Yesterday, over 600 representatives from the fintech world gathered at the Kaufleuten in Zurich. The «Asset Rush» was organized for the seventh time by GenTwo, the leading Swiss start-up for the securitization of all types of assets as «Actively Managed Certificate» (AMC).

Among the participants and speakers, Stephan Zwahlen stood out, the young and dynamic CEO of the venerable private bank Maerki Baumann.

100 experts consulted

To the sounds of punk rock, he took the stage and immediately posed the question of what a classic private bank was doing in this fintech zone.

The answer: Maerki Baumann was and remains a pioneer in crypto products and services. Just over five years ago, the bank began preparing for its expansion into the new business field. Zwahlen and his team consulted over 100 people from the scene and experts.

Launch in 2019

The effort to convince the board of directors, says Zwahlen, took three weeks.

Finally, in 2019, the go-ahead was given: Maerki Baumann began accepting crypto fintechs as corporate clients. Until then, these had often struggled to find a bank due to regulatory concerns.

Global headlines

Maerki Baumann also started making crypto products investable for its private clients. The «ARCHIP Crypto Certificate», an AMC launched a few months ago in collaboration with GenTwo (as reported by finews.ch), represents the latest achievement in this area.

With its openness to crypto firms and products, Maerki Baumann made headlines worldwide at the time.

Average age decreased by 12 years

Five years later, Zwahlen draws a positive conclusion from his appearance: the new business field has acted as a fountain of youth for the entire bank. The average age of the private customers has decreased by 12 years, and agility has increased.

The bank's tech banking team, which takes care of the area, today comprises around a dozen employees. They serve around 500 business clients from the crypto sector. The number of private clients investing in crypto products at Maerki Baumann is also several hundred, according to Zwahlen.