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Payments · Switzerland

Credit and debit cards

Every card we list, ranked by what it costs a year for the way you pay. Each fee is read from the provider’s own price list; no provider pays for a place.

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providers
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What do you need the card for?

Credit cards by what they cost a year at your spending.

The cheapest debit card and the cheapest credit card

A debit card can serve everyday payments and abroad; a credit card is needed where only a credit card is taken, such as a car-rental or hotel deposit. The cheapest of each at your use:

How you pay

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    A fee a price list does not state is never counted as zero; such cards follow the ones we can total. Youth and student accounts, and accounts compared in full: Bank accounts. Lounges and other extras: Perks.

    Compare 0 cards

    Feature
    Cost a year at your use
    After cashback
    Fees
    Yearly fee (3-year average)
    Foreign currency fee
    CHF payments abroad
    Cash withdrawal
    Card
    Type
    Network
    Cashback
    Spending limit
    Insurance included
    Swiss bank

    The words on a price list

    What is the foreign currency fee?
    A percentage the card provider adds to every payment in a currency other than CHF, for example in euros on holiday or in a foreign online shop. Some cards charge none.
    Does a card with no foreign currency fee cost nothing abroad?
    Not always. The payment is also converted at an exchange rate: the Visa or Mastercard rate, or the provider’s own rate, which can be less favourable than the official rate. The price list names the rate the card uses where it says so.
    Should I pay in CHF or in the local currency abroad?
    In the local currency. When a terminal or a cash machine abroad offers to charge you in CHF (dynamic currency conversion), its own exchange rate is usually worse than your card’s.
    Why do some cards charge a fee when I pay in CHF?
    Many cards charge a fee on payments in CHF to a business based abroad, for example a foreign online shop that shows prices in francs. The price list calls it a fee on CHF payments abroad or a processing fee.
    Do I need a credit card at all?
    A debit card pays in shops, online and abroad. Car-rental desks and many hotels ask for a credit card for the deposit, and some refuse debit cards: that is the most common reason to keep one.
    What does interest on instalments mean?
    If you pay only part of the monthly bill, the rest is charged interest at the rate shown. Paying the bill in full each month costs no interest.

    How the ranking works

    • Every fee comes from the provider’s own price list, read every week by our price bot (MEconomyBot). Each card opens to the list and the day it was read.
    • The cost a year adds up the yearly fee, the fees on your payments in foreign currencies and in CHF abroad, and cash withdrawals abroad, for the use you set above.
    • The yearly fee is averaged over three years, so a free first year does not decide the ranking.
    • A debit card is costed with the account it needs, at the balance you keep.
    • Cashback is shown next to the cost and taken off only in “Cost after cashback”, because it depends on where a card is accepted.
    • Revolut and Wise are compared because many readers use them; they are not Swiss banks, and Swiss deposit protection does not cover their accounts.
    • This is a cost comparison, not financial advice. MEconomy is not paid by these providers; every link goes straight to the provider (how we make money).