The Swiss route
to Centurion.

A bank account is not an invitation.

Put a million into a Swiss bank and get an American Express Centurion. It is an appealingly simple proposition. The reality has more moving parts.

There is a Swiss private-banking channel worth understanding. Swisscard’s public bank-partnership page includes Centurion servicing and discusses bank guarantees in its private-banking arrangements. That establishes a channel, rather than a universal offer to every applicant. 1

Alpen Partners publicly describes a route involving a partner-bank account and a portfolio managed with the firm. This is a wealth-management relationship as well as a card proposition. 2

Keep three parties in view: the institution holding the investments, the person or firm deciding how they are managed, and the company issuing the card. They may be part of one coordinated process, but their contracts and approval decisions serve different purposes.

Where the invitation fits

American Express’s German customer-service guidance describes Centurion as invitation-only. That is a useful statement of the product’s character, but German guidance does not establish Swiss eligibility or Canadian-resident access. 3 An intermediary’s introduction should be evaluated alongside the applicable bank and issuer documents.

The practical takeaway: establish the complete arrangement before treating any asset transfer as a route to an approved card. A bank account, a management mandate, a guarantee and a card application each need their own terms.

The million-dollar question

“One million” is incomplete without a currency, a valuation method and the name of the institution setting the requirement.

For example, GloboBanks currently advertises a minimum deposit of €1 million, or its equivalent in other currencies, at selected private banks. Its disclosure describes the business as an introduction service, not a financial institution, and says approval rests with the bank and relevant authorities. This is a provider’s advertised proposition—not a standard minimum across all Swiss Centurion arrangements. 4

A minimum could refer to cash, the market value of a custody portfolio, assets covered by a management mandate, or the amount recognized after collateral discounts. Those are materially different tests. Ask which one is being applied, and whether a separate guarantee must sit on top of it.

For Canadian residents

Residence is an early question, not a final formality. Ask whether the exact bank entity and manager can accept a Canadian-resident client, whether a client-category restriction applies, and whether the card issuer accepts the same residence. Do not read an international marketing page as confirmation of a particular Canadian case.

An account minimum for one legal entity or service model should not be borrowed for another. A direct bank-managed account and an external-manager custody relationship may be different propositions even when the banking brand looks the same.

Can the money stay in USD ETFs?

The important distinction is between an asset a bank can hold and an asset it will recognize for a particular relationship or guarantee.

Alpen publicly includes ETFs among its investment services. That shows ETFs belong in the investment discussion; it does not establish that any chosen ETF, or a US$1 million ETF-only portfolio, qualifies for a card arrangement. 5

Start with the actual holdings you would want to transfer. A useful review identifies each security by ISIN or ticker, domicile, exchange and trading currency. Then ask about acceptance, concentration limits, liquidity, recognized collateral value and transfer-in-kind support.

An in-kind transfer means moving the securities themselves rather than selling them and transferring cash. Whether it is supported for a particular holding and account is a question for the receiving institution. Tax consequences, transfer charges and any period when trading is unavailable need a separate review.

Holding ETFs does not answer who controls them

Advisory and discretionary management are different choices. Alpen’s public advisory description leaves investment decisions with the client, supported by recommendations. Its discretionary description delegates decisions within an agreed strategy. 6 7

Neither label, by itself, promises an execution-only brokerage account or unrestricted withdrawals. Read the investment mandate, trading authority and pledge terms together. The portfolio should suit the investor independently of the card.

The collateral question

It is possible to have a valuable portfolio and still have less usable collateral than its headline market value suggests. A bank’s collateral discount is often called a haircut. The applicable percentages, eligible assets and triggers have to come from the agreement.

Separately, a card arrangement may involve a guarantee or pledged balance. Ask whether it is cash or securities, how it relates to the spending limit, and whether it is included in or additional to the account minimum.

A blocked balance is capital you may be unable to use freely; it is not automatically a fee. Its economic cost includes the restrictions it creates. The written terms should explain when collateral must be added, whether a limit can be reduced, who may sell securities, and how a pledge is released when the card is cancelled.

The card fee is only the beginning.

Compare the whole relationship: custody, investment management, card charges, transactions and currency conversion. A percentage that looks small can dominate the economics when it applies to a seven-figure portfolio every year.

Alpen’s public Centurion page lists a USD/EUR 5,000 joining fee, a USD/EUR 5,000 annual fee, a 2.5% foreign-currency handling fee and a 4% ATM fee. These are provider-published figures, not a product-specific issuer quotation for every applicant. 2

The model below uses the published USD card-fee figures as starting inputs. The 0.22% custody rate and 0.80% manager rate are illustrative assumptions, not current bank tariffs. Replace every input with the actual written quote.

At the starting assumptions, annual bank and manager charges total 1.02% of US$1 million, or US$10,200. Adding the US$5,000 annual card fee produces US$15,200; adding the one-time US$5,000 joining fee takes the first year to US$20,200.

Those totals are not an all-in price. Check minimum charges, VAT or other taxes, guarantee fees, trade commissions, stamp duties, transfer costs, fund expenses and conversion margins. Keep blocked capital separate from fees. Finally, compare the incremental cost against a banking arrangement you would otherwise choose and card benefits you would actually use.

CHF, USD or EUR?

There are three currency decisions: what the investments are denominated in, what currency the bank uses to test its minimum, and what currency the card bills in. Choosing one does not automatically settle the other two.

Which nominal million is smallest?

Use a common valuation currency. The tool below converts one million USD and one million EUR to CHF using rates you enter. It is a comparison of amounts, not an assessment of bank eligibility.

If the inputs are 0.80 CHF per USD and 0.95 CHF per EUR, US$1 million equals CHF800,000 and €1 million equals CHF950,000. These are examples, not current exchange rates. A hypothetical CHF1 million minimum would not be met simply by showing one million US dollars.

A USD portfolio does not remove card FX costs

For a card billed in CHF, a USD purchase can still create a currency conversion. Conversely, a USD-billed card can incur conversion on spending in other currencies. Settlement currency, merchant currency, an explicit handling charge and any rate margin all matter.

For a CHF-billed product, obtain its current CHF tariff rather than carrying across a USD/EUR percentage. Compare the issuer’s conversion method as well as the headline fee.

Before moving money

The most useful next step is a document review. A polished introduction becomes a decision you can evaluate when it identifies the actual bank, manager and issuer, along with their separate obligations.

1. Start with residence and the legal entities

   Confirm the country of residence accepted by each party and any cross-border client-category conditions. Identify the exact bank entity, manager and legal card issuer.

2. Define the asset test

   Establish the minimum currency, market-value or collateral-value basis, accepted holdings and any transfer-in-kind restrictions.

3. Read the mandate and pledge

   Check investment authority, trading and withdrawal restrictions, guarantee size, market-decline triggers and release conditions.

4. Price the entire relationship

   Request a first-year and recurring annual breakdown in the original currencies, including minimum fees, taxes, transactions and FX. Mark unquoted items rather than assuming zero.

5. Verify the actual card

   Match the product name, billing currency, issuer, approval process and applicable benefits to the current card agreement. Do not transfer a benefit from another country’s Centurion product.

6. Decide on the banking proposition

   Ask whether the portfolio arrangement and its recurring cost make sense even before attaching a value to the card.

Further reading

Public pages checked on 21 October 2026. Issuer material and provider marketing have different roles; product terms and personal eligibility require the applicable institution’s current documents.

1. Swisscard: contact and partnership for private banks

   Official Swisscard material on private-banking services and Centurion servicing.

2. Alpen Partners: American Express Centurion Card

   Provider description and published USD/EUR card-fee figures. The page states a last update of 22 December 2025; these are not a personalized issuer quote.

3. American Express Germany: how to obtain a Centurion Card

   Official invitation-only guidance for the German market.

4. GloboBanks: Centurion introduction service

   A provider’s advertised deposit requirement and introduction-service disclosure.

5. Alpen Partners: exchange-traded funds

   General investment-service information; not a card-specific eligibility list.

6. Alpen Partners: advisory accounts

   A provider’s description of client decision-making with professional advice.

7. Alpen Partners: discretionary accounts

   A provider’s description of delegated portfolio management.