Every time you pay with a Swiss credit card in euros, dollars, or any foreign currency, you're losing money twice. Once on the exchange rate markup. And again on the processing fee your issuer adds on top. Combined, these costs eat 2% to 4% of every international purchase, and most cardholders never notice.
How Credit Card Exchange Rates Work in Switzerland
When you swipe your card abroad, the payment goes through three layers before it hits your statement. Understanding each layer is the key to knowing what you're actually paying.
Layer 1: The card network sets the exchange rate. Visa and Mastercard each publish daily exchange rates. These rates are based on the wholesale interbank rate (the rate banks trade at) plus a small markup, typically 0.3% to 0.5%. This rate is set on the day your transaction is processed, not the day you made the purchase.
Layer 2: Your card issuer adds a processing fee. This is the "foreign currency fee" or "Fremdwährungsgebühr" you see in your card's terms. In Switzerland, it ranges from 0% (rare) to 2.5%. Most Swiss banks charge between 1.5% and 1.75%. This fee is calculated on the converted CHF amount.
Layer 3: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). If a merchant offers to charge you in CHF instead of the local currency, you're paying a third, hidden markup of 3% to 5%. This is called DCC, and it's the most expensive trap when paying abroad. Always decline and pay in the local currency.
Together, layers 1 and 2 cost you 1.5% to 3% on every foreign purchase. Add DCC by mistake, and it jumps to 5% or more. On EUR 10,000 of annual foreign spending, that's CHF 150 to CHF 500 in pure fees.
Mastercard Exchange Rate vs Visa Exchange Rate
This is the question everyone searches but few get a straight answer on. Both Visa and Mastercard publish their exchange rates daily, and both claim to offer competitive rates. So which one actually gives you a better deal?
Mastercard consistently edges out Visa on exchange rates. Research from ThinMargin, which tracks daily exchange rates across card networks, shows Mastercard offers better rates than Visa approximately 70% of the time. The average difference is small, around 0.1% to 0.7%, but it compounds over thousands of francs in annual foreign spending.
You can check the rates yourself using the official calculators. Mastercard's currency converter shows the rate your card would get today. Visa's rate calculator does the same for Visa cards.
Here's what matters more than the network rate: your issuer's markup dwarfs the Visa/Mastercard difference. The 0.3% gap between networks is negligible compared to the 1.5% to 2.5% your issuer charges on top. A Visa card with 1.2% fees will always beat a Mastercard with 2.5% fees. Focus on the total cost, not the network.
What Swiss Banks Actually Charge for Foreign Currency
The processing fee your bank adds on top of the network rate is where the real cost sits. Here's a breakdown of what major Swiss card issuers charge in 2026.
Lowest FX Fees (0% to 1.2%)
Migros Cumulus Visa charges 0% processing fee but uses Viseca's own exchange rate, which includes a built-in markup of roughly 1% to 3%. It's cheap but not as transparent as it looks.
Neon Plus (CHF 20/year) gives you the raw Mastercard rate with 0% markup. This is the true cheapest option for any foreign currency spending in Switzerland.
Radicant charges 0% on card payments with the interbank rate. Genuinely the lowest cost you'll find, though it's a debit card, not a credit card.
Cornèrcard platinum products charge 1.2%, which is the lowest among traditional Swiss credit cards with an explicit FX fee.
Standard Fees (1.5% to 1.75%)
Swisscard (American Express, Visa, Mastercard products) charges 1.5% to 1.9% depending on the card. Their Miles & More cards sit at 1.9%.
UBS charges 1.5% to 1.75% on Visa and Mastercard products. Slightly higher on Visa than Mastercard, interestingly.
Raiffeisen charges 1.6% for card payments and 2.4% for cash withdrawals in foreign currencies. Mid-range for the Swiss market.
Viseca cards (through ZKB, cantonal banks) charge 1.75% as the standard processing fee.
High Fees (2% to 2.5%)
Cembra charges 2.0% on most products, including the free Certo! One card. Low annual fee but expensive abroad.
Swisscard Cashback Cards charge 2.5% on the free Amex/Visa combo. The zero annual fee looks attractive until you travel.
Valiant charges 2.4%, one of the highest among Swiss issuers. Not a good choice if you spend frequently in foreign currencies.
Migros Cumulus Visa charges 0% processing fee but uses Viseca's own exchange rate, which includes a built-in markup of roughly 1% to 3%. It's cheap but not as transparent as it looks.
Neon Plus (CHF 20/year) gives you the raw Mastercard rate with 0% markup. This is the true cheapest option for any foreign currency spending in Switzerland.
Radicant charges 0% on card payments with the interbank rate. Genuinely the lowest cost you'll find, though it's a debit card, not a credit card.
Cornèrcard platinum products charge 1.2%, which is the lowest among traditional Swiss credit cards with an explicit FX fee.
Swisscard (American Express, Visa, Mastercard products) charges 1.5% to 1.9% depending on the card. Their Miles & More cards sit at 1.9%.
UBS charges 1.5% to 1.75% on Visa and Mastercard products. Slightly higher on Visa than Mastercard, interestingly.
Raiffeisen charges 1.6% for card payments and 2.4% for cash withdrawals in foreign currencies. Mid-range for the Swiss market.
Viseca cards (through ZKB, cantonal banks) charge 1.75% as the standard processing fee.
Cembra charges 2.0% on most products, including the free Certo! One card. Low annual fee but expensive abroad.
Swisscard Cashback Cards charge 2.5% on the free Amex/Visa combo. The zero annual fee looks attractive until you travel.
Valiant charges 2.4%, one of the highest among Swiss issuers. Not a good choice if you spend frequently in foreign currencies.
The lesson is clear: a "free" card with 2.5% FX fees costs CHF 250 on EUR 10,000 of annual foreign spending. A card with CHF 100 annual fee and 0% FX fees saves you CHF 150 net. The cheapest-looking card is rarely the cheapest to use.
Which Credit Card Has the Best Exchange Rate in Switzerland?
The answer depends on whether you need a true credit card or just the cheapest way to pay abroad. These are different questions, and mixing them up is the most common mistake people make.
For the absolute cheapest foreign spending: Radicant (0% markup on interbank rate) and Neon Plus (CHF 20/year, 0% markup on Mastercard rate) are unbeatable. But these are debit cards. Hotels and car rental companies may not accept them for deposits.
For the best exchange rate on a real credit card: Cornèrcard products with 1.2% FX fee offer the best rates among traditional Swiss credit cards. If you're willing to consider the Migros Cumulus Visa (0% explicit fee but higher exchange rate spreads), the total cost is roughly comparable. Check our guide to credit cards with no foreign fees for detailed comparisons.
For the smartest overall strategy: Use a neobank debit card for everyday foreign purchases and keep a credit card for hotels, car rentals, and purchases that need credit card protection. This two-card approach minimizes fees while maintaining the practical benefits of a credit card. We break this down in our best travel credit cards guide.
How the Interbank Rate, Card Network Rate, and Your Rate Differ
Understanding these three rates explains why you never get the rate you see on Google or XE.com. Each step adds a layer of cost.
This is the wholesale rate at which banks trade currencies, set by the global foreign exchange market. It's the rate Google and XE.com show. You will never get this rate as a consumer, but it's the benchmark everything is measured against. The Swiss National Bank publishes reference rates daily.
Visa and Mastercard take the interbank rate and add a markup of roughly 0.3% to 0.5%. This is the rate your card network uses to convert the transaction. It's close to the interbank rate and generally fair. Mastercard's rate is typically slightly better than Visa's.
Your card issuer adds the processing fee (1.2% to 2.5% in Switzerland) on top of the network rate. This is the rate that actually appears on your credit card statement. It's often 2% to 3% worse than the Google rate. On a EUR 1,000 purchase, you'd pay CHF 20 to CHF 30 more than the mid-market rate suggests.
For a concrete example: if the EUR/CHF mid-market rate is 0.9300, Mastercard might convert at 0.9330 (0.3% markup), and then your issuer adds 1.75%, resulting in an effective rate of roughly 0.9493. On EUR 1,000, you'd receive a charge of about CHF 1,021 instead of the CHF 930 the mid-market rate would suggest. That CHF 91 difference is the total cost of the currency conversion.
How to Avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)
DCC is the single most expensive trap when paying abroad. It happens when a merchant's terminal offers to show you the price in CHF instead of the local currency. It feels helpful. It's not.
When you accept DCC, the merchant's payment processor converts the currency at a rate they set, typically 3% to 5% worse than the Visa or Mastercard rate. This markup goes to the payment processor and the merchant, not your bank. And you still pay your bank's processing fee on top.
The result: you pay the DCC markup plus your bank's fee. On a EUR 500 hotel bill, DCC could add CHF 25 to CHF 40 in unnecessary costs on top of what your bank charges. The Swiss Competition Commission (WEKO) has flagged transparency issues with DCC pricing in the past.
How to decline DCC every time:
- At a card terminal: choose the option that shows the price in the local currency (EUR, USD, GBP), not CHF
- At an ATM: select "continue without conversion" or "charge in local currency"
- Online: if a website pre-selects CHF as the billing currency, change it to the merchant's currency before confirming
Some terminals are designed to make the DCC option look like the default. Take an extra second to read the screen. That two-second pause can save you 3% to 5% on every international transaction.
Cross-Border CHF Fees: The Hidden Surprise
Here's something most people don't know: you can be charged a foreign currency fee even when paying in Swiss francs. If a merchant's payment processor is based outside Switzerland, the transaction is classified as "cross-border," and your issuer may apply the foreign currency processing fee, even though no currency conversion happened.
This affects online purchases more than you'd expect. A Swiss webshop using a German payment processor, a subscription billed in CHF but routed through a European payment gateway, even some Swiss hotel booking platforms can trigger cross-border fees.
Check your statements. If you see the foreign currency fee on a CHF purchase, contact your issuer. Some issuers distinguish between cross-border CHF and actual foreign currency transactions. Others don't. Knowing your card's policy saves you from unpleasant surprises.
Cards on the Mastercard network tend to handle this better than Visa, because Mastercard classifies transactions by currency, while Visa classifies by the location of the payment processor. This subtle difference means Visa cards are more likely to trigger cross-border fees on CHF purchases routed through non-Swiss processors.
Common Exchange Rate Mistakes
Choosing to pay in CHF instead of the local currency triggers Dynamic Currency Conversion, which adds 3% to 5% in hidden markups. Always pay in the local currency and let your card network handle the conversion at their rate.
A card advertising "0% foreign transaction fees" may use a worse exchange rate that costs you more than a card with a transparent 1.5% fee. Compare the total cost, not just the advertised fee percentage.
Cash withdrawal fees of 3% to 4% (minimum CHF 5 to CHF 10) plus the FX markup make credit card ATM withdrawals extremely expensive. Use a debit card or neobank card for cash.
The exchange rate applied to your transaction isn't the rate on the day you made the purchase. It's the rate on the day the transaction is processed, which can be 1 to 3 days later. On volatile currencies, this timing gap can work for or against you.
Online purchases from Swiss merchants using foreign payment processors can trigger cross-border fees. Check your statements for unexpected FX charges on CHF transactions.
My Recommendation
After analyzing exchange rate data across every Swiss card issuer, here's my honest take: the difference between Visa and Mastercard exchange rates is a rounding error compared to what your issuer charges on top. Stop worrying about network rates and start comparing issuer fees. If you spend more than CHF 3,000 in foreign currencies per year, get a Neon Plus account (CHF 20/year) for daily purchases abroad and keep a traditional credit card for hotels and car rentals. This two-card strategy saves the average Swiss traveler CHF 100 to CHF 300 per year. And whatever you do, never accept DCC. That alone is worth more than any card comparison. For the full picture on travel-friendly cards, check our best cards for use abroad guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exchange rate does my credit card use in Switzerland?
Swiss credit cards use the exchange rate set by their card network (Visa or Mastercard) plus a processing fee charged by your issuer. The network rate is typically 0.3% to 0.5% above the interbank mid-market rate. Your issuer then adds 1.2% to 2.5% on top. The total markup over the Google rate is usually 1.5% to 3%.
Is Mastercard or Visa better for exchange rates?
Mastercard generally offers slightly better exchange rates than Visa, beating it roughly 70% of the time with an average advantage of 0.1% to 0.7%. However, your issuer's processing fee (1.2% to 2.5%) matters far more than the network rate difference. A Visa card with low fees beats a Mastercard with high fees every time.
Which credit card has the best exchange rate in Switzerland?
For the lowest total foreign currency cost, neobank debit cards like Neon Plus (0% markup, CHF 20/year) and Radicant (0% markup, free) offer the best rates. Among traditional credit cards, Cornèrcard platinum products at 1.2% FX fee are the cheapest. The Migros Cumulus Visa claims 0% fees but hides costs in a wider exchange rate spread.
How can I avoid foreign exchange fees on my credit card?
Three strategies: use a neobank debit card with 0% FX fees for everyday foreign purchases, always pay in the local currency to avoid DCC markups, and keep a low-FX-fee credit card for transactions that require a real credit card. Avoid cash withdrawals abroad with credit cards entirely.
What is Dynamic Currency Conversion and why should I avoid it?
DCC is when a foreign terminal offers to charge you in CHF instead of the local currency. The merchant's processor converts the currency at a rate 3% to 5% worse than your card network's rate. You pay this DCC markup plus your bank's fee. Always decline DCC and choose the local currency.
