Credit card issuer BonusCard.ch AG has literally dealt cardholders a new deck of cards. After the discontinuation of its popular SBB credit cards in 2015, the Visa Bonus Card as we knew it ceased to exist.
The card has been rebranded as the Visa Bonus Card Gold and comes with a 144 franc annual fee. Up until now, the Visa Bonus Card was offered at no annual fee to cardholders who met the 300 franc annual minimum spend.
moneyland.ch users voiced discontent with the issuer’s move to automatically shift customers from a virtually free credit card to the expensive gold card on March 15, 2016.
Customers who aren’t interest in using the expensive Gold version of the card have to deal with the hassles of terminating the card account which they never applied for.
The changes haven’t all been negative. Along with raising card fees, the issuer has added a number of benefits. These include price protection, complimentary travel insurance and legal protection for travelers. However, the benefits of the Bonus rewards program, however, are virtually unchanged from those of the old Visa Bonus Card.
Still it’s likely that a large number of former Visa Bonus Card holders will terminate their Visa Bonus Card Gold accounts as soon as they learn about the card fees. It’s fair to say that the bulk of Bonus Card users signed up for the card because they wanted a cheap, basic credit card rather than high-end benefits.
If you want to see how this card compares to other credit cards take note: All of the costs and benefits of the new Visa Bonus Card Gold have been integrated into the moneyland.ch credit card comparison tool.
More information:
Credit cards comparison
Bonuscard credit and prepaid cards
