FAQ

General Questions

How does it all work if there are several tenants on the contract?

The main tenant is asked to create a login on Zinsli and select a product for the rental deposit. Once the selection and onboarding has been made by the main tenant, the secondary tenants are informed of the selection. In the email they receive, they have a link where they can view the information and enter their confirmation. The account/policy with the product provider will only be initiated once all secondary tenants have given their consent.

I don't have a password for my Zinsli login!

That's ok! We use a 'password-less login'. This means that to log in to Zinsli you simply enter your email address and we will send you a link. With this link you are already logged in. (The link has a validity period of 10 minutes. You must request a new PIN if you want to log in again at a later time).

I would like to find out more about a product. Who should I contact?

To find out more about a specific product, please contact the supplier directly. Zinsli is only a marketplace for these products and cannot give you any further information about the individual products.

How can I delete my Zinsli account?

We're sorry to see you go! At the moment this is not yet possible to do yourself yet. Please write us a quick mail and we'll delete your account. (Please note: in order to delete your Zinsli account, you must make sure that there are no open dependencies like active or pending rental deposits associated with your account.)

The amount claimed for damages is higher than the value of the deposit. What happens?

In the very rare exception when the claims made by the landlord are greater than the amount in the deposit managed via Zinsli, the claim needs to be settled directly between the landlord and the tenant. Once the claims are settled, the landlord needs to release the deposit for the tenant.

I have an idea how Zinsli could be even better?

Great! Write to us at hey@zinsli.com. We look forward to your input!

Role-specific Questions

Landlord

How do I see which products I allow my tenants to use?

On the products overview, each product tile contains an approval status. “Actived" or "Auto-activated" means that you allow this product to be selected by your tenants, while “Inactive" means that this product is not available for selection. If a product does not have a status token, it means that you have not yet made a decision on this product and it is not available for use by your tenants.

Tip: You can remove approved products for individual tenants when creating the rental deposit invitation. However, default unauthorized products cannot be made available to individual tenants (you can only reduce not increase the selection of products for a specific deposit).

My tenant is American. Are the restrictions I should consider for their rental deposit?

Which product that they can chose as an American citizen, depends on the requirements set by the product provider. Many banks allow them to open a savings account, but not any kind of investments like ETF. As a landlord, you do not need to make a pre-choice for the tenant. Provide them with the full choice-set. They will be presented the product descriptions and will make an appropriate choice themselves (and the provider will verify the information with a new request as well).

How can I delete a rental deposit?

As a landlord, you can modify a collateral, including who you invited to it, until the tenant has accepted the invitation. After the tenant has accepted the invitation, you cannot modify the collateral anymore. Should the tenant bring their own solution for the deposit, not via Zinsli, and you want to delete the collateral even though the tenant has accepted the invite, please contact Zinsli support via Email.

After a rental agreement has ended and the deposit has been paid out, the collateral on Zinsli will be archived.

Tenant

Something about my situation has changed (married, Name-change, etc). What do I need to do?

The deposit you manage over Zinsli should reflect the information that is in your rental contract. As such, any changes that affect your rental contract, should be reported to your landlord. Your landlord will inform Zinsli, and Zinsli will in turn inform that Provider to adjust your information.

What if my deposit (ex. gold or etf) does not have a good value when I move out? Do I need to cash out when I move?

If you have chosen to deposit your collateral in precious metals, you do not have to sell the metal at the end of your rental term. Please make sure to settle any open claims with the landlord, then he will release his hold on your deposit. Once his released his hold on the deposit, you can keep the gold or silver, or you can sell it any time you please. Once the metal is not used as your deposit anymore, you can also manage (buy/sell) it directly via the portal of the provider.

My landlord has made some claims when I moved out. I have agreed to the claims. How can I pay them?

You have several choices on how you can pay the claims made by your landlord. If the claims are for damages, be sure to check with your household insurance. It could be that they cover some of the cost.

To pay the claims, you can make a payment from any account to your landlord or you can choose to make the payment from your deposit. Please not that making a payment from your deposit works a little differently for different products:

• Locked savings account: once approved by you, the payment will be made directly by the provider to the landlord. The remaining funds, after deduction of any fees applied by the provider, will be paid out to you.

• Guarantee (insurance): Once approved by you, the insurance will pay the landlord. You are then obliged to reimburse the insurance for the amount that they have paid the landlord plus any fees that they may apply.

• Precious metals: at the moment it is not possible to pay the landlord from your 'metals' account directly, as this would require the provider to sell the silver and then transfer the money to the landlord. If your deposit is invested in silver or gold, please settle the claim with the landlord through different means. Once the landlord has received your payment, they will lift their hold on the silver/gold and you can manage the metal as you please.

• ETF: It may vary by provider, if a payment from an ETF account directly to the landlord is possible (like from a saving account) or if claims should be settled through different means (like for the precious metal products). Please see the product description for details.

My old address is not in Switzerland, is that ok?

Welcome to Switzerland! For Zinsli it does not matter if your old address is in Switzerland or not. It could be that the terms of some products require that the previous address is in Switzerland. If this is a requirement, it will be noted in product descriptions presented to you during the product choice process.

My new address is not in Switzerland. Can I still use Zinsli?

For Zinsli it does not matter if your new address is in Switzerland or not. Some product providers may require that the rental object for which you are creating/paying the rental deposit, must be located in Switzerland. If this is a requirement, it will be noted in product descriptions presented to you during the product choice process.

I am American. Are the restrictions on the type of products I can chose?

Which product that you can chose as an American citizen, depends on the requirements set by the product provider. Many banks allow you to open a savings account with them, but not any kind of investments like ETF. Please check the descriptions of each product for applicable restrictions.

Can I make the deposit payment in several installments?

You can make as many payments as you want. Make sure that the full amount is paid before your are to receive the keys for the new place, or you landlord may not give you the keys.

Where do I find the product details / terms for the product that I have chosen?

When you are logged in, you will find a menu item on the left called 'Rental Deposits'. This will display all the deposits you are managing via Zinsli. Click on the deposit that interests you, and you will see all the details for this deposit, including the chosen product. Click on the product to see the details of the product.

How can I delete my rental deposit?

As a tenant, you cannot delete rental deposit. If you choose to bring fulfill the deposit request from your landlord by bringing your own solution and not use Zinsli, you can ignore the invite you have received. If you are using Zinsli to manager your deposit, the deposit will be accessible to you via Zinsli until the rental agreement has ended and you and the landlord have agreed on a payout.

I have opened a deposit on Zinsli but want to move away from Zinsli now. How do I do this?

Please contact support via Email so we can find a solution.

Can I change my choice of product once I have opened my deposit?

A change in product would mean that you terminate the contract your have for your original product and enter a new contract with the new product provider. This process requires the active agreement of your rental agency. It is not possible to switch the product without the participation of your rental agency. (At the moment, the processes on Zinsli are not optimized for this scenario. You would need to cancel your old deposit and open a new one. It is possible that Zinsli supports this more directly in the future.)