Hi,

Thinking of dropping Maestro and using only PostFinance Card Direct but not sure it is as acceptable as the former.

On postfinance.ch they say I can even pay online with PostFinance Card but I don't recall any online shops offering it. Certainly, the Swiss Maestro can't be used online (Irish can, for example) but is it true that the PostFinance Card, which, I somehow got an impression, is inferior even to the Swiss Maestro, can be?

Is the PostFinance Card accepted in all those shops that accept only Debit Cards (here and abroad)? I read about some glitches in Aldi/Lidl but I'm not sure it's a rule or an exception.

And in Switzerland, are there any shops not accepting the PostFinance Card?

If I understand it correctly, in their Plus SetThe target link is not accessible to all users. If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Service. Telephone 0848 888 710 (regular rate) 24-hour service, 365 days a year.: cash withdrawals are free anywhere in the world (where the Card is accepted). Any one to confirm it?

One thing PostFinance doesn't have is a Credit Card in Euro, otherwise it would definitely be the best banking option in this country for those living in more than one currency.

Cheers.

Hello,
The PF card is accepted pretty much everywhere in Switzerland (Incl Swiss online shops). Any place taking debit cards will accept the PF card.

Outside of Switzerland, you can use it to withdraw money from an ATM. This works very well, but I have always had to pay a fee, about CHF 3 I believe. It cannot be used to pay directly at the grovcery store for ex, - but then not sure whether you could with the Maestro card?

One of the big advantages of the PF is that the card is free -Maestro is paying (at least where I was banking before).

Does this answer your question?

With maestro you can often pay directly in shops and hotels overseas (for sure in europe when I have travelled) but with PF card you cannot. Also some restaurants in Zurich take maestro but not post card, although this is not common.

Thanks!

Only yesterday I tried paying for the first time with PostCard and it was accepted Actually, even before that, also yesterday, I cancelled my Maestro with UBS.

Regarding the money withdrawals, as I said, Post declares that owners of Plus Set don't pay ANY charges for any cash withdrawals around the world. That's the reason I switched to this package but I would like to hear a confirmation from someone currently using it.

I do know that UBS Maestro can be used abroad but their charges are so high that I think getting the local cash with PostFinance card for free and paying with it would be cheaper (OK, maybe not as convenient).

And what Swiss online shops accept PostFiinance Card?? I'm not sure what exactly you would have to enter there? Certainly, not the IBAN which is the most prominent thing printed on the card.

SBB & Switzernet ( VOIP phone line ) for example.

I can confirm that the Plus Set has no fees for ATM withdrawals, either in or out of Switzerland.

You can use any bank's ATM within Switzerland for free (comes in handy when you can't find a Postomat around or want EUR in smaller notes than the 50s that Postomats generally dispense), and withdraw any currency at an ATM in another country at the normal exchange rate with no additional fee/commission. I've tested this in Italy, Austria, Turkey, Oman and UAE, all with no problems.

If the total value of your accounts with PF is >25'000 CHF, then there is no monthly fee for the Plus Set either.

how safe is paying with postfinance card? this isn't a credit card, so i'm guessing you're potentially on the hook if anything goes wrong?

Exactly the same as any other debit card, like the Maestro one mentioned herein. So you don't get the additional protection you may get with a credit card, no.

I thought with the PFinance debit card you could not access other ATM's., as that could be done with the Maestro only.

Booking online at www.ebookers.ch for instance is not possible with Postfinance card, at least i did not see this option.

You can use other banks' ATMs in CH with the standard yellow PostFinance card, yes; but you get charged for it. As I once found out by chance having been doing so regularly for about five years

oh ok. Thanks. So the 40 CHF for Maestro is worth it if I use other ATM's frequently enough. Indeed then you were paying a bit in fees for 5 years. But better late than never so now you can decide what to do.

The car park tickets at Geneva airport don't accept PF card, a credit card or cash is required. It's the only place I have had a problem in the last 5 years!

I'm also thinking to change to Post Finance Plus for this reason (and found this thread looking for information).

Have you checked if they are stealing a bit in the exchange rate? I mean, do they apply the standard Visa exchange rate?
I guess it doesn't matter a lot if you already save the 3-5 francs that are usual when you withdraw abroad, but well, just asking.

I would be extremely surprised if there was not a hidden transaction fee of 1% or 1.5% on the exchange rate to any foreign denomination.

If you are booking flights with swiss.com, you can use the Postfinance card and there is no fee, whereas if you use other cards i'm pretty sure there is a fee for paying with credit/debit cards.

Yes, paying with the PF card is free otherwise you get hit with fees - 11 CHF per ticket.

since switching to PF over a year ago, i've had no problem using only the PF card.

i still have the UBS maestro card 'just in case' but have managed fine without using it. a bit of a waste of money to pay 40 chfs a month for something i don't use...

I'm organizing completely switching from UBS to PostFinance in the next month and the lack of a Maestro card was my only reservation. In the end, I figure everywhere I can't use the PostFinance Card, I'll just use a credit card. PostFinance gives a percentage back of everything you buy with their credit card at the end of the year (for example, with their Gold card, 1.5% at the end of the first year and 0.75% for subsequent years). This is enough to cover any charges, IMO. Plus, I should be using Maestro less anyway, particularly abroad, as you're debiting directly and it's harder to dispute charges.

Yes, but the "Travel Cash Card" is a Maestro card and it free apart from the top up charge....

The question I have is can you top this and the debit cards by logging in to eFinance when abroad?