Good question — in Switzerland 🇨🇭 you’ll be fine with credit/debit cards most of the time, but cash still plays an important role. Here’s the breakdown:
💳 Credit & Debit Cards #
Widely accepted in cities, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and tourist attractions.
Visa and Mastercard are the most common; American Express and Diners Club are less widely accepted.
Contactless payments (tap-to-pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, TWINT) are very popular and growing fast.
In fact, Switzerland is among the top European countries for contactless transactions.
💵 Cash (Swiss Francs – CHF) #
While cards are common, cash is still preferred in some situations:
Small cafés, bakeries, and kiosks 🥐
Farmers’ markets or local festivals 🎪
Mountain huts or rural villages 🏔️
Public toilets (often 1–2 CHF coins) 🚻
Swiss people traditionally like paying with cash, though this is slowly changing.
🔄 Practical Tips #
Always carry a small amount of CHF in coins and notes, especially for rural areas or small purchases.
ATMs (“Bancomat”) are everywhere, and withdrawing cash is easy with international cards.
Euros are sometimes accepted in border regions and tourist areas, but change is usually given in Swiss francs, and the exchange rate won’t be great.
✅ In short: Cards work almost everywhere, but having some cash in Swiss francs will make your life easier for small or rural expenses.
More info about money in Switzerland.
