Does Apple Pay work in Switzerland?

02 Feb 2023

Yes, You can use Apple Pay in Switzerland. Apple Pay was launched in Switzerland on July 7, 2016. According to the 2021 moneyland.ch payments survey, Apple Pay usage in Switzerland remains low. Only 7% of residents believe Apple Pay is indispensable, compared to 71% who believe credit cards are indispensable and 67% who believe cash is indispensable. Only 3% of residents use Apple Pay for in-store payments on a regular basis.

To use Apple Pay, you must have a credit card or prepaid card issued by a Swiss or foreign card issuer that is an Apple partner. When you use a foreign card to pay with Apple Pay in Switzerland, your card issuer will charge you a foreign transaction fee.

Your card issuer has a contract with Apple that allows you to use your credit or prepaid card with Apple Pay. If you have a card that is eligible, you can simply enter and save your card information in Apple Pay.

After you've added an eligible card, you can use Apple Pay to make payments at any NFC-enabled POS terminal, including those in countries where Apple Pay isn't available. For example, long before the Swiss Apple Pay launch, US Apple Pay users could use Apple Pay to pay in Switzerland.

Because the vast majority of POS terminals in Switzerland are now NFC capable, Apple Pay can be used to pay at the majority of shops and other businesses.

You can also use Apple Pay with the Safari web browser at an increasing number of online stores.
Note: Using Apple Pay in conjunction with a Swiss credit card to make purchases outside of Switzerland can be costly. Foreign transaction fees apply to all Swiss credit cards. In addition to foreign transaction fees, card companies charge markups on currency exchange rates, which adds another cost.