Hi there,
Migros Cumulus points can be redeemed for Migros vouchers at the rate of 500 points for a CHF 5 coupon, 1000 points for a CHF 10 coupon and so on. In other words, 1 Cumulus point is worth 1 centime towards purchases at Migros stores.
The Migros Cumulus MasterCard lets you earn 1 Cumulus point per CHF 1 spent in Migros and 1 Cumulus point per CHF 3 spent on other purchases. With a value of 1 centime, 1 point per CHF 1 spent is roughly the equivalent of 1% cash back. 1 point per CHF 3 spent is roughly the equivalent of 0.33% cash back.
The TCS Gold credit card (only for TCS members) lets you earn 1% cash back on all purchases. The Postfinance Platinum and Gold cards let you earn 0.5% cash back.
If you were a heavy credit card user and charged CHF 1000 per month to your credit card and earn 1% cash back, you would earn CHF 10 in cash back every month or CHF 120 cash back every year. If you earned 0.5% cash back you would earn CHF 5 cash back per month or CHF 60 cash back per year.
On the other hand, if you used a Cumulus credit card to make CHF 500 of purchases at Migros and another CHF 500 of purchases from other merchants every month, you would earn 667 Cumulus points every month, or around 8000 Cumulus points every year. Those 8000 Cumulus points could be redeemed for CHF 80 worth of Migros coupons. If you are a big Migros shopper and spend CHF 1000 at Migros every month, you would earn 1000 Cumulus points monthly or 12,000 points per year - redeemable for CHF 120 in Migros coupons.
When you use a Cumulus credit card to pay at Migros, it delivers similar value to a 1% cash back credit card (like the TCS Gold card). Outside of Migros it delivers similar value to a 0.33% cash back credit card.
The big difference is that the Migros Cumulus MasterCard does not have an annual fee, while the above-mentioned cash back credit cards either have annual fees or require you to pay annual membership fees.
On the flipside, cash back earned as a statement credit can be used towards any purchase you choose, while Migros coupons can only be redeemed at Migros stores.
Best regards from Moneyguru
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