The Federal Court considers the billing of third-party goods and services (such as value-added services) to pose a risk of possible money laundering or terrorist financing. This means that from 1 July 2020, the billing of third-party purchases will be subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). As part of this court ruling, Swisscom will ensure that from 1 July 2020, no contractual partner may exceed the revenue limit of CHF 5,000.– per year with value-added services such as 090x numbers, SMS/MMS Business Numbers, Swisscom Pay.
In order to implement compliance with the law by 1 July 2020, Swisscom is planning to take the following measures:
In recent years, Swisscom has taken legal action to defend this issue in the interests of its customers and the providers of value-added services, but unfortunately without success. We very much regret the measures that must now be implemented and therefore ask for your understanding.
We have put together a list of the most frequently asked questions here:
No, the Federal Court has taken a decision in principle and considers the debt collection exemption and telecommunications legislation to be inapplicable. The judgement establishes that the billing of third-party services via the telephone bill is subject to the AMLA. This also applies for Swisscom’s competitors. Depending on the business model, the judgement may also affect other sectors.
For large customers, the use of value-added services will be blocked from June 29, 2020, since most customers exceed this threshold.
For the majority of private and SME customers, the new AMLA measures will have no noticeable impact. Only a small proportion of clients use more than CHF 5,000 per year for third-party services.
Before reaching the limit, and upon reaching approx. CHF 4,200.–, the customer will be informed that they will be blocked from consuming any further such value-added services. If the customer reaches the threshold of CHF 5,000, his value-added services are blocked for the current calendar year.
By SMS as a general rule. Customers that do not have a mobile phone contract with Swisscom will be contacted by e-mail or letter.
For large customers, the block on value-added services cannot be lifted either by the customer himself or via the customer service representative or other customer contact channels.
For private and SME customers, the block is automatically removed in the following calendar year.
Blocks from the year 2021 or earlier will only be removed at the customer's request. To do this, the customer must proactively contact Swisscom.
The limitation of services (blocking value-added services) does not lead to a significant change in the basic telephony service and this shall not give the customer any entitlement to early termination of their contract. We refer to the General Terms and Conditions for Services of Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd, which are an integral part of the contract
If you have any questions as a user of value-added services, you can reach us at 0800 11 33 22.
From abroad + (41) 58 224 99 75
If you have any questions as a provider of value-added services, please contact us at 0800 724 633