Portrait
We are the Competence and Career Centre for banks and financial institutions in French-speaking Switzerland.
Our vocation is to support the development of the skills of all finance specialists operating in French-speaking Switzerland.
The Institut Supérieur de Formation Bancaire (ISFB) is the competence and career center for banks and financial institutions in French-speaking Switzerland. Founded in 1987 as a non-profit professional association, the ISFB today brings together over fifty banking and financial institutions throughout French-speaking Switzerland.
As the Competence and Career Center for banking and finance in French-speaking Switzerland, ISFB offers a comprehensive range of services designed to support industry specialists throughout their career.
Visit training is the central pillar of our offering. It is aimed primarily at employees of our institutional members, but also at all those working in banking and finance in French-speaking Switzerland. As a professional association, we aim to maximize the collective skills of our members.
Furthermore, ISFB is the only accredited training organization based in French-speaking Switzerland to organize the SAQ certification certification exams for its member banks and, more broadly, for all players in the financial sector.
When it comes to career developmentISFB works closely with human resources departments to help them develop their talents and potential. It also provides support for anyone wishing to develop professional facets or orient their career towards a specific goal. Our consultants are also experienced in assessing banking skills. The ISFB thus offers professional support to experts in transition, by assessing and enhancing their technical skills, financial expertise and interpersonal skills.
This is how ISFB fulfils its role as a non-profit hubwhich contributes to the development of the French-speaking financial center's network of expertise.
Mathias Baitan
General Manager
The duty to train is specified in the LSFin (Art. 22): "Financial service providers shall ensure that their employees have the skills, knowledge and experience required by their activity".
Our mission
Our mission is twofold: firstly, to promote skills development in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, to support our institutional members in maintaining the skills, knowledge and experience of their specialists. And secondly, to support the career development of financial professionals throughout French-speaking Switzerland, helping them to maintain their employability.
Our customers
Our clients include institutional members, as well as individuals, public bodies and companies active in banking and finance.
Our values, standards and quality
Our corporate values play an essential role in shaping the culture of ISFB and guide our behavior.
Each value is illustrated by four concrete commitments on the part of our permanent and contract employees, aimed at making these values tangible through our actions. These values are central to the concerns of our teams.
Our quality standards
Our training institute meets the highest quality standards in force, with SAQ (Swiss Association for Quality), ISO and EduQua certifications. These certifications guarantee the excellence of our services and our commitment to quality training, tailored to the needs of our members, customers and partners.
Swiss Association for Quality
EduQua:2021
ISO 9001:2015
ISO 21001:2018
Our lines of defense
As part of its strategic approach, General Management has put in place a clear and structured organization of lines of defense, aimed at reducing risk exposure and strengthening corporate resilience in all its areas of activity.
What sets us apart
What people say about us
"The ISFB is very well integrated into the economic and academic fabric of French-speaking Switzerland, which means that we can provide top-quality, up-to-date training".
"The ISFB makes perfect sense in supporting banking specialists in their professional transition."
"ISFB represents an extremely interesting local ecosystem in terms of skills and know-how".
"ISFB has real legitimacy with employers and employees."
"The courses offered at ISFB enable us to maintain a strong link between theory and practice."
"In my view, holding a certificate issued by the ISFB represents an important value for the employability of its holder."
Our references and partners
Reference players
The Swiss Bankers Association supports the ISFB offer.
The Director of the Fondation Genève Place financière sits on the ISFB Board.
The ISFB is authorized to produce and administer written and oral examinations to SAQ standards.
OFPC: The ISFB is recognized as a public utility by the Canton of Geneva. The 14-day diplomas awarded by ISFB are co-signed by the State Councillor in charge of the Department of Public Education.
OCE: The ISFB is the service provider for the Office Cantonal de l'Emploi (Cantonal Employment Office) in terms of employability support for jobseekers.
ISFB is the professional association representing continuing education in the banking and finance sector in Geneva.
ISFB is a member of the Fédération des entreprises romandes Genève.
ISFB is a member of the Swiss Federation for Continuing Education.
ISFB is an ordinary member of Swiss Assessment.
ISFB is a member of the Conférence Romande de la Formation Continue.
ISFB is a member of Sustainable Finance Geneva.
ISFB is a member of Swiss Sustainable Finance.
ISFB is a member of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services.
ISFB is a member of the Vaud Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Partners
BDO is a Gold partner of the ISFB and is involved in several of our continuing education modules.
ACAD is a partner of ISFB in risk management training for bank directors.
ISFB and HEG-Geneva have signed a long-term partnership agreement for academic training in banking and finance.
Participating in the ISFB ecosystem means..:
As an institutional member
- Develop your employer brand by affirming your company's support for employee skills development;
- Affirm its support for the development of skills in the French-speaking financial center;
- Issue your specialists with certificates recognized by all our member banks;
- Access to a vast network of expertise in technical and managerial skills across all banking professions;
- Enable your experts to make a personal commitment to skills development with our association;
- Contribute to the development of ISFB's offering by participating in our scientific committees;
- Access to a preferential rate reserved for members and their employees;
- Benefit from exclusive services reserved for member establishments.
Become a member
Are you a banking or financial institution based in Switzerland and would like to join our association? Join us and take part in developing the competitiveness and collective intelligence of the financial center.
Membership conditions
- Swiss banks and financial institutions listed in the CR and registered with FINMA
- Other Swiss financial institutions
As a private individual
- Maintain employability by aiming for a certificate that is valued and recognized by the job market;
- Be part of a wide network of skills and local exchanges throughout French-speaking Switzerland;
- Access a dynamic catalog of high-quality services specific to the banking and finance sector;
- Access to exclusive benefits and advantages to encourage career development and help build a solid, long-term professional network.
Join the Hub
Are you a specialist working in the French-speaking part of Switzerland? The ISFB Hub offers a range of exclusive services and benefits to encourage career development and facilitate the building of a solid, long-term professional network.
ISFB Hub registration conditions
- Individuals currently enrolled in an ISFB service, or who have attended an ISFB service in the past
As a partner
- Affirm its support for the development of skills in the French-speaking financial center;
- Develop greater visibility in the field of skills management among member institutions and individuals;
- Participate in the implementation of ISFB's mission in the field, through publications, course design and participation in institutional conferences.
Key figures
Our history
Collaboration between Geneva banks
The ISFB was founded in May 1987 by the member banks of the Groupement des Banquiers Privés Genevois and the Groupement des Etablissements de Crédits de la Place de Genève, with the aim of creating a higher institute for banking and financial training. The initial aim was to promote collaboration between banks, standardize existing training courses and develop new ones.
In 1989, two programs were set up: the Geneva weeks of the Swiss Banking School and the courses for the Federal Diploma in Banking Economics (better known as the Master's in Banking) in collaboration with the Association for the Promotion of Professional Training in Banking. The ISFB moved to the Battelle premises in Carouge.
A training institute for the Lake Geneva region
In 2000, the merger with IFCI Formation enabled ISFB to establish itself as a professional training center for banks in Geneva and the Lake Geneva region, offering, in addition to the Federal Diploma, ISFB diplomas, à la carte courses and customized in-bank training.
In 2005, following the closure of the Banquiers Privés Genevois training center, ISFB took over the training courses previously offered by the latter. In 2006, the Institute moved to new premises in the new La Praille complex in the commune of Grand-Lancy. In 2013, ISFB began offering HES-level training courses in partnership, and in 2014 launched its first skills assessments for job seekers. ISFB positions itself as the central player in French-speaking Switzerland for SAQ CWMA certification, in French and English.
A Swiss-Romand Competence and Career Center
End of 2022, a strategic and tactical review will be carried out. As of January 2023, the SFBI will initiate a new dynamic and refocus its offering in the field of continuing education and certification, while the range of services designed to promote employability in the financial center will be strengthened. Major partnerships will be reviewed, and internal processes will be overhauled and the information system thoroughly migrated. ISFB offers its members and their employees a full range of career development products and services: technical, managerial and interactional training, access to Swiss and international certifications, career development (recruitment, banking assessment, outplacement, coaching, skills assessment), and network outreach. ISFB is now positioned as a Competence and Career Center for the French-speaking financial community.
