Poinz Card Amex

Switzerland's #1 shopping credit card, and it doesn't even charge you to carry it.

The Poinz Card Amex ranks #1 among Switzerland's 34 shopping credit cards on our v3.1 methodology. That ranking isn't about the headline cashback alone; it's the combination of a free card, the Poinz partner ecosystem, a welcome offer of 50 Swisslos Subito tickets on top of 3% bonus cashback for three months, and an issuer whose entire business is shopping rather than payments.

Why Is It #1?

Three things stack together. 1% base cashback on a free card is already competitive in Switzerland, where most no-fee cards sit between 0.25% and 0.5%. 3% bonus cashback for the first 90 days front-loads year one, capped at CHF 100 in cash. And the 50 Swisslos Subito tickets (CHF 50 at face value, each one able to win up to CHF 5,000) arrive by post once you activate the card.

On top of that, Poinz is a shopping marketplace first and a card issuer second. The methodology weights brand alignment at 15%, and Poinz scores a 5 there because the card is literally an extension of an app built around cashback offers and digital vouchers. That signal is what tips the balance against general-purpose Swiss issuers.

What Actually Stands Out

The Poinz app is the card. 1,500+ brands and 400+ partners power deals up to 50% off and digital vouchers worth up to 10% cashback when you trigger them before paying. Done right, the effective return on partner spend lands well above the 1% headline number; it just demands a couple of taps before checkout.

The card itself is built lean: no annual fee ever, no income requirement (a rarity in the shopping segment where the average declared income is around CHF 800/month) and unlimited free additional cards so a couple or family can share the same Poinz wallet without paying per-supplementary fees. The whole stack is reviewed in our best shopping credit cards in Switzerland guide.

What Most Reviews Miss

Amex acceptance is the price you pay. Big Swiss retailers (Coop, Migros, Manor, IKEA, Globus) take Amex; many independent restaurants, hairdressers and small shops don't. The Visa sibling exists for exactly that gap. Treat the Amex as the high-earn primary and the Visa as the acceptance backup.

The other thing nobody flags: there's no built-in purchase protection on this card. Roughly half of the shopping cards we track ship CHF 1,000-5,000 of coverage on goods bought with the card; Poinz Amex ships zero. That's a real gap if you put big-ticket purchases through it. The 2.5% FX fee and 6.50% foreign cash withdrawal rate also sit above the shopping-segment averages (5.55% on cash abroad), so this isn't the card to travel with.

The Bottom Line

If you live around Swiss retailers that take Amex and you'll actually open the Poinz app before paying, this is the highest-scoring shopping card in our v3.1 ranking, and it costs you nothing to find out. Pair it with a free Visa (the Poinz Visa, or any of the cards in our best shopping credit cards in Switzerland line-up) for the merchants Amex misses.

Verdict: Worth applying for as soon as you have a regular spend pattern. The 3% start cashback and the Subito tickets more than offset any onboarding friction.