Credit card acceptance in Switzerland

Hello,

Credit cards issued in Switzerland run on either the Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Diners Club payment networks.

Currently, the number of merchants which accept credit cards from each of these networks is as follows (as per communications from payment networks):

Visa claims that its cards are accepted at around 36 million point-of-sale (POS) terminals worldwide. Approximately 100,000 POS terminals in Switzerland accept Visa. Visa cards can be used to access money at around 6000 ATMs in Switzerland, approximately 400,000 ATMs across Europe and around 1.9 million ATMs worldwide.

MasterCard also claims that its cards are accepted by around 36 million merchants worldwide. In Switzerland, around 100,000 POS terminals accept MasterCard. Around 2 million ATMs worldwide accept Mastercard credit cards and Maestro debit cards.

American Express is accepted by around 90,000 merchants in Switzerland and is also widely accepted in the U.S. (around 6.9 million merchants). However, American Express cards are less widely accepted than Visa and MasterCard in many other regions. Amex cards can be used to access money at around 1.2 million ATMs worldwide.

In Switzerland, Diners Club is less widely accepted than Visa, MasterCard and American Express, with approximately 20,000 Swiss merchants accepting Diners Club cards. Internationally, the Diners Club International network - which is owned by U.S. payment network and credit card issuer Discover - counts around 19 million POS terminals. However, Diners Club cards are also accepted at POS terminals which accept Discover (U.S.), Unionpay (China), JCB (Japan). Diners Club cards can be used to make cash withdrawals at around 1.8 million ATMs worldwide (Diners Club International and PULSE ATM networks).

Best regards from Moneyguru.

More on this topic:
Credit Cards: Visa, American Express, MasterCard or Diners Club?
Swiss credit card comparison

Credit card acceptance in Switzerland

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