Comparison · As of June 2026
Synesgy is the questionnaire platform that Swiss cantonal banks offer their business clients for ESG self-assessment. ZEROvia is a VSME and VS standard-native ESG infrastructure with Swiss data residency. This comparison shows when Synesgy is sufficient and when an SME needs its own data platform.
Swiss banks have, in the last 24 months, begun systematically requesting ESG self-assessments in their corporate client business – typically before loan discussions, credit extensions, and for larger exposures. Several Swiss Cantonal Banks rely on Synesgy, an ESG platform of the Italian CRIF Group. Graubündner Kantonalbank explicitly refers to the tool in the corporate client context, as does an increasing number of regional banks in German-speaking Switzerland.
This raises a specific question for an SME: Should it fill out the Synesgy questionnaire and thereby complete the process? Or should it build its own ESG infrastructure that consistently serves not only the bank but also insurance companies, major customers, and suppliers?
This comparison provides a precise answer to the question—based on seven criteria, who will decide in 2026 for a Swiss SME with 10 to 1000 employees whether one solution is sufficient or not.
Synesgy is an ESG assessment platform launched in Italy in 2021 by CRIF Group, an international credit reporting and data conglomerate based in Bologna with around 1,000 employees worldwide (about 90 of whom are in Switzerland). The platform is typically used by companies free of charge through the bank offered — Synesgy's business model is based on data value creation towards banks and premium services.
SummarySynesgy is a bank self-assessment tool—not an ESG reporting tool in the VSME/VS sense. This distinction is central in the VSME/VS context.
The following table compares both solutions along the criteria that are crucial for a Swiss SME in 2026.
| Criterion | ZEROvia | Synesgy (CRIF) |
|---|---|---|
| Standard basis | VSME (EFRAG) and VS Standard (European Commission, from approx. July 2026) — native | UNGC, GRI, UN SDGs, EBA LOM, EU Taxonomy (Questionnaire Logic) |
| Output Format | Structured VSME/VS Report, ESG Profile, Data Packs for Banks/Customers | ESG Score and Certificate |
| Data storage | Infomaniak (Geneva, Switzerland) — revDSG/FADP, no US CLOUD Act access | CRIF Platform (Italy-focused, EU) |
| Data sovereignty | Controllable per data point: public / controlled / internal | Data is shared with the consent of banks and business partners |
| Evidence / Chain of custody | AI-extracted evidence per data point, with confidence score | Self-declaration in the questionnaire |
| Supplier screening | Yes Custom module for CSDDD and supply chain inquiries | No Not included as standard |
| Price for SMEs | ESG Quick Check free; modular SaaS pricing — see zerovia.ch/prices | Typically free from the bank; premium options are subject to a fee |
| Addressed Request Contexts | Banks, insurance companies, major clients, suppliers, public profile | Primarily a bank |
| Origin | Switzerland (Graubünden) | Italy (CRIF) |
The solutions differ in architecture and objective, not in marketing language. Synesgy answers a bank's request; ZEROvia builds the database from which any ESG request can be consistently answered.
This point is the hard selection filter for many Swiss SMEs – and is regularly overlooked in banks' marketing communications.
Synesgy responses are stored centrally on the platforms of the CRIF Group. CRIF is an international data corporation whose core business is the aggregation and marketing of economic data to banks, insurance companies, and authorities. The Synesgy Privacy Policy allow CRIF to share the data—provided the company agrees—with participating banks and selected business partners. By filling out the questionnaire, an SME grants operative Datenhoheit an eine italienische Konzerngruppe ab.
ZEROvia stores data in Switzerland with Infomaniak (Geneva), under Swiss data protection law (revDSG/FADP), and without US CLOUD Act access. For each data point, the SME separately determines whether it public (visible in ESG profile), controlled divisible (per signed URL to a specific bank or specific customer) or rein intern Shared data has an audit trail: who saw what and when.
Practical consequenceAt Synesgy, the SME's ESG story belongs to the CRIF platform. At ZEROvia, it belongs to the SME – and can be exported, deleted, or restructured at any time.
The EU Commission has drafted the Voluntary Use Sustainability Reporting Standards (VS-Standard) submitted. The VS standard builds on the VSME standard developed by EFRAG and positions itself as Common Reference Framework for Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Outside the Scope of the CSRD. Following the four-week consultation, the VS Standard is expected to apply as a delegated act from July 2026.
In the context of Value Chain Management the revised CSRD retains its practical significance: Large companies subject to reporting will only be able to request from smaller suppliers and borrowers classified as „necessary" Mandatory request for VS data points. Those building on VSME and VS automatically fall under this protection framework. Those working with alternative questionnaire logic remain subject to negotiation.
The Synesgy questionnaire is not structured to be VSME/VS compliant. A Synesgy response cannot be directly transferred into a VSME report or a VS-compliant supply chain extract—the data model is structured differently. SMEs that have only filled out Synesgy today will have to... Redesign the entire data collection.
ZEROvia has been built VSME-native from the start. When the VS standard comes into effect migrate the data automatically in the US categorization (necessary / if applicable / voluntary). A once-built ZEROvia data model responds to:
| Situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| One-time bank inquiry, no further ESG pressure, no VSME target | Synesgy is enough — fill out the questionnaire, upload the certificate |
| Several banks or insurance companies request different data formats | ZEROvia - a database that serves all request channels |
| Large customers demand VSME or VS data (trickle-down from CSRD). | ZEROvia — Synesgy does not provide the requested data points in the required structure |
| Own suppliers must provide ESG data (CSDDD preparation) | ZEROvia — Synesgy is buyer-oriented without a supplier module |
| Data sovereignty, Swiss hosting, FADP compliance are hard requirements | ZEROvia — Synesgy data is with CRIF in Italy |
| The bank-specific Synesgy certificate is explicitly required. | Fill out the Synesgy questionnaire separately — ZEROvia parallel as a validated data model for all other requests |
| Medium-term ESG strategy with annually demonstrable improvement | ZEROvia — Structured History per Data Point, with Evidence |
Both solutions are not mutually exclusive. In many Swiss SME setups, the pragmatic approach is:
The crucial point: The truth of ESG data lies with the SME, not with an external platform. Synesgy thus remains a request channel — not the data source.
Synesgy is primarily distributed in Switzerland through cantonal banks. Graubündner Kantonalbank, Aargauische Kantonalbank, and several other regional and cantonal banks use the tool in their corporate client business. The degree of distribution and the specific list of banks are constantly changing.
If the house bank provides the tool, basic usage is free for the SME. CRIF refinances itself through the bank and through premium features such as advanced reports.
Synesgy does not offer a structured data export in the depth required for VSME and VS compliance. In practice, the reverse approach is worthwhile: build the ZEROvia data model as the source and populate the Synesgy questionnaire from this source. This way, the SME retains data sovereignty.
Yes, increasingly so. Banks are building their ESG screening logic on VSME data points because VSME falls under the value chain cap of the revised CSRD, making it the recommended supply chain standard by the EU. If a specific bank still requires the Synesgy certificate, the Synesgy questionnaire must be filled out separately on the Synesgy platform – ZEROvia provides the audited data points as a basis, but manual entry remains necessary.
esg2go is a Swiss rating tool based on the CCRS methodology, which, similar to Synesgy, primarily provides a label for bank discussions — comparison amongst zerovia.ch/comparison/zerovia-vs-esg2go/. ZEROvia addresses a different need with a data platform—not just the bank, but all of the SME's ESG inquiry channels.
The VS standard will be the central reference framework for data queries along the supply chain. Synesgy is not built to VS-conformity — an SME that has only completed Synesgy will have to re-establish data collection for VS inquiries. Those working with VSME / VS-native are compliant from the outset.
Start with the ESG Quick Check — 30 minutes, free, structured across all VSME topics.
Status: June 2026. Synesgy functional scope based on publicly available information from synesgy.ch, crif.ch, and the Synesgy platform documentation. VS standard key data according to KPMG Switzerland and the draft of the EU Commission of May 2026. Last content revision by the ZEROvia methodology team on June 26, 2026.
