Recommendations for prepaid credit cards

S

Scrooge

New member
Hi, community! I am looking for prepaid credit card recommendations, where top-up convenience is the most important factor.

Contrary to the community trend, we use prepaid cards instead of credit cards, as it helps keeping our finances in check and not spend more than we have. We currently use the PostFinance prepaid card, which is a rather mediocre choice. CHF 50.- annual fees and 0.3% cashback. However, since we use this for everything, including groceries, online shopping, etc, we do cross the CHF 16'666.67 yearly threshold to make up for the fees.

We currently have a single physical prepaid card, under my name. My spouse has proposed having a "joint prepaid card," that we can both top-up and use for groceries and online shopping. Questions:
  • Is there a thing as "joint prepaid card" in Switzerland? In specifically: a prepaid card that two individuals can top-up and use.
    I assume "no" for the following reasons:
    • I have only conducted research on the PostFinance cards.
    • A second (classic) credit card can be issued for CHF 20.- per year.
    • However, it appears that a second prepaid card cannot be issued without cancelling the first.
  • Which prepaid cards offer top-ups with minimal delays and/or minimal fees?
    • The PostFinance prepaid card can be topped-up instantly via e-Finance. There are no associated fees.
    • Both ZKB and BCV use Viseca, which needs about 2-3 days to top-up a prepaid card. It also charges a 1% fee, to a minimum of CHF 5.-

Overall, it seems to me that, while having a joint banking account is possible, a "joint prepaid card" is not a thing.
 
Hi @Scrooge and welcome!

I am not aware of any prepaid joint credit card that would help.

However, I am wondering if you are not simply better off with Mastercard debit card? Most debit cards these days are accepted exactly like credit cards and can be free at multiple banks. You would not get any cashback but you would also not pay any fee.
 
Hi @Baptiste Wicht and thanks for the warm welcome! Just to make sure I understand correctly, you are referring to the standard debit cards that banks attach to checking accounts, correct? Examples:
You probably have a strong case here. I have been a client of PostFinance for many years, from back when the respective account card was a unique card that could not be used online (as also noted in your review). As a result, I have been under the (false) impression that the standard "account cards" cannot be used online, similar to how FKB's Sesam card works.

Looking at the above links, it appears that all of them can now be used online without issues, including PostFinance's debit Mastercard. The only edge cases that I can think of is rental cars, where a credit card is required (prepaid won't work with some companies).

Assuming that online purchases and/or purchases abroad are not an issue, it seems that we don't need the prepaid cards.
 
Yes, they have stopped using their own cards a few years back and and now almost every bank is using VISA or Mastercard cards. These cards are accepted almost like a credit card.

There are a few exceptions. The main exception, as you said, are rental cars and sometimes hotels. I have seen a few websites online blocking specifically debit card, but this is quite rare. And they do work abroad as well (be careful of fees).
 
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