During my last trip overseas I planned to do some payments with my Coop CC. Although it's apparently free, it's also well know that it works on the commissions for services, with fees higher than those of paid credit cards.

The problem started when my credit card was rejected at almost every spot I tried. Suspiciously there was no issue at all when using ATMs, the most expensive operation.

Then, when I received the card's statement I realized that two operations that I saw myself in the POS screen as rejected were actually charged to the CC, while others were charged but reverted afterwards.

Next time I will get a real CC to avoid this annoyances. Learn from my fail.

I have had the Coop credit card for years and never had a problem with it abroad. In fact once they actually called me to verify it was me using the card to pay the hotel bill.
It does charge 1.5% i believe on foreign currency transactions,

What I don't get about the Coop Supercard Plus is that they don't have e-banking and there is no tollfree number. If you have an issue with the card or lose track of your expenditure and would like to know the balance, you basically have to call a regular landline.

Sorry you had problems there. Maybe it was a problem with the merchants trying to cheat you, and not the cc company?

I have both the Visa and the Mastercard. I experienced no problems using them for years in Europe. They are operated by the rather large Credit Suisse bank.

They are FREE of any annual subscriptions, so you should expect to pay for some things, like calls to hotlines and foreign transactions. Their interest rates are reasonable at around 9% p.a.

If the T&C don't suit you, I suggest you get one from your bank and pay the extra Fr 100 to Fr 200 per year.

Which makes it even more embarrasing that they still haven't managed to set up a system where you can check your balance and transactions online.

I prefer regular landline number to some special one that I cannot call for free from my VoIP program.

I agree though that no-ebanking sucks and I have already decided to order the Migros CC which is also free, offers online track of my spending and since I moved to my new flat I have Migros next door (in the past I was living next to a Coop).
Once I have it I will cancel my Supercard Plus. But I will keep my Coop Verde American Express which I use for long-distance flights since it includes travel insurance (neither the Supercard Plus not the Migros card do).

I wasn't aware that Migros offers online banking with their credit card. Thanks for the info!

I had no problem with the Supercard so far, the also called me once to verify I was doing a payment in Basel! I was aware that the business with those cards rely on the fees. What drove me mad was that I was "forced" to pay 3.5% for cash abroad, around 25 CHF for withdrawing 700 CHF.

I did never have a single problem with the UBS CC, although the 100 CHF fee was a bit too high for it given I was not entitled to online tracking of payments.

I'll check the Migros card, if they offer online access I would switch to it, or at the end try with the no brand card of Viseca.

I cannnot guarantee until I actually order it, but this is what I assume:
http://www.migros.ch/cumulus/fr/cumu...avantages.html
eService
L’eService vous donne accès gratuitement et en permanence à votre compte de carte de crédit. Vous pouvez suivre vos achats et vos paiements en ligne, vérifier votre décompte et le consulter aussi souvent que vous le souhaitez. Vous pouvez également modifier rapidement et simplement vos données personnelles.

And auf deutche :
eService:
Mit eService haben Sie kostenlos und jederzeit Zugriff auf Ihre Kreditkartendaten. Sie können Ihre Einkäufe und Zahlungen online verfolgen, Ihre Abrechnung kontrollieren und diese beliebig oft abrufen. Auch Ihre persönlichen Daten lassen sich einfach und schnell ändern, z.B. bei einem Umzug.



What sucks about Coop is that if you visit the card issuer's page, it says that electronic track is offered for some of their cards...
I really don't get it.

I have both the Coop and Migros cards.

Yes, it does seems kind of silly that you have to call via telephone just to get your balance for the Coop card. It's a hassle calling just to find out when being able to do it online would save them money as well. Also the credit limit they give you is so low that you need to worry about it if you have a month where you might have a lot of charges. In the US, my Capital One card kept raising my limit until it was 20K or so, and on top of that, I usually get about $100 back from them in cash (direct credit to the card) every year. They also had online everything, as well as all the perks like rental car insurance, etc, included for free. I was once late with a payment, they charged me, and I paid it right away but called to tell them. While on the phone, the guy reversed the fee since I was a "loyal customer". But I digress....(must stop dreaming of real customer service, you're in CH now. )

The Migros card does offer online services. It's provided via GE Money Bank. I typically use the Migros card more than the Coop card, just because of that.

I've never had any problems using either for "out of country" transactions. My wife bought something over the internet (out of country) the other day and Migros actually called within minutes to confirm the transaction.

Dan

Or do what I did and cancel my Corner Bank card, at which point they agreed to wave the yearly charges if I used it for at least 3k per annum (no problem there).

Tom

I tried the same with UBS but they agreed to wave the yearly fee only for one year. I requested the fee to be removed forever but after their negative I confirmed my CC cancellation.

I work with someone who has UBS banking and their credit card. He claims that with their "points" system he earns enough points that they can be applied to pay the yearly fee on the credit card, thus making it "free".

Dan

I have the Coop credit card, but before testing it abroad, apart the 1.5% transaction fee, what exchange rate do they give you? The official end of day rate or UBS's sell rate? Not sure if anyone pays attention but if it is UBS's sell rate, you'll end up paying nearly 5% on top of what you spend.

Coop CC is a normal Master Card (or Visa), so it's just as real as any other CC.