As I never pay in cash, I was wondering : do I really need a maestro card?

Or is a VISA credit card enough ? Are there places which refuses VISA credit cards in Geneva or other swiss big cities ?

I've actually seen stores not accepting any cards at all (MediaMarket) as well as only accepting their branded visa (is it coop?).
Also, at some gas stations here, my US visa / mastercard didn't work, when Maestro worked just fine.

There are places, even in big cities, that take no credit cards at all. However, if they do, I haven't run across one that doesn't take Visa.

My local COOP doesn't accept my VISA card and yeah MediaMarkt doesn't accept any card.

On the other hand there are hardly any places in CH which don't accept the standard Maestro card.

Get a Maestro!

Thank you all for your quick replies.

I think I'll only get a Maestro then as I don't really like the idea of paying fees for TWO cards...

Maestro works fine in Switzerland, but was not accepted at some places we travelled to outside of CH this summer. Ended up getting a VISA also for "foreign" travel, but were able to negotiate the annual fee.

The Coop across the highway from Gland accepts any Visa (and American Express too).

Mediamarkt is one of those places which I know doesn't accept CC's... maestro usually comes with all bank accounts however, so that's always a good backup card.

Besides, if you live here and need petty cash, you'll need to go to an ATM for that and you're often hit with 5chf fees if taking cash out with a CC whilst it might be free with maestro.

It's better then it used to be: a few years ago credit cards were not accepted in many places.

As mentioned, Mediamarkt seems to be one holdout but you'll probably be OK.

Plus in some smaller independent shops they will give a discount if you pay cash or Maestro (due to the high fees they have to pay to the credit card companies).

One example in Geneva is Cactus in Carouge (an excellent outdoors shop by the way )

Get a Maestro and a free credit card with either Migros or Coop they both issue Visa or Mastercard