Up until now, Postfinance customers could only use Apple Pay with Postfinance credit cards. Now, consumers can use Postfinance debit cards with Apple Pay as well. That is an advantage for Postfinance customers who prefer to charge payments directly to their bank accounts.
Postfinance debit cards cannot currently be used with Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Swatch Pay, Fitbit Pay, and Garmin Pay.
Cardholders who use Apple Pay for transactions generally pay the same fees which they pay when they use their cards directly. You do not pay extra fees to use Apple Pay. You generally are not charged any fees when you make payments in Switzerland.
If you make payments outside of Switzerland or in foreign currencies, pay attention to foreign transaction fees. The Postfinance debit card has a foreign transaction fee of 1.5 percent, and Postfinance credit cards have a 1.7-percent foreign transaction fee. You also pay markups on currency exchange rates. These costs are similar to those which apply at other large Swiss banks. But compared to the most affordable service providers, the Postfinance fees are relatively high.
Using Apple Pay with Postfinance competitors
For many years, support for Apple Pay in Switzerland was largely limited to credit cards. Only a few debit cards – primarily from foreign financial services providers – could be linked to Apple Pay.
But the situation has changed. Debit cards from many neobanks have supported Apple Pay for some time now. Some conventional banks have now enabled the use of Apple Pay with their Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit cards. Larger Swiss banks which offer debit card support for Apple Pay include Credit Suisse, the Zürcher Kantonalbank, Valiant Bank, Migros Bank, and Bank Cler. These banks also support competing services like Google Pay.
UBS and Raiffeisen – two of the largest Swiss banks – currently do not support Apple Pay, Google Pay, and similar mobile payment services.
Conclusion by Ralf Beyeler
Postfinance’s decision to enable the use of Apple Pay with its debit cards is a positive development. Postfinance is one of the last of the biggest Swiss banks to add this service for its customers.
But it is important to understand that debit cards from neobanks are generally cheaper for foreign transactions, and can also be linked to Apple Pay.
More on this topic:
Private account and debit card comparison
Swiss neobanks explained
