Migros CC: Migros is leaving Cembra soon

Banks, Insurances & Third Pillar
89

Hey, I checked both the certo of cembra and the new migros cumulus and for me, it’s clear the migros is better because there is almost no fees !

I read in this thread there is a doubt about fee for payment from other countries but you can see it here : aperçudestarifs
It is clearly said there is none !

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Yes, the exchange rate may be less favorable than neon or other but it’s clearly better than cembra who add 1.5% more !

And there is another thing : cembra add 3.75% more fee for every transactions regarding with casino, betting, loto, … that make it the worse card ever to use for buying crypto !

Others have mentionned it but the app for the migros is viseca, that’s another reason to ditch cembra and their horrible site…

93

then the question is, what is this amount of this surcharge ? If it’s less than 1.5%, then it’s still better than the certo cembra.

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94

I’d prefer using fewer cards, but it looks like that’s going to be my domestic set-up as well. Also reluctantly, for foreign transactions I am going to stay with Neon, for now. Neon & Co are still a good 1.5% cheaper than Migros for foreign transactions, that’s more money saved than you get as cashback with any of these cards.

For me honestly I don’t see a use for the new Migros Card. It’s worse for domestic transactions than either Swisscard Cashback or Cembra Certo and much worse than a combination of the two. It’s not even better for transactions at Migros, ironically.

And for foreign transactions the new Migros Card is better than your traditional bank credit card, but that’s saying very little. It’s about as good as CSX, AFAIK, and trails Yuh or even UBS key4, if you can stomach the ridiculous account fees of the latter. And it’s hopeless against Neon, Wise, Revolut, Kaspar&.

I’ve been with Cembra for a good 10 years now, probably. Maybe I’ve been lucky, but I never had a serious problem with them. Yes, I also forgot to pay a bill on time, before I had set-up direct debit, but the fee was waived after I called them.

95

They couldn’t tell me precisely when I called yesterday, but they charge twice: There is a surcharge on the exchange rate, just like with Migrosbank, and on top there is a transaction fee of 1.5%. So I would guess the total cost for foreign transactions with Cembra are something like 2-3%. Hopeless, obviously, which is why I see their card only for domestic transactions.

But as written above, the Migrosbank Card is itself far from competitive for foreign transactions. Which is why I basically see no use for it, unless you are dead set on having a single card for everything and happen to have just the right split of domestic/foreign transactions with which Migrosbank wins against, say, Neon, or Swisscard (I don’t know if such a split actually exists though).

96

I should try suing Migros for lie but i’m sure they would find a way to say that “none” in the fee field means in fact “none apart the fee we take from you” :laughing:

Guess I’ll stay with my combo Swisscard/Neon (domestic anf foreign respectively) for the time being…

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98

That’s how I understand/read it.

Certo gives you 1% on Migros (in cash) irrespective whether you have a Cumulus number. Just like the Swisscard/Amex.

In addition, using your Cumulus number is allowed when you pay, and you will get 1% (in Migros vouchers).

So total 2% !

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99

Where have you seen that it is 0% fee on foreign transactions? This is not what it is written on their “cards” page, under the Migros Free: Cartes - Banque Migros. It says 1.5%

Edit: found it: it is on the New Cumulus It actually says no fees for foreign transactions. Carte de crédit Cumulus | Cumulus

100

yep and let’s not forget that new migros card can use the “one” app with a great UI easy to use when cembra still relie on a old website…

Apart from that, I guess there is only the lower fee about late payment or other services with migros.

101

For me, that’s the only advantage of the Migros card over the Certo card. I would like to move away from cembra and their horrible website and apps, but looks like Certo is quite superior to the Migros bank.

102

In my opinion, the insurance you get with the Migros Cumulus credit card is more useful.

Both cards include up to 60K search and rescue insurance.

The Ikea card includes ambulance transportation coverage, which is good if you do not have supplemental health insurance (useless if you do). Note that ambulance transportation due to accidents is covered by occupational accident insurance (if you are employed), so this ambulance insurance is beneficial for illness. Not a bad insurance, depending on your age/health.

The Migros credit card does not have ambulance insurance, but instead, it gives you trip interruption insurance. This insurance remiburses missed flights and hotel bookings due to hazards which occur during a trip (after you have made your first flight, etc). It only covers up to 4000 francs, but I think most people are more likely to use this than ambulance insurance.

The Migros card has up to CHF 2K purchase protection, compared to the Ikea card’s CHF 1K. The Migros card has price protection, which is fantastic. The Internet insurance coverage (legal, online accounts) are
nice-to-haves.

All things considered the new Migros Cumulus credit card is far superior to both the Ikea card (for insurance) and the Certo credit cards (for fees and benefits) in my opinion. It has no foreign transaction fee and lets you make 2 cash withdrawals outside of Switzerland each year with no cash withdrawal fee. You can get free cash advances at Migros supermarkets as you could with the phased-out Migros credit card. For whoever might carry credit card debt, the Migros credit card has an exceptionally low interest rate as far as Swiss credit cards go.

Sure, the rewards are only useful if you shop at Migros, but I believe rewards are just a nice-to-have, as they tend to motivate you to spend. The real savings are in benefits like price protection (best-price guarantee) and insurance. If rewards are important to you, the Cashback American Express from Swisscard is still the top runner, and you can use that to earn 1% everywhere, not just at 3 merchants.

It’s great to see competition in the Swiss credit card market driving up the benefits and pushing down the costs. 5 years ago credit cards with benefits and costs like these were mostly found in the US.

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103

As usual great analysis for insurances… but you didn’t mention the cancellation insurance from Ikea. Or did I misunderstood their offering?

My use case is totally different from anyone else: I would have a credit card that I use only to book a holiday and nothing else. So I don’t care much about rewards.

For a general use I think you are right, as long as you know how much and where you spend money.

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104

Aldi, Lidl, and Digitec Galaxus don’t accept AMEX.

So to me the Certo! One Mastercard® World looks most interesting to me to get 1% cashback at each of those.

Then Swisscard AMEX for Coop, Migros, etc.

And you get a CHF50 welcome credit. Sounds like a winner to me.

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106

If you only use the credit card for travel bookings, stick with the Ikea card, as it has the better travel insurance. You’re right, it slipped my mind that the Ikea card also has trip interruption insurance. It also has luggage insurance, and cover for extra expenses (food, etc.) resulting from delays/cancellations while traveling. Plus the ambulance and search and rescue cover.

Sorry, I was thinking more in terms of everyday benefits, in which case I find price protection and no foreign transaction fees (important if you shop online from foreign merchants) useful.

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107

Only 50%, max. 500 francs per year. So around half of a short ride to a hospital in the same municipality.

In case of accidents, ambulance transportation in Switzerland is fully covered by occupational accident insurance (for employees). Outside of Switzerland, max. twice the cost of equivalent transportation in Switzerland.

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108

Note that Digitec Galaxus accepts PayPal (where you can link an Amex card) so you can get the 1% cashback through your Swisscard Cashback. However, the PayPal payment option is sometimes not available (e.g., last time I ordered alcohol).

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110

There are special limits for ambulance transportation which are different thant the standard insurance limits for medical care abroad. But that’s a topic for a different thread altogether.

You can find a table with a clear overview in the moneyland guide " Swiss Insurance for Search and Rescue, Ambulances and Repatriation Explained"

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111

Are you sure? Swisscard T&Cs exclude cash equivalents and financial services from rewards programs. Have you tried it? If it works, that would be a good option for using the Cashback card at merchants which don’t accept Amex.

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114

From a pure cashback perspective I see it like this:

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Assumptions are that you select Aldi, Lidl, and Digitec/Galaxus as the 3 favourite merchants of the Certo card.

You are free to select others from the below list, however, do not select any which accept American Express (e.g. Migros/Coop/CFF) because then you can just use the Swisscard cashback card.

Migros, Coop, CFF, Zalando, SWISS, Manor, Lidl, Decathlon, Aldi, H&M, Netflix, Spotify, Airbnb, Booking, Microspot, Digitec Galaxus, Ochsner Sport & Shoes, Interdiscount, Denner, Landi.

Some good answers on insurance above which may make other cards more interesting. Personally I prefer to just pay for insurance separately if I find value in it.

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115

Nice table.
From my previous’ year calculation, it seems that I can use Certo One at the top 3 shops I use and leave out the rest. The only issue I see is that I might decide to buy something expensive at the 4th shop and I can either wait one month or just buy it. I think from that point of view I’m sold with Certo One.

The only issue is if I buy stuff (say at Digitec) from time to time and never more than 30chf but at the end of the year I’ve spent 300chf or more. For that I think I can just forget the 3CHF of bonus and keep living. That’s why I think the dynamic top 3 should be the best solution. I suggest everyone on this thread to check their expenses and see if they are always the same between several shops. If you spend 1000chf at coop, 1000 at migros, 1000 at galaxus 1000 at lidl then it might be problematic, but if you spend 1000 at the top 3 and just 300 at the 4th, it might be easier.

Also I’m sure that this thread costs me more than the savings I made last year with my Visa.

Disclaimer: I spoke about cashbacks, not insurances or foreign transaction expenses.

116

There is no Google Pay with Certo One, right? This (together with no eBill) is a big NO for me.

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