After ZKB mixed up the market with the smartphone app Frankly, the fintech company Viac comes with free risk protection.
Posted today at 5:30 am—
Viac’s free risk protection could shake up the industry.
Illustration: Christina Bariswyl
I saw on the Internet that Viac also has risk protection free of charge with the 3rd pillar. What is to be made of it? It is important to me that I have a cheap solution with good funds. Readers question from DI
In your question, you mention the risk protection that Viac offers as part of Pillar 3a, but also for vested benefits. This basic protection means that in the event of disability or death, customers receive up to 25 percent in addition to their pension assets. Specifically, the following applies: For every CHF 10,000 of assets invested, calculated on the basis of the previous month, Viac customers receive insurance coverage of CHF 2500 in the event of death or disability of 70 percent IV. In the event of a claim, this cover is paid out in addition to the pension assets. However, the money has to be invested. If it is only in the account, the risk protection against death and disability does not apply. Still, I find this interesting.
Until now, you had to decide whether you want your 3rd pillar with a bank or an insurance company. At a bank you are freer, but unlike with an insurance company, you usually do not have risk protection against the risk of death and disability. Viac is breaking new ground and combining the banking and insurance solution with pillar 3a and vested benefits, whereby the risk protection is minimal compared to the insurance solutions and, as mentioned, only relates to the pension assets invested. For the insurers, however, this innovation brings additional competition and could shake up the industry, especially since Viac’s basic risk protection is also free. With the insurance solution, however, you pay a premium for risk protection, which is shown more or less transparently.
“The innovation from Viac shows that the competition for pension funds is becoming ever more intense.”
What is explosive about Viac’s free risk protection is that it is guaranteed by the insurer Helvetia, with which Viac cooperates. I would have seen a risk for the customers here if only the small fintech company Viac had been responsible for the risk benefits. If, on the other hand, Helvetia, which is listed on the stock exchange, is responsible for this, you as a customer have additional security. The innovation from Viac shows that the competition for retirement assets is becoming more and more intense after Zürcher Kantonalbank’s Frankly pension app has shaken up the 3rd pillar market and, within a short period of time, has won many new customers for retirement savings through funds. While most banks and insurance companies continue to skim off high fees directly and indirectly with fund solutions in Pillar 3a, ZKB with Frankly and Viac in cooperation with WIR Bank offer low-cost alternatives with low flat fees.
At Frankly, the all-inclusive fee for all funds offered is currently 0.47 percent per year and at Viac, according to the website, 0.52 percent per year. This includes all costs for custody, administration and transactions. While the fee at Frankly applies to all money, at Viac it is only calculated on the invested capital. Whoever invests everything, drives cheaper with Frankly, while those with a high cash share may pay less with Viac. I am curious to see how the market will react to Viac’s basic risk protection. Insurers in particular could come under pressure to act.