Best credit card Switzerland for 2023

Last updated: September 21, 2023

I’m finally back from vacation so I can start comparing the new credit cards announced by Migros Bank (Cumulus VISA) and Cembra (Certo! One Mastercard World and Certo! Mastercard World).

Because indeed, the transition is not as logical as I would have thought.

For a year, I knew that Migros was going to part ways with Cembra for the management of its Cumulus Mastercard credit card. And for me, Migros was going to continue to offer THE best free credit card in Switzerland, while Cembra was going to continue to offer not so top top services… (remember their old app and website…)

Except I was wrong.

Recap of my credit card strategy

My Swiss credit card “strategy” aims to:

• Pay by credit card in Switzerland and abroad with the lowest possible fees
• Earn the maximum cashback possible

Then I wanted to simplify my 5-card system.

Minimalisto actually won the duel with Frugalisto.

I now only have 3 credit cards for all my needs in Switzerland and abroad:

My payment methods in Switzerland in CHF are in order:

1. American Express Cashback from Swisscard for all our expenses in CHF in order to earn 1% cashback — several hundreds of CHF per year as far as we are concerned
2. Cumulus Mastercard for all our expenses in CHF when the above Amex Cashback is not accepted. This is in order to earn as much cashback as possible in Cumulus points (CHF 0.01 for CHF 1 spent in Migros stores, and CHF 0.0033 for CHF 1 spent outside Migros)
3. Free neon Mastercard to pay anywhere in Switzerland where credit cards are not accepted (included in the countryside!)

My method of payment abroad, or in foreign currency, is:

• Free neon Mastercard to pay anywhere in the world, in foreign currencies, with the lowest possible charges

And for my CHF withdrawals, I use:

• Free neon Mastercard which allows 2 free withdrawals per month in any Swiss ATM, and then switching to Sonect if needed (always free)

So that was my Swiss credit card system until August 2022.

Oh, Cashback, my dear Cashback 💰

New Cumulus VISA and Cembra Certo credit cards!

I would like to point out that all the Swiss credit cards below from Cembra and Migros Bank are free. No annual fee or anything.

Also, they all offer Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

Then, my American Express Cashback from Swisscard is accepted at Migros (and all its subsidiaries like melectronics or SportXX), so I was only using my Cembra Cumulus-Mastercard when my American Express wasn’t accepted.

Let’s take a look at the advantages of each of the new Cembra Certo! cards and the Cumulus VISA credit card.

New “Certo! Mastercard World” credit card

The new credit card “Certo! Mastercard World” is offered by Cembra. It is only available to former Cumulus-Mastercard customers by Cembra. It is a Mastercard credit card, as its name indicates.

It offers the following cashback benefits:

• 1% cashback at all Migros and Coop stores and at SBB
• 0.33% cashback everywhere else

And it includes the following insurances for free:

• Best price guarantee (maximum benefit amount)

  • CHF 2'000 per year
  • CHF 1'000 per event

• Emergency assistance (maximum benefit amount)

  • Transfer to the nearest hospital offering the necessary treatment: CHF 50'000 per person per event
  • Emergency transport/repatriation under medical supervision, search and rescue costs
  • Repatriation in the event of death
  • Additional costs in the event of an unforeseen return journey: train journey (1st class) or flight in economy class

New “Certo! One Mastercard World” credit card

The new credit card “Certo! One Mastercard World”* is also offered by Cembra. It is available for all clients residing in Switzerland. It is a Mastercard credit card.

And here are its cashback benefits:

• 1% cashback at your 3 favorite merchants from this list: Migros, Coop, CFF, Zalando, SWISS, Manor, Lidl, Decathlon, Aldi, H&M, Netflix, Spotify, Airbnb, Booking.com, Microspot, Digitec Galaxus, Ochsner Sport & Shoes, Interdiscount, Denner, Landi
  • You can change your 3 merchants every 30 days in the Cembra app (useful when you have a big purchase to make such as a SWISS flight ticket, a hotel via booking.com, or household appliances at Digitec Galaxus)
• 0.33% cashback everywhere else

And you get the following insurances for free:

• Best price guarantee

  • CHF 3'000 per year
  • CHF 2'000 per event

• Purchase insurance

  • CHF 2'000 per year
  • CHF 2'000 per event

• Emergency assistance (maximum benefit amount)

  • Transfer to the nearest hospital offering the necessary treatment: CHF 100'000 per person and per event
  • Emergency transport/repatriation under medical supervision, search and rescue costs
  • Repatriation in the event of death
  • Additional costs in the event of an unexpected return:
  • Rail travel (1st class) or flight in economy class

New “Cumulus VISA” credit card at a glance

And finally, here is the new “Cumulus VISA” credit card offered by Migros Bank. It is a VISA credit card.

It offers the following cashback benefits:

• The first year: 2% cashback at all Migros stores (including melectronics, SportXX, etc.)
• The following years: 1% cashback at all Migros stores
• 0.33% cashback everywhere else

And it includes 7 free insurance:

• Travel insurance

  • Search and rescue costs (60k CHF, no deductible)
  • Trip interruption (4k CHF, no deductible)

• Purchase insurance

  • Best price guaranteed (household goods for private use, 60% paid with Cumulus VISA credit card, 14 days after purchase, purchased in Switzerland, 2k CHF, no deductible)
  • Shopping and transport (paid with Cumulus VISA credit card, stolen or broken 30 days after purchase, 2k CHF, no deductible)

• Cyber insurance

  • Online account protection/money fraud (CHF 10k, no deductible)
  • Online legal coverage following a crime (10k CHF, no deductible)

Cumulus and Certo! credit cards comparison summary

Certo! Mastercard World	Certo! One Mastercard World	New Cumulus VISA
1% cashback
Migros, Coop, CFF	3 merchants among: Migros, Coop, CFF, Zalando, SWISS, Manor, Lidl, Decathlon, Aldi, H&M, Netflix, Spotify, Airbnb, Booking.com, Microspot, Digitec Galaxus, Ochsner Sport & Shoes, Interdiscount, Denner, Landi	Migros (and 2% cashback the first year)
0.33% cashback
Everywhere else	Everywhere else	Everywhere else
Cashback format
Cash in CHF	Cash in CHF	Cumulus points
Insurances included
Travel and shopping	Travel and shopping	Travel, shopping, and cyber

Which is the best Swiss credit card between these 3 news?

‌Certo! Mastercard World or Certo! One Mastercard World?
The “Certo! Mastercard World” (replacing the Cumulus-Mastercard) is less interesting than the “Certo! One Mastercard World “, in terms of choice of shops with 1% cashback, and in terms of included insurances.

‌Certo! One Mastercard World or Cumulus VISA?
Secondly, the new “Cumulus VISA” from Migros is also less interesting than the “Certo! One Mastercard World” from Cembra, because with the Cumulus you get Cumulus points that can only be used at Migros, while with Cembra you get cash back on your credit card bills.

And I’m not talking about the fact that you have more choices of merchants with the Certo! One Mastercard World.

There is indeed cyber insurance in addition to the Cumulus VISA, but that’s not going to tip the balance in my case.

So between these 3 new Swiss credit cards, the Certo! One Mastercard World wins.

I’ll order one right after I finalize this article :)

The Certo! One Mastercard World is the best Swiss credit card (among these 3, but behind the American Express Swisscard Cashback)

My new Swiss credit card strategy for 2023

Here’s how this new Certo! One Mastercard World will fit into my Mustachian credit card strategy:

My payment methods in Switzerland in CHF will be in order:

1. American Express Cashback from Swisscard for all our expenses in CHF in order to earn 1% cashback — several hundred CHF per year for us
2. 🆕 Certo! One Mastercard World for all our expenses in CHF when the above Amex Cashback is not accepted. And this, in order to earn as much cashback as possible (CHF 0.01 for CHF 1 spent at Galaxus Digitec, Lidl, and Aldi, and CHF 0.0033 for CHF 1 spent everywhere else)
3. Free neon Mastercard to pay anywhere in Switzerland where credit cards are not accepted (including the countryside!)

My payment method abroad, or in foreign currency, will remain:

• Free neon Mastercard to pay anywhere in the world, in foreign currencies, with the lowest possible charges

And for my CHF withdrawals:

• Free neon Mastercard which allows 2 free withdrawals per month at any Swiss ATM, and then switching to Sonect if needed (always free)

Choice of my 3 Certo! One card merchants

In the end, this change from the Cumulus-Mastercard to the Certo! One won’t change much on our cashback; except that we’ll get it in cash instead of Cumulus points.

Indeed, when I checked the list of the Certo! One, I realized that only at Lidl, Aldi, Digitec Galaxus, Denner, and Landi I can’t earn 1% cashback with my Swisscard Cashback, because they don’t accept American Express.

This is still better than the Cumulus VISA which only pays 1% cashback at Migros.

So, our MP family will choose these 3 merchants to start receiving 1% cashback with our new Certo! One Mastercard World credit card:

• Digitec Galaxus
• Lidl
• Aldi

Conclusion

Therefore, the new strategy for the best credit card in Switzerland as of September 2022 for the MP family will consist of 3 credit cards:

1. American Express Swisscard Cashback
2. Certo! One Mastercard World
3. neon Mastercard

Order my new free Swiss credit card Cembra Certo! One Mastercard World

Welcome promo codes

The blog offers you the following welcome coupon codes for each card:

Promo code Swisscard Cashback American Express

• Click on this Swisscard Cashback link, then enter the code “FC40XDREG”, and you will be entitled to a CHF 40 welcome bonus in cash.
  

Promo code neon

• The promo code “mustachian” entitles you to a CHF 10 welcome bonus — must be entered during registration as it is not possible afterward.
  

Pro tip: don’t forget to combine all this with the Rabattcorner system to maximize your cashback on all your purchases ;) (all the detailed information in this article)

And you, which Swiss credit cards did you choose?