Debit Card Travel and Shopping Benefits Explained

Up until recently, cardholder benefits like insurance and rewards programs were primarily found on credit cards. But that is changing, and Swiss banks are beginning to include special benefits on debit cards as well. 

In this guide, moneyland.ch answers the most important questions about debit card perks, and offers an overview of Swiss debit cards with cardholder benefits.

Which debit cards include cardholder benefits?
The table below offers an overview of Swiss debit cards with complimentary benefits for cardholders.

Are there any Swiss debit cards with reward programs or cash back?

Yes. There are now a handful of Swiss debit cards that reward you for purchases with account credits or other rewards. Often these debit card rewards only benefit customers who also use investment services.

Which travel insurance benefits are offered with Swiss debit cards?

Some Swiss debit cards now come with travel insurance as an extra perk for cardholders.

Complimentary travel insurance coverages may include:

• Trip cancellation insurance: This insurance reimburses the cost of travel bookings if you are unable to begin your trip due to a covered incident which occurs before your trip begins. You can learn more in the guide to trip cancellation insurance.
• Trip interruption insurance: This insurance covers travel bookings that you are unable to use due to covered incidents that occur after you have already begun your trip. You can learn more in the guide to trip interruption insurance.
• Luggage insurance: This insurance pays out a benefit if your luggage is lost, damaged, or stolen during a covered trip, when a third-party (an airline, for example) is not responsible. Another kind of luggage insurance, known as luggage delay insurance, reimburses the costs of buying needed items when you luggage is delayed for a certain amount of time. Not all debit cards that include luggage insurance also include luggage delay insurance.
• Medical expenses, ambulances, search and rescue: Insurance for medical emergencies covers the cost of medical care and hospital stays required because of unexpected medical emergencies while traveling. Ambulance insurance covers the cost of emergency medical transportation. Search and rescue insurance covers the cost of search and rescue operations. You can learn more in the guide to health insurance cover outside of Switzerland, and the guide to insurance for ambulances, search, and rescue. 
• Flight delay insurance: This insurance covers unexpected expenses that you incur due to your flight being delayed.
• Rental car insurance: Some Swiss debit cards come with insurance that covers your deductible if a car you rent outside of Switzerland is damaged or stolen. Some have additional full-casco insurance that covers most of the other risks related to renting a car. This can replace the need to buy the insurance offered by car rental companies, which can save you money.

Having complimentary travel insurance often eliminates the need to buy the travel insurance offered by airlines, which can save you money.

In order to benefit from the travel insurance perks, you generally have to use your debit card to pay for all or part of bookings. Depending on the debit card, between 50 and 100 percent of the travel or rental car bookings must be paid with the card in order to be covered by the insurance.

Which other travel benefits are offered with Swiss debit cards?

Other travel perks that may come with Swiss debit cards include:

• Complimentary airport lounge visits: Some debit cards include a certain number of free airport lounge visits per year. If you stay at airport lounges while traveling, this benefit can save you money. 
• Concierge services: Some debit cards include a concierge service that can help you with shopping and travel bookings, among other things.

Which other benefits are available with Swiss debit cards?

Like travel benefits, shopping benefits still only come with a few Swiss debit cards at this time. Shopping perks that may come with debit cards include:

• Extended warranty: When you buy something with your debit card, this insurance adds an extra one or two years to the guarantee. This can save you money because you can forgo buying the extended guarantee offered by the store.
• Online shopping insurance: You can claim on this insurance if items you purchase from online stores are damaged in transit, if you receive the wrong item, or if you do not receive the things you bought at all.
• Price protection: If you find an item you bought being offered by another Swiss merchant at a lower price, you can claim the difference from the insurance provider.
• Purchase protection: If an item you buy is accidentally damaged within a certain timeframe, you can claim reimbursement from the insurance. Often, this insurance covers theft as well.
• Ticket insurance: This insurance covers tickets for concerts and other events if you are unable to use them due to a covered event (an unexpected illness, for example). If you would otherwise pay for the insurance offered by ticket vendors, this benefit can save you money.

Other insurance types that may come with debit cards include phone insurance, cyber insurance for fraudulent use of your card and online accounts, legal insurance for services paid for with your card, and insurance for lost keys.

To be eligible for insurance, a purchase generally has to be paid for using the debit card. It is important to note that the limits on coverage vary between debit cards. As a general rule, more expensive cards have higher limits on insurance coverage.

Why are banks beginning to include cardholder perks on debit cards?

With the introduction of the new Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard debit cards, banks are now able to charge higher fees than was possible with the phased out Maestro and V Pay debit cards. Because of this, Swiss banks and neobanks are increasingly offering debit cards with special cardholder benefits that were previously only found on certain Swiss credit cards.

Does the bank provide the insurance itself?

Banks do not provide these insurance benefits themselves. Instead, they have collective insurance policies with insurance providers like ERV and Europ Assistance. These collective policies cover all users of specific debit cards. Customer service, travel assistance services, and claims management are generally handled by the third-party insurance company.

Are debit card benefits worth it?

Whether or not using a debit card with cardholder benefits can save you money depends on whether or not you actually use the benefits. It also depends on the card fees you pay for the debit card. 

Because you can only get a debit card in combination with a private account, it is very important to compare the total costs of the corresponding private account as well. You can compare the costs of private accounts and debit cards based on your specific needs using the interactive private account comparison on moneyland.ch.

More on this topic:
Compare Swiss private accounts now
Credit card insurance benefits explained
Swiss credit card rewards programs compared