Fill or kill

Orders with the “fill or kill” validity can only be issued during ongoing trading. When an order with this validity is entered into the order book, it is carried out immediately in full or not at all. If it is not possible to carry out the order immediately and in full, the entire order is deleted and not recorded in the order book.