Bonuscard Credit Cards User Experience

Do you use a credit card from Bonuscard or have you used one in the past? How would you describe your experience with this card issuer?

I had the free Bonuscard prepaid card from SBB (combined with the half-price card). It did everything I needed it to. I was not too impressed when SBB decided to ditch that card and Bonuscard issued me a different prepaid card with a high annual fee without even bothering to ask if I wanted it. Out of sheer laziness I stuck with the Liberty card that they sent. It has some decent features like good travel insurance, with some coverage applying even if you don't pay with the card, so I keep it more as a travel insurance policy for now.

Can't say much for their customer service because they didn't bother to get my permission before giving me a different card. Otherwise it's ok.

The moneyland.ch credit card comparison makes it easy to compare the costs and benefits of credit cards from Bonus Card with other Swiss credit cards.

Hi everyone,

I noticed that BonusCard uses what in my opinion is a customer unfriendly foreign currency regime.

When I use my credit card to pay for Uber or AirbnB (service in CHF, account in CHF, bill in CHF), I am charged foreign transaction fees.

The customer service tells me that these services charge my card in foreign currency because billing is managed outside of Switzerland.

That is inconceivable to me and I don't feel it is in keeping with the terms and conditions.

Has anyone had this experience with other services? Strangely, I am charged foreign transaction fees for some charges from the Apple store but not for others. When I asked about this, they say that Apple is an exception…

Hi there,

Practically all Swiss credit card issuers now charge foreign transaction fees for purchases from foreign merchants, even when the transaction is charged in Swiss francs. As a general rule, whether or not foreign transaction fees are charged is determined by the location of the merchant and not by the transaction currency.

The fact that many Internet-based services do not transparently state whether or not billing is handled in Switzerland or abroad poses a problem for consumers. It can be very difficult to determine whether a web- or app-based service is local (charges are billed in Switzerland) or foreign (charges are billed outside of Switzerland) when prices and charges in an online store or app are shown in Swiss francs. Some Internet-based services have local offices in Switzerland which handle local marketing or administration, but their billing offices are located outside of Switzerland (in the United States, for example), which adds another possible point of confusion.

Credit card issuers can and do make exceptions for certain foreign merchants. For example, issuers may drop foreign transaction fees for purchases from popular foreign online merchants which offer alternative billing solutions in Switzerland (such as mail billing), in order to make the option of paying by credit card more attractive to consumers. It may also be the case when issuers have special agreements with foreign merchants due to the high volumes of transactions generated.

An advantage of being billed in Swiss francs rather than a foreign currency is that – although you pay foreign transaction fees – you avoid your credit card issuers currency exchange spreads. Currency exchange spreads apply when you make purchases in foreign currencies, and can be as high or higher than foreign transaction fees.

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Credit card foreign transaction fees explained