I think there is a little confusion here. There are two dimensions to consider when it comes to transactions and which card to use (optimising on costs/revenue, not on simplicity obviously):
| Processed in CH | Processed outside CH | |
|---|---|---|
| CHF | 1 | 2 |
| Other currency | 3 | 4 |
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That’s your normal day-to-day spending in physical stores and on online merchants based in CH.
- Use a free credit card with cashback (Swisscard Cashback, Poinz, IKEA, Cumulus, Supercard, etc.)
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That’s usually online merchants based abroad, but selling in CHF for the CH market (e.g., plane tickets, streaming platforms, some merchants dispatching from abroad, etc.).
- Until now thought the best strategy was as (4), but seems it would be a good use case for Cumulus if they apply no foreign transaction processing fee and offer cashback. It can be large amounts (e.g., long-haul flights for a family of 5).
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That would be stores (physical/online) in CH accepting payments in other currencies (e.g., Swiss airlines)
- Don’t bother, those merchants include a hefty FX markup, but if they don’t and the other currency is more preferable than defaulting to (1) then see (4).
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Usual spending abroad (e.g., holidays)
- Use a credit card with no or low FX markup and no foreign transaction fee (e.g., neon, Radicant, Revolut, etc.). Don’t use Cumulus because of the FX markup.