Hi guys,

Has anyone else had any problems, with using the Coop Supercard (MasterCard) ?

We've had huge problems with their customer service, and they refuse to accept they're doing anything wrong.

The Coop MasterCard comes with two annoying problems:

1. When trying to book holidays/flights using non-Swiss websites, the Coop MasterCard will automatically get declined.

So, trying to book using expedia.co.uk, or book flights with American Airline's own website was automatically declined.

Coop admitted that this is their standard policy (!!) as fraud is so high, particularly with travel websites.

They claim that what should happen is that the payment should be declined, but you should then get a txt message sent to you, asking you to ring Coop, and if you do so, they can manually make an exception for you, and you can force it to work.

We didn't always get such a txt message, and once when we did, we rang up Coop to ask them to let the payment through, and they charged us a couple of CHFs for the privilege of ringing their customer services line !!

Unbelievable.

2. My wife and I both told Coop we'd be going on holiday to Thailand for 10 days, gave them the dates, and told them to make sure that our two MasterCards would work over there.

No.

We got there, and both cards were declined, every single time, on every transaction, even for small amounts. Coop suggested that perhaps each of these places we visited had "communication problems", and claimed that they had never messages asking for payments on our cards.

I told them, after having my Coop MasterCard declined, I used my UK Visa Card, and it worked every time. Why was that ?

"We can't comment on how other foreign credit cards are working."

Sigh.

In short, Coop refused to acknowledge that there's any problem at all, but we have had an endless stream of problems with (just) their MasterCard.

Seriously, a credit card, which is designed to automatically decline transactions from any travel website outside of Switzerland ?! What's the point of having a nice large credit limit, if you can't even book your family holiday on it !

Has anyone else suffered with problems like this ?

And, is there a good alternative credit card we can move to ?


Mike

You probably know that the Coop cards are actually run by Credit Suisse, a very large bank. You probably also know that these cards are free of any annual charges, so the bank is going to be very careful and not make a loss.

I have been using Coop cards, both VISA & M/C, in Europe for many years, and I have never had a problem.

I can only suggest you get a card from UBS or Credit Suisse, pay the fees and get a better service.

My CS Miles & More card is exactly the same when we go on holiday - declined every single time. Even though I call ahead and tell them where we will be, dates etc. They say it's their security protocol.

And I pay for this card. I'm convinced CS cards are run nibs because it never happens with my UBS gold card.

I've had problems with them as well. They just lose your business since of course, you just switch to an alternate card. Not very business smart that's for sure. In my case, they blocked the card since apparently it was used somewhere, long ago, that had their database compromised. Instead of just sending me new cards, I had to call them and ask why the card wasn't working anymore. That delayed everything at least a month since I never have time to call during the day when they are open. Then, after I called, they supposedly sent the new cards. Waited another month or so and called again when they didn't arrive. Turns out they had sent them to my address from 2 years ago. What idiots....in the end I didn't use their card for several months. Their loss...

Meanwhile my credit card from the US has 5x the limit and "costs" me about negative 100 dollars per year (automatic cash back directly credited). Also includes many many more benefits.

Dan

I have a BCGE Visa, managed by Viseca. Works everywhere, no issues, foreign websites, foreign countries, netflix, airlines, hire cars.

I've only had it 16-18 months but zero issues so far.

We have a Visa card with credit Suisse and about a year ago they sent us a letter with a list of countries that the card wouldn't automatically work in unless you informed them beforehand. From what I remember it was possible to ask for permanent use in these countries ( if you make frequent trips there for example) or temporary ( for a one off holiday). OH got permanent authorisation for the US and has never had problems using it over there.

Same experience here with Coop Supercard but no issue with a CC from Viseca, who offers a neutral card with Internet account for 50 CHF, the best deal in the country IMHO.

I don't remember issues with my Coop card but I've used UBS and Corner credit cards more. Both are excellent and do make sure you register your mobile number as they will call you before blocking use abroad.

I even had UBS call me out of the blue when my card got hit for 2k dollars. Sorted with little fuss.