Hi there,
PostFinance Benefit was tested by 100,000 test users up until mid-2017, after which it was offered to the general public.
In order to use this service, you must have a private account from PostFinance, be registered for online banking (E-Finance) and use the PostFinance debit card.
Advantages:
PostFinance claims that you can get discounts of up to 30% on select merchandise from its partner merchants. Of course that does not mean that you receive that large a discount on all or even on many purchases. As with other discount schemes, the question of whether or not discounts are actually valuable is difficult to answer because product preferences and shopping habits vary between consumers. If many of the available offers match products and services which you purchase regularly, then using the service can save you money.
Rather than being applied to purchases immediately, discounts are credited to your account as rebates.
Disadvantages:
The introduction of PostFinance Benefit raised a number of privacy concerns among consumer protection watchdogs and the media at large because PostFInance collects customer banking data and uses it to determine whether customers may be interested in additional banking services.
If you choose to use PostFinance Benefit, it is important that you understand that your transactions may be tracked and used by PostFinance for marketing puposes.
While PostFinance intiially planned on implementing the Benefit service across all private accounts, the concerns raised caused it to reconsider and make participation in the service optional.
According to PostFinance, its partners are not privy to its customer's sensitive banking information. This can work because customers reserve the offers they want in advance at PostFinance. After customers use their PostFinance debit card to pay for one of the selected offers, the rebate is credited back to their PostFinance account automatically.
Best regards from Moneyguru
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