Migros Bank’s markup on exchange rates, as per regular sampling, currently averages 2%. So it’s a good bit less favorable than e.g. Revolut’s rates. But if you don’t do a huge amount of spending abroad, the effective differences in costs may be minimal.
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Yes, I am. I checked my last bill and by my calculation on accrued cashback it was credited for all my amex transactions, including through PayPal for Digitec-Galaxus, Too Good To Go and Jumbo.
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This is way I don’t see no foreign transaction fees not really as a big advantage. That makes the Migrosbank card about as good as CSX, worse than Yuh and much worse than Neon, Wise, Revolut. I.e. it’s a mediocre card for foreign transactions. It’s also worse for domestic transactions than either Swisscard Cashback or the new Cembra card. Which leaves “fringe benefits” such as insurances or ebill or the app quality as basically the only reasons to go for the Migrosbank card. On costs/cashback terms it’s not worth it.
I should start a poll to see how much you guys spend on groceries and stuff.
A travel insurance costs at least 30-40chf per trip I believe. A travel insurance from those cards is free (but also worth less than a full travel insurance though). So if instead of paying 40chf you get less cashback on your travel costs, isn’t that good? Better would be to pay for full travel insurance and get the best card though.
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Usually yes. Sometimes the say at least 50% of it
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Yes. That is the case with all Swiss credit cards except the ones from Bonuscard (e.g. Libertycard)
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Well, the Migros Cumulus is a credit card and the others you mentioned are debit cards. This is the first Swiss credit card with no foreign transaction fee, which is something to celebrate. But when you account for exchange rates, the debit cards you mentioned are more favorable. The possible exception is CSX. I have to check Credit Suisse exchange rates samples.
I think it’s perfectly fair to say that as far as Swiss credit cards go, the new Migros Cumulus is the cheapest for foreign transactions. But debit cards from neobanks are cheaper, at least for major currencies. But those neobank cards do not have complimentary insurance, so if you would pay for the “shipping insurance” offered by online retailers, for example, you’d generally come off better with the Migros Cumulus. It depends on your needs.
The Ikea credit card remains, in my opinion, the best Swiss free credit card for complimentary travel insurance benefits. Personally, I’ve saved a lot more money with complimentary insurance benefits than with rewards. But here too, it depends on your lifestyle.
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Yes, it’s great that competition is working to create very attractive offers. The Migrosbank card would have been exceptional only a few years back, now it’s merely meh, in my view. Which is great in a way, since it demonstrates how much more attractive cards have become.
As you say, it depends on personal preferences. I mostly don’t care about the difference debit/credit. And I tend to buy insurance separately. The travel insurance from Migrosbank is incomplete in my view (no pre-trip cancellation covered) and you’d have to read the conditions very carefully in order to know if it is worth anything. I checked the one from Swisscard a few years ago, that was riddled with so many exceptions to be essentially worthless.
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It might be the first free Swiss credit card without foreign transaction fee. However, UBS offers key4 credit cards (initially called Mastercard Global) for a couple of years now without foreign transaction fees and with an exchange rate of Mastercard + 0.5%, i.e. a bit better than Migros Cumulus. The catch is that the card has a monthly or yearly fee (CHF 6 a month as add-on to a banking package, or CHF 200 a year without banking package).
True. There are the UBS Global credit cards. I should have specified “the first no-annual fee” credit card. Thanks for correcting that.
Does new Migros Card has an app with live push notifications like Revolut? They added this recently with new Cembra app and it works fine.
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@_MP can you please make a review in your blog with the updated credit card ecosystem that was created by this “divorce”?
if o recall well, you have been for long time advising migros credit card. what did you do now? did you pass to cembra or you are still with Migros?
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Here is something:
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Thanks a lot. Migros seems to be superior respect to Cembra. Is there any consensus on this statement after reviewing the new terms and conditions?
Personally, I am going to switch to Certo for a significantly better cashback. The fees are not relevant since you can avoid them all and it’s unlikely you are going to need any of the insurance benefits. But I would not call my opinion a consensus 
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My personal consensus is:
Swisscard Amex + Cembra Certo for domestic transactions
Neon (and maybe Wise) for international transactions
Much cheaper than Migrosbank for international transactions, much better cashback for domestic ones. I buy the insurance I need separately. If those are important to you, then Migrosbank might be better. @Daniel has a cool overview for the insurance benefits above.
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Almost same here:
- Swisscard Amex + Cembra Certo One for domestic transactions with these three merchants with 1% cashback: Aldi, Lidl, Galaxus)
- Neon/Revolut for international payments
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Me and my wife use a joint account for all the common expenses like rent, groceries, dining out together, furniture etc. So we decided to use Cembra Certo together for such expenses with following three merchants: Lidl, Migros, Coop.
For my personal expenses I keep using my Swisscard and for international payments Neon/Wise.
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That’s my setup too. Adding N26 to hold EUR (better than Revolut)
Neon sounds good, but based on my experience it’s easily rejected to pay abroad in the stores. Thanks I had a backup 
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How do you pay your Cembra Certo bill ?
Is the money taken on your joint account or do you pay your bill separately ?