Pay with debit or credit card? And which are the cheapest? «Kassensturz» has the answers.
Author: Rolf Gatschet
24.09.2024, 05:06
When shopping, at the kiosk, on vacation – the plastic card is quickly pulled out at the checkout and the amount is always correct. But debit and credit cards are not free. There are additional costs involved when using them, which are often not even noticed.
The cards in the test
Open box Close box
Credit cards
- Swisscard Cashback Cards Amex
- Poinz Swiss Loyalty Card Amex
- Loeb Club Visa Card
- Spar Mastercard World
- Certo One Mastercard
- Coop Supercard Mastercard/Visa
- Ikea Family Credit Card
- Manor World Mastercard
- Migros Cumulus Credit Card Visa
- Poinz Swiss Loyalty Card Visa
- Swisscard Cashback Cards Visa/Mastercard
- Bonuscard Simply Visa Card
- TCS Member Mastercard
- UBS Basic Mastercard/Visa
- Postfinance Mastercard Standard / Visa Classic Card
- Bonuscard LibertyCard Visa
- Raiffeisen Mastercard/Visa Silver (for cooperative members)
- Raiffeisen Mastercard/Visa Silver (for non-cooperative members)
- Cornèrcard Mastercard/Visa Classic
- Viseca Mastercard Silber / Visa Classic
Debit cards
- Alpine
- Radicant
- Yuh
- Zak (without Zak Plus)
- Neon free
- AKB
- Migros Bank
- Postfinance
- Swissquote Light
- ZKB
- Raiffeisen (for cooperative members)
- Raiffeisen (for non-cooperative members)
- BLKB
- Valiant
- LUKB Visa Debit Classic
- Bank Cler
- BEKB
- BKB
- SGKB
- UBS
Benjamin Manz and his team from the comparison platform Moneyland.ch examined 20 credit and 20 debit cards for “Kassensturz”. The comparison only includes Swiss cards, especially offers with low or no annual fees. Cards from foreign neo-banks such as Revolut are therefore missing.
Which cards were tested?
Open box Close box
- 20 credit cards
- 20 debit cards
- Swiss publisher
- Free cards or basic offers from banks
More expensive cards were not included in the test. These cards can have additional services, such as insurance, special bonus programs or access to lounges. “If these additional services are worth something to someone, you can also consider the more expensive cards,” says Benjamin Manz from “Moneyland”.
2500 francs or euros: each foreign and domestic
For our comparison, the sample consumer uses the cards once in Germany and once in another eurozone country. Both times she purchases 2,500 francs or euros. She makes a total of 75 transactions abroad.
Most Swiss people do not care about the costs of their debit or credit cards: “People often just take the cards they get from their main bank,” says Moneyland managing director and card expert Benjamin Manz. But these are often not the cheapest solutions.
The test results in detail
Credit cards abroad: cost difference 110 francs
The differences in comparison are considerable: with the foreign profile, the credit cards cost over 110 francs. Migros Cumulus Visa scores with low foreign currency fees and comes in first place with 64 francs.
Calculation over more than one year
Open box Close box
The costs are calculated for three years and then broken down to one year. Why is it so complicated? Once you have chosen a debit or credit card, you usually stay loyal to it for several years. Since some providers waive the annual fee in the first year, it is essential to calculate the costs over several years in order to make a fair comparison.
At the other end of the list is the Raiffeisen Mastercard/Visa Silver for non-cooperative members: the annual costs add up to 175 francs.
Debit cards abroad: Neo-banks are the best choice
When it comes to debit cards, the so-called neo or smartphone banks are clearly ahead thanks to favorable exchange rates and foreign currency fees.
Our sample consumer pays just 1.30 francs for the Radicant card. But not all debit cards are the right choice abroad: the cards from Bank Cler and Basler Kantonalbank cost 210 francs per year.
Cashback cards in Germany
The difference is also 120 francs in the domestic profile. With the Swisscard Cashback Cards Amex, our sample user even makes a “profit” of 33 francs.
How cashback / bonus points work
Open box Close box
With credit cards with cashback, users are credited with an amount for each purchase, for example 1 percent of the turnover. The credits are then deducted from the invoice amount. Or they collect points with the card and purchases (e.g. Migros Cumulus or Coop Superpoints), which can then be redeemed (bonus points).
