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You can't use it as a checking account as far as I know, but that's something to ask them.
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You would be charged a huge fee by your bank, it's just hidden in the spread. By the spread I mean the difference between the offer price and the bid price (the price at which you are able to buy and the price at which you are able to sell). At a forex broker you also pay a spread, but it will be orders or magnitude smaller, in fact possibly so
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Converting USD to CHF using a bureau de change (not sure what they are called in the US) would be crazy. Just open up a trading account with Dukascopy (formerly an FX broker, now a registered Bank) which you can do online. Then when asked which currency you want your account to be denominated in, choose CHF. Or even better open the account denominated