PKZ Insider Silver Card Visa

Same zero fee as the standard PKZ card, but 50% more cashback and double the PKZ loyalty bonus.

The PKZ Insider Silver Card Visa ranks #13 among 122 cashback cards and #6 among 29 student-friendly cards in our ranking. It's the middle tier of PKZ's three free Visa cards, issued by BonusCard (Cornèr Bank). If you buy clothes at PKZ a few times a year, it beats the standard card on rewards without costing a franc more.

What Does Silver Get You Over the Standard Card?

Here's the math. 0.75% turnover bonus on everything, worldwide. Spend CHF 15,000 a year and you get CHF 112.50 back, compared with CHF 75 on the standard PKZ Insider Card at 0.5%. That's CHF 37.50 extra for filling in a different form.

At PKZ, the 2% loyalty bonus comes on top. CHF 1,500 of PKZ shopping a year adds CHF 30, plus CHF 11.25 from the turnover bonus. So your PKZ purchases return 2.75% in total. Not a fortune, but it's a real discount on clothes you'd buy anyway.

What Actually Stands Out

The Sorglos-Shopping-Paket is what Silver adds over the standard card. You get a best-price guarantee (find it cheaper within 14 days and you get the difference back), delivery and transport insurance, a 24-month warranty extension and shopping legal protection. Each one requires you to have paid at least 50% of the purchase with the card.

Then there are the PKZ extras: a 10% birthday voucher and the INSIDE magazine four times a year. BonusCard's PKZ page lists all three tiers side by side, and it's worth a look before you apply.

What Most Reviews Miss

The bigger question is why you'd pick Silver at all. Gold costs the same CHF 0, uses the same paper application form and pays more on every purchase. PKZ doesn't publish what decides which tier you get, so ask BonusCard which one you qualify for. And yes, it's a paper form: only the standard card has an online application.

The 2% FX fee is where the value leaks. CHF 3,000 spent abroad costs CHF 60 in fees and earns back CHF 22.50. The turnover bonus also only pays out once it reaches CHF 10, with smaller amounts rolling into the next year. And the CHF 100 PKZ Gift Card welcome offer is worded for the PKZ Insider Card Visa, so confirm it covers Silver before counting on it.

The Bottom Line

If you're getting a free PKZ card anyway, there's no reason to settle for the standard one. Silver earns more everywhere and adds shopping insurance. With no annual fee ever, it also works as a first card, which is why it sits in our best student credit cards in Switzerland ranking.

Verdict: A free upgrade over the standard PKZ card. Take Gold instead if you can get it, and keep a low-FX card for trips abroad.