Google Pay is the most recent addition to Switzerland’s mobile wallet landscape, following Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Swatch Pay, Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay. All of these services compete with the Swiss Twint mobile wallet for a piece of the mobile payments space.
“The Swiss population, as of yet, hardly uses mobile payments – as revealed by moneyland.ch surveys,” states moneyland.ch CEO Benjamin Manz. Even the use of Apple Pay and Twint has been met with hesitation on the part of Swiss consumers. That hesitation will not go away overnight – and the launch of Google Pay will not change that.
But Benjamin Manz is convinced that “over the long term, mobile payments will likely compete directly with card payments.” Smartphones have become daily companions for many if not most Swiss consumers. Giant tech corporations like Apple and Google are not dependent on the immediate adoption of their payment systems and can afford to invest in promoting these products over the long term.
Compatible credit cards
As with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, a compatible credit card is required in order to use Google Pay. As a newcomer to the market, Google Pay is compatible with even less payment cards than Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Initially, Google Pay is only compatible with these credit cards:
- Cornèrcard: Many credit cards and some prepaid cards are compatible.
- Bonuscard: All credit cards and prepaid cards are compatible.
- Swiss Bankers: All prepaid cards are compatible.
- Cards offered by foreign issuers to Swiss consumers: Revolut and boon.
You can easily find out which Swiss credit and prepaid cards are compatible with Google Pay by using the “Google Pay” filter in the interactive Swiss credit card comparison on moneyland.ch.
More on this topic:
Interactive credit card comparison
