* 16,000 Swiss pensioners to get 1,000 Sfr each for loyalty
* Bank in campaign to improve image
* Worried customers pulled money after government bailout
ZURICH, Jan 30 (Reuters) - UBS will pay its Swiss pensioners 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,061) to thank them for their loyalty and acting as "credible ambassadors" through the financial crisis, when the bank booked the biggest loss in the country's history.
UBS is fighting to improve its image and win back customers who left in droves after Switzerland's top bank required a government bailout because of huge losses on toxic assets.
A letter was sent to just over 16,000 pensioners of the UBS pension scheme, telling them they would receive the payment on Jan. 31, UBS spokesman Jean-Raphael Fontannaz said.
"We would like to thank you sincerely for your valued support of our bank over recent years. As a pensioner you are a loyal and credible ambassador for UBS and we wish to express our appreciation to you at a personal level," chief executive Oswald Gruebel and chairman Kaspar Villiger said in the letter.
"We would be pleased to continue to count on you as an ambassador of UBS in the future," Gruebel and Villiger said.
The bank's campaign to restore clients' faith includes a revamp of its 300 Swiss branches and a dress code for retail staff that was widely mocked in the international press. (Reporting by Jason Rhodes; Editing by Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.9422 Swiss franc)