comparis.ch is the leading Swiss Internet comparison service. On www.comparis.ch, consumers can easily and quickly compare rates and services of health insurance providers, other insurance types, banks and telecom providers as well as offers for property, cars and motorbikes. Thanks to the comparis.ch comparisons and ratings, consumers can directly switch to the provider with the best price-performance ratio.
comparis.ch was founded in 1996 by the economist Richard Eisler. His idea of enabling consumers to quickly and easily compare premiums on the confusing health insurance market proved to be successful. Since then, over 500,000 persons have changed their health insurance provider via comparis.ch. People changing their health insurance thus save over 300 million francs per year. In March 2010, comparis.ch won the silver medal in the category "Simply the Best" of the renowned Swiss Internet award «Best of Swiss Web». On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of this Internet award, the best Swiss websites of all times were honoured in this special category.
Since June 2000, comparis.ch has been a joint stock company based in Zurich and today counts more than 80 employees. comparis.ch also has an Advisory Board.
Who likes to pay too much for the same services? Nobody! According to a representative survey, over 90 percent of the Swiss population think that saving money is a positive thing. However, today's market with its various rates, premiums, fees and reductions makes a comparison a real challenge for consumers. comparis.ch makes sure that offers can be compared properly. The Internet comparison service continuously observes and analyses over 1 million premiums of health insurance and other insurance types, more than 90,000 telecom rates, approximately 300,000 offers from the areas of cars, motorbikes and property, 1,000 special offers from supermarkets as well as more than 1,000 interest rates for mortgages and credit offers. Offers and premiums for the retail market (Smartshopper), property, mortgage and car market as well as health insurance can also be checked on the go thanks to applications especially developed for mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad and Android. This service empowers consumers more than ever, as they can see within seconds where they receive the best offer at the lowest price. Additionally, comparis.ch quarterly publishes the Konsumentenstimme (in German and French only) with numbers, facts and background information on current consumer issues.
comparis.ch's only commitment is to the consumers' interests and we do not mince matters if our experts detect unfair rates which might deceive consumers. Many providers already had to revise their offers after public criticism from comparis.ch.
The comparis.ch comparisons are comprehensive and take into consideration all significant providers of an industrial sector who make their rates available online. No provider shares in comparis.ch. Furthermore, all of the comparisons are constantly online. No provider could be privileged by comparis.ch, as the competition would discover this straight away and object accordingly. This guarantees the neutrality of the comparisons and ratings.
comparis.ch had over 36 million visitors last year and therefore counted among the most widely used Swiss websites. Four out of five Internet users know the independent comparison service. They appreciate the transparency and savings opportunities, which arise from the comparisons. comparis.ch sees this sign of confidence as a great mission to constantly offer completely reliable and neutral comparisons.
If you have ever tried to compare offers for a certain product, you will know how difficult and time-consuming this is. Which provider is selling the product at what price? What are the conditions? Are the products really comparable or are they actually different products? comparis.ch employs more than 80 people in order to answer these questions for consumers. Each comparison – whether among insurance offers, banks or mobile phone subscriptions – is based on constant market observation and complex analyses.
comparis.ch finances the comparisons through advertising sales as well as the forwarding of clicks and the registering and processing of quote requests to the providers who wish to make use of these services. Depending on the sector, the quotation service costs CHF 30 or more per request and is the same for all providers. An annual survey among Comparis users shows that, on average, every third request leads to the conclusion of a deal. In return, the insurance companies are able to strongly reduce their expenses for insurance agents, call centres and administrative processes. Whether providers are included in the comparison and in what order they are displayed is independent of whether they make use of the comparis.ch services or not.
In the mortgage section, comparis.ch charges a fee of CHF 148 in order to ensure the seriousness of the mortgage requests. Banks have the possibility of a Premium Partnership with comparis.ch, through which they receive contact details of those Mortgage Market users who request it. Premium Partners pay a contact fee when a direct contact between user and provider is established. comparis.ch does not receive fees from providers without a Premium Partnership.
comparis.ch is the pioneer of health insurance premium comparisons. The Health Insurance Act (KVG) guarantees the public a free choice of basic health insurance. Policy holders exercise their right in light of premium increases and change their health insurance model or their insurance provider.
4.2 million premium comparisons: comparis.ch is the most established Internet comparison service. In 2012, the Swiss performed over 4.2 million health insurance premium comparisons on comparis.ch for over 8 million persons. This information service is free to the public and to health insurance companies and allows the insurance companies to save plenty of resources in the areas of information and advertising.
Payment for premium comparisons and quote requests: anyone wishing to change their provider after a comparison can request offers through comparis.ch. The offer process is efficient, fully automated and reduces the insurance companies' administrative costs. The health insurance companies pay comparis.ch only for the use of these quotation processes. comparis.ch charged its partner insurance companies 9.5 million francs for these basic health insurance services in 2012. The annual costs for the premium comparisons per person were at 1.19 francs .
Comparing the costs of telephone advertising and advice: insurance providers pay a call centre around 100 francs for a consultation appointment. Consultation with an agent, a broker or a member of the provider's sales force costs another 100 francs without a full premium comparison. If the 4.2 million premium comparisons on comparis.ch had also required an appointment to be made plus a consultation session, the insurance companies would have incurred costs of around 840 million francs. That is more than half what the insurance companies pay for their own administration. Administrative costs in 2011 amounted to a total of 1.3 billion francs, which is 5.4 percent of premiums.
On 4th December 1994, the Swiss voters decided on a reform of the Health Insurance Act (KVG). From then, the policyholders were able to choose and change their insurance companies themselves. Since 1996, the health insurance companies have therefore been in a competitive situation. comparis.ch has an important function in this competition:
- Since 1996, the comparis.ch comparison has been making the complex premium jungle transparent, clear and comparable. These are the requirements for the policyholders to be able to properly exercise their freedom of choice.
- Thanks to the comparability, the health insurance companies are under a greater pressure to offer cheaper premiums. This, for example, also forces them to organise their administration efficiently.
- If the policyholders could not compare the premiums online and request offers, they would have to pick up the phone and make the effort to obtain the information from numerous health insurance companies. One request by phone and its processing causes the health insurance companies costs of about CHF 100.
- The IT processes at comparis.ch are significantly more cost efficient. Calculations show that, due to the automatised comparis.ch processes alone, the health insurance companies can save up to CHF 500 million in administration costs.
- comparis.ch shows the financial advantages that come with alternative insurance models and optional deductible rates. Thereby, these models are promoted – entirely in the spirit of the KVG. They cause the policyholders to take up more personal responsibility with regard to health care and curb the rise in health care costs.
- comparis.ch does not make any home visits. It is a passive information offer for everyone who is interested.
- The policyholders themselves have to have the wish to switch insurances. comparis.ch does not actively persuade anyone to change.
- At comparis.ch, the policyholders themselves decide which insurance is ideal for them.
- Everyone can compare their premiums with comparis.ch, no matter what age or health situation. comparis.ch does not participate in the hunt for "good risks".
- comparis.ch screens and rates the insurance offers critically and advises against taking out unnecessary insurances.
- comparis.ch includes all health insurance companies in the comparison.
- Thanks to the automatised quotation requests on comparis.ch, the insurance companies need significantly fewer telephone agents and processors – which reduces the processing costs.
The users of the comparis.ch website can make comparisons on price-performance ratios in the following sections:
Health insurance
Other types of insurance
Banks
Telecommunication
- The comparis.ch goal is to offer comprehensive price-performance ratio comparisons in all business sections. comparis.ch therefore relies on the providers to make the according data available. Where this is not possible, comparis.ch at least tries to include all market-relevant providers in the comparisons.
- In the interest of market transparency, comparis.ch also supplies data of those providers who do not request it.
- In order to be included in a comparis.ch comparison, the data of the providers need to be prepared in such a way that they can be directly compared with the data of the other providers. comparis.ch reserves the right not to include data in the comparisons if they do not meet this criterion.
- It is the comparis.ch aim that at least 80 percent of the users can compare the products of their current provider with the competing offers.
- For all price-performance ratio comparisons, the comparis.ch neutrality guarantee applies.
comparis.ch aims to enable the consumer to obtain information both on prices and on quality and sustainability of products, services and providers. The decision to buy something or not is, after all, not only influenced by price and tariff but also largely by service, quality, customer satisfaction and sustainability. For example, in the revised version of the Smartshopper App, the consumer is provided with important information on labelling (e.g. organic), origin and ingredients of foodstuffs. Other projects and comparisons on the subject of sustainability are in the planning stage.
comparis.ch is also constantly looking for possibilities to improve sustainability and save energy and resources within the company. Since the beginning of 2011, comparis.ch has had a person responsible for sustainability, who is actively integrating the topic into the corporate culture.
The following measures have already been implemented:
- Becoming member of the "Öbu" (network for ecological awareness in business management)
- Participating in the Energy Agency programme for SMEs to save electricity, thereby checking the electricity and heating energy consumption on a regular basis as well as producing a list of measures. These measures will be implemented stepwise within the next 10 years.
- Using only recycled paper (tissue as well as printing paper) certified with the "Blue Angel".
- 98% of the Comparis employees come to work by means of transport other than a car.
- Collecting and separately disposing of aluminium, PET, paper and cardboard.
The following measures are planned:
- Periodic employee trainings.
- Compiling a sustainability report on a regular basis.
comparis.ch
Stampfenbachstrasse 48
CH-8006 Zurich
Phone: +41 (0)44 360 52 62
Fax: +41 (0)44 360 52 72
