I couldn't find anything that really answered my question anywhere else, so excuse me if it's already been posted somewhere.

My boyfriend (English), lives in France, works in Switzerland but wants to move to Australia with me. Until he finds a job over there, he'll probably need a credit card to get him by and just for general emergencies.
He obviously won't be able to apply for a credit card in Australia until he gets an income, so I'm guessing his best bet would be to apply for a Swiss credit card for the time being. We're both Kantonal bank account holders, and I have a BKB visa card of which the entire balance gets drawn from my swiss savings account the next month, I find this odd, and a bit of a nuisance, but it was the only option with the BKB and it's probably not going to help him much. Does anyone have a suggestion for any other bank that he might be able to apply to with good exchange rates/charges? Or would he be better off applying for a french or UK credit card?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mastercard is a pretty good bet. I have used it a lot of times in Switzerland without any fees.

I think it depends what bank you get it from though?

Anyone got any ideas?

http://www.cornercard.ch , 3 weeks u get a mastercard + visa with no hassle.

I think it would be smarter for him to save up money and then move. No credit card needed. Safe, less complicated, and no debt.

I also think that that would be the best option, but it's a lot more convenient, especially in somewhere like Australia, to have a credit card so you can buy things online and your purchases are insured. I find it nice to have a safety net, especially seeing as my wage here is less that $20k a year, and who knows what his will be like until he finds something a bit more stable.

have you considered prepaid card? I know mastercard does them through here in Europe, check out this one...

Thanks, yeah we have but we were after an actual credit card, not an alternative.

I don't know if this will be helpful to you at all...
but I used to have a VISA living in Canada and was really surprised to find out I needed a PIN number sometimes here in Europe.
So if you do leave home with a CC, make sure you know the PIN number to avoid any unpleasant surprises...

Surely it isn't ideal to run up credit if you have no job? And to keep his account going here when he is no longer a resident here? Probably possible if there is a lot in it but if there is why not bring his savings with him. He can always use your credit card till he's settled.

The obvious card providers are UBS / Swisscard (Credit Suisse) / CornerCard / Viseca - they all offer Visa and Mastercards.

I think the SBB, Jelmoli and Migros also offer Visa and / or Mastercard, but not so sure about those.

If you're looking to carry a balance from month to month, a credit card is the way to go.

If you'll pay the whole lot off each month, a credit card still works, but you could also look at Charge cards (predominantly Amex), or prepaid cards as were already mentioned.

Don't forget you could also add him as a supplementary cardholder onto your own existing or new card. If you have or will have an Australian card this might be a good option, as you'd avoid foreign currency fees. Of course you'd also be responsible for the whole balance

Of course it's not, but we unfortunately don't live in an ideal world. As I've said before, it's more of a safety net, like what if he has to turn around and come back to Switzerland urgently? I don't have $5000 lying around for him. Regardless of the situation, and I do thank people for their concerns, but I'm just wanting to know where we can find a credit card with low overseas fees.

Thanks

If he qualifies and if he has assets in Sterling to pay the bills, the best credit card is a Nationwide Building Society VISA card http://www.nationwide.co.uk/creditcard/default.htm or else their Debit card based on a Flexaccount. They charge zero loading (commission and fees) on use within Europe and 1% elsewhere.

If you want to use a Swiss (or any other) card, make sure you are not paying a high loading (Amex charges 2.7% -- I remember when it was 0.5% -- on foreign transactions. As both MasterCard and VISA add 1% to foreign transactions (regardless of currency) the Nationwide deal is particularly good. I know of no US or other non-US financial institution that charges 0%. Many US credit unions, and USAA Federal Savings Bank, charge 1%. (Many other US and foreign banks charge 3%, which is extortionate. At least with Amex you get some free insurance, car rental CDW, travel accident, theft & breakage of new purchases, etc.)

All VISA and MasterCard currency conversions go via the US dollar. Whether that means anything in terms of cost I've never been able to figure out. But it does seem to mean that the USG can spy on you if they want to.