Swiss Cash Back Credit Cards Review

Hi all, 

Which Swiss cash back credit cards offer the best service?

The rewards which you earn when you use certain credit cards to pay can help to balance or even surpass the cost of using a credit card. Cash back – a term used to describe money credited back to your credit card account as statement credits – is the most simple and straightforward type of credit card reward.

Here, we list Swiss credit cards and prepaid cards which automatically reward you with cash back for all purchases:

PostFinance Mastercard Standard. Using this basic credit card lets you earn 0.3% cash back (0.6% during the first year). This card has a 50 Swiss franc annual fee. When you use this card to pay for purchases in foreign currencies, you pay a foreign transaction fee equal to 1.2% of the amount transacted. 

PostFinance Visa Classic Card. The cash back and costs of this card are identical to the PostFinance MasterCard Standard. The only difference is that this card runs on the Visa network.

PostFinance Mastercard Value. This prepaid card lets you earn 0.3% cash back on all purchases (0.6% during the first year). You pay an annual fee of 50 Swiss francs to use this card. A foreign transaction fee of 1.2% applies to transactions made in foreign currencies.

PostFinance Visa Gold Card. This card lets you earn 0.5% cash back on all purchases charged to it (1% during the first year). You must earn a minimum of 75,000 Swiss francs per annum to be eligible for this card. It has an annual fee of 90 Swiss francs. You pay a foreign transaction fee equal to 1.2% of the amount transacted when you pay in foreign currencies. A 9.5% annual interest rate applies to balances.

PostFinance Mastercard Gold. This card is identical to the PostFinance Visa Gold Card, with the exception of the payment network used (MasterCard instead of Visa).

PostFinance Visa Platinum Card. This platinum Visa card lets you earn 0.5% cash back on purchases charged (1% during the first year). It has an annual fee of 250 Swiss francs. A foreign transaction fee of 1.2% applies to purchases made in foreign currencies. Unlike most other credit cards, this card does not have a cash advance fee for cash withdrawals at ATMs. 

TCS Mastercard. This card is only available to members of the TCS motor club. You earn 0.5% cash back when you use it to pay for purchases. It has a 50 Swiss franc annual fee. A foreign transaction fee of 1.5% applies to all purchases made outside of Switzerland (in CHF or foreign currencies). 

TCS Mastercard Gold. This high-end cash back credit card is only available to TCS motor club members. You earn 1% cash back on all purchases charged to this card. You pay an annual fee of 100 Swiss francs for this card. A 1.5% foreign transaction fee applies to all purchases outside of Switzerland (in CHF or foreign currencies). An 11.95% annual interest rate applies to balances.

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Swiss credit card comparison

Swisscard AECS has launched a new cash back credit card which has no annual fee. It has an introductory offer by which user earn 0.5% cash back on purchases charged until the end of 2019. After that, cardholders earn 0.25% cash back on purchases charged to the card.

You can read our Swisscard Cashback credit card review here.

You can find detailed information about the Swisscard Cashback card here.

Can I earn cash back when I use a Swiss cash back credit card to credit my online broker accounts like CFD or forex brokers? What about P2P transfer services like Transferwise? Could I load the account using my credit card and earn cash back and thus earn a "profit" so to speak?

Hi there,

As a general rule, credit card issuers do not offer rewards on transfers of value. Transfers of value include cash advances, purchases of foreign currency, purchases of cash equivalents (gift cards, precious metal bullion, Reka checks, vouchers, etc.), and purchases of account balances (bank account balances, brokerage account balances, money transfer account balances, prepaid card balances, prepaid mobile phone credits, mobile wallet balances, etc.).

The reason for this is that credit card reward programs are meant to encourage you as a cardholder to purchase merchandise and services from merchants which collaborate with credit card networks and issuers. When you use your card to buy cash or cash equivalents like vouchers or account balances, the merchants from which you purchase these pay merchant fees to the card network but may not profit off the sale because you are simply transferring value from your line of credit to cash or an account balance. In the worst case, the merchant may make a loss because they pay the credit card acceptance fees but provide you with cash or cash equivalents at full face value.

The deciding factors in determining whether or not you earn rewards for transactions are the category under which the merchant falls and the category under which the product or service purchased falls.

Best regards from Moneyguru

Swisscard AECS has launched the Swisscard American Express Cashback credit card. This card has no annual fee and lets you earn 1% cash back on all purchases. It has an introductory offer which lets you earn 5% cash back on purchases up to a 100-Swiss-franc cap.

The card comes in a set with a Swisscard Visa Cashback credit card or a Swisscard MasterCard Cashback credit card, which also have no annual fee but deliver much lower 0.2% cash back on purchases.

If I understand this right, the Swisscard Cashback credit card is the only credit card which does not have an annual fee.

https://www.moneyland.ch/de/swisscard-aecs/kreditkarten/cashback-mastercard

Am I correct, and why is it the only one? That is obviously a major selling point for this card and I imagine Swisscard’s competitors will catch on and come out with similar offers.

I only use credit cards to pay online and in Switzerland. I don’t travel abroad.

Thanks in advance for more information on this card.

Hi there,

No, that is not correct.

There are other Swiss credit cards which do not have annual fees. These include the Migros Cumulus MasterCard and the Coop Supercard, among others.

The moneyland.ch guide to no-annual-fee credit cards lists Swiss credit cards which do not have annual card fees.

The Swisscard Cashback credit cards are the first no-annual-fee Swiss credit cards which let you earn cash back on purchases rather than points or vouchers.

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Swiss credit card comparison

Hello, 
I tried applying for Swisscard American Express Cashback credit card but I always encounter a blank page after entering all my details before I can confirm and submit the application. I have tried in several browsers already but it is always the same problem. Has anyone had a similar problem and a possible solution for it. I tried calling the Swisscard customer service but they were not able to help me. 

Thanks in advance for your help!

I managed to apply online fine. I selected the option to send in required documents by mail rather than doing the online identification. Try using that option and see if it makes a difference.

I did get a blank page with an endlessly rotating dial every time I clicked an email link to complete or track my application. I tried in 3 different browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox) and get the same bug. Guess their web process needs a little ironing out.

The 1% you get with the Cashback American Express card looks good, but do many stores in Switzerland take American Express? Could I actually use this card to pay for a lot of my shopping?

I had the same worry, but took a chance on the card anyway. So far only 2 places I shopped at did not take American Express. These were Lidl and a small Turkish grocery store. I had no problems at Denner, Migros, Coop, SBB, SWISS, the K kiosks and just about every other chain store. Surprisingly, I haven't been turned down at small stores and restaurants either. Seems like if they take credit cards at all, they also take American Express. Maybe I'm just hitting all the right places, but it seems pretty accepted.

I just applied for the cashback AmEx. Two questions someone might know:

Is it a 100.- cap per purchase (resulting in 5.- cashback per purchase) or can't you just get more than 100.- cashback per month?

Can I top up my revolut card and get the 5% cashback on the top up?

Thanks a lot in advance! 

Revolut: No. As mentioned above, credit card issuers do not offer rewards on transfers of value. 

As far as I know: Not more than CHF 100 for the whole 3 months with 5%.

The 100-franc cap applies to the 5% introductory cash back offer of the Swisscard Cashback American Express credit card. You earn 5% cash back up to a maximum of 100 francs cash back or until the expiry of the 3-month welcome offer period. After you have either earned 100 francs of cash back or the 3-month period has expired, you earn the standard 1% cash back.

The Cashback American Express gives you the same American Express Selects benefits as the official American Express cards from Swisscard. Mostly hoity toity offers, but some discounts (like the 10-francs Cashback per first-time purchase with the Shop Small promotion) can save you money.

I just switched from the Miles and more card to the Cashback.

Pros:

• No fee
• I prefer cash back to miles which are difficult to use

Cons:

• The Swisscard app reduces the features for this card, taking away the Expense Category allocation and pie chart summary. This is a pain as I use this to quickly summarize my monthly expenses each month.

But overall, it is a better product in my opinion.

Is there a reason why the "old" Swisscard Cashback credit card is not included in your comparison? Is it worth changing from the old Cashback credit card to the new one?

Hi there,

The first generation of Cashback credit cards was only offered by Swisscard for a brief period when the Cashback cards were first launched. The reason that we do not include them in the comparison is that they are no longer offered to new customers.

The current generation of Swisscard Cashback credit cards is included in the credit card comparison.

The first generation of Cashback credit cards had more favorable conditions than the current generation. As a holder of a first-generation Cashback credit card, you benefit from lower fees and higher cashback. Migrating to the current Cashback credit card is not recommended.

The differences between the first-generation and current-generation Cashback credit cards are:

• The first-generation Cashback cards has a 1.5% foreign transaction fee. The current Cashback credit cards have a higher 2.5% foreign transaction fee.
• The first-generation Cashback Visa and Mastercard cards let you earn 0.25% cash back. The current Cashback Visa and Mastercard cards have a lower 0.2% cash back rate.

The first-generation Cashback credit cards are more favorable both for international purchases and for local purchases in Switzerland.

Best regards from Moneyguru

christinaernst88 wrote on April 24, 2019

Hello, 
I tried applying for Swisscard American Express Cashback credit card but I always encounter a blank page after entering all my details before I can confirm and submit the application.

For me was the same, I tried with the iPhone. Just send a link to your mail from a PC and open it in your phone, to be able to speak with an agent.