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.
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.
Annual report 2024
Focusing on collective excellence
The year 2024 marked a major strategic step forward for ISFB. A skills and career center for banks and financial institutions in French-speaking Switzerland since 1987, our institute has consolidated its role as a key platform for developing and nurturing talent in the sector.
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 makes perfect sense in supporting banking specialists in their professional transition."
"ISFB has real legitimacy with employers and employees."
"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 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."
"ISFB represents an extremely interesting local ecosystem in terms of skills and know-how".
Our references and partners
Reference and standard-setting 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: ISFB is the service provider of the Office Cantonal de l'Emploi (Cantonal Employment Office) for job-seekers in the banking and finance sector.
ISFB is the professional association representing continuing education in the banking and finance sector in Geneva.
ISFB is a member of the Swiss Federation for Continuing Education.
ISFB is an ordinary member of Swiss Assessment.
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.
Member of the following associations or federations
ISFB is a member of the Fédération des entreprises romandes Genève.
ISFB is a member of the Conférence Romande de la Formation Continue.
ISFB is a member of the Swiss Society for Applied Research in Vocational Education and Training.
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.
ISFB is a member of the Human Resources Association.
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 story in three parts
1987: 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.
2000: 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 its members HES-level training courses in partnership, and in 2014 launched its first skills assessments for job seekers. ISFB positions itself as the central training provider in French-speaking Switzerland for SAQ CWMA certification, in French and English.
2023: a Swiss-Romand Competence and Career Center
As of January 2023, ISFB will be launching a new dynamic, refocusing its offering on continuing education and certifications, 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.
