Certo Credit Card Review and Experiences 2024

The Certo credit card (Certo One Mastercard World) offers numerous benefits, including an attractive cashback program where users receive 1% cashback at three selected favorite merchants and 0.33% at all other merchants. The card is free of charge and offers a welcome bonus of CHF 50. Other advantages include the best price guarantee, purchase insurance, low foreign currency fees of 1.5%, free additional cards, and worldwide acceptance.

Disadvantages include the limited insurance benefits and the risk of debt due to the installment facility.

What are the best benefits of the Certo One Mastercard World?

1. Cashback 💸

The most attractive thing about the Certo One Mastercard, besides the CHF 50 welcome bonus, is undoubtedly the cashback function.

For every purchase, Certo credit card users receive 1% cash back at their three favorite selected merchants and 0.33% at all other merchants.

Savings earned through cashback are clearly listed on the credit card statement each month. Savings accumulated are credited to the credit card statement every three months.

The three favorite merchants can be adjusted every 30 days. The merchants to choose from include:

2. No Annual Fee 😮

The Certo credit card is free of charge. It has no annual fees in the first year and all the years after. It’s also free to apply for.

Personally, I find this very remarkable because you can practically only get such a high cashback from credit cards with a fairly high annual fee.

3. Welcome Bonus 💰

As mentioned above, you get a welcome bonus of 50 francs if you decide to get the Certo credit card. The amount will be credited to you after a successful application review and first payment until December 31, 2024.

What other advantages does the card have?

1. Low Foreign Transaction Fees 💵

If you pay with the Certo credit card in foreign currencies, for example, abroad, you pay a fee of only 1.5%. Most other credit card providers charge 2.5%, which puts the Certo credit card in a good position.

The other advantages of the credit card are also really impressive. It is worthwhile to read through the list carefully. Many of the points listed are usually only found with premium credit cards, which probably explains the popularity of the Certo card.

• Best Price Guarantee: If you buy an item once and later discover that it is cheaper elsewhere, you will be credited the price difference.
• Purchase Insurance: The purchases through your Certo credit card are secured, as you will receive purchase insurance that protects you against theft, destruction, or damage to newly purchased items for 30 days from the date of purchase.
• Refer a Friend: Customers can refer the Certo Credit Card to friends and receive a bonus of 50 francs for each successful referral.
• Additional Card: If you live in the same household with someone, you can apply for an additional card for this person for free. This way, you can both benefit from the advantages of the credit card. The additional card also remains free of charge permanently.
• Mobile & Contactless: Payment via smartphone (e.g., Apple Pay, Samsung Pay) or contactless payment at the terminal is possible.
• Cembra App: The free app allows you to select your favorite merchants and track savings, transactions, and limits.
• Worldwide Acceptance: The Certo credit card is accepted worldwide, which means you can use it at around 80 million acceptance points.
• Design: The Certo credit card can be individually designed. You can choose between the plain standard design, an individual color combination, and a (paid) design with your own photo.

All Certo credit cards are made of 100% recycled plastic.

For the full (official) list of benefits and fees, click here (it’s German, there’s no English version).

What are the disadvantages of the Certo credit card?

The Certo Credit Card offers an outstanding package of benefits, and it does so without an annual fee. If the above benefits appeal to you, you can apply for the card without hesitation. As for the disadvantages of the offer, one can only complain at a high level.

1. Insurance Benefits could be broader 📝

The offer has high cashback and other benefits, as seen with paid credit cards. However, the insurance benefits could be expanded. Shopping insurance is already useful, but to keep up with luxury cards, travel insurance and such would also need to be included.

2. Debt risk 🥶

There are certain debt risks that you should always keep in mind when using any credit card.

Credit card providers make money with the partial payment option. When you use a credit card, you have the option to pay only part of the bill at the end of the month. The rest remains unpaid indefinitely. The only catch is that credit card providers now charge interest on the balance, which is exceptionally high. So, as credit card debt accumulates, you can end up in a negative spiral over time.

For this reason, it pays to pay all credit card bills in full from the start, in my experience! You can also set up a direct debit, and it will all be taken care of automatically.

3. Fees 🤷‍♂️

Partial Payment Option of the Credit Card: Flexible payment of the total amount or partial payment with an annual interest rate of 12.95%. (This is still less than other providers charge.)

For the full (official) list of benefits and fees, click here (it’s German, there’s no English version).

What is the difference between Certo Mastercard, Certo One Mastercard, etc.?

It’s likely that you’ve encountered a lot of confusingly similar names. But you can rest assured: The names practically all describe the same card.

Whether Certo Credit Card, Certo One Mastercard, Certo Mastercard, or Certo One Mastercard World, it is all the same.

The only difference you should know is between Certo One Mastercard World and Certo Mastercard World.

The first one is the same as the names above (and this review). The second one is almost the same but doesn’t let you choose your favorite merchants yourself. Instead, you just always get the 1% cashback at Migros, Coop, and SBB.

So if you want to choose yourself, you should take the Certo One Mastercard World. Since you have nothing to lose, I recommend taking this option anyway. (None of the links in this article lead to the other card.)

What is the spending limit for the Certo credit card?

The spending limit is determined individually. When applying, you provide your financial situation (income, assets, etc.) and are ranked based on this data.

If you subsequently want a higher spending limit, you can fill out a form found on the website and request the increase.

So, theoretically, there is no maximum spending limit.

What do customers say about their experiences with the Certo credit card?

Some customers of the Certo credit card report a somewhat complicated application process, but I cannot confirm this. My guess is that Cembra (the provider of the Certo credit card) pays close attention to creditworthiness when issuing it since the card is free and, therefore, probably attracts people who might get into debt.

On average, the Certo credit card gets 8.4 out of 10 possible points from customers, which is very high in my experience. Since the credit card is free, you can try it without hesitation.

So far, I have only had good experiences with Cembra. The cashback feature is a great way to save money without any hassle.

What are the alternatives to the Certo credit card?

The Certo credit card offers a vivid overall package of good benefits, small foreign currency fees, a free application, and no annual fee. All in all, the Certo Credit Card is an awesome offer that you can’t go wrong with.

While the Certo credit card is a great all-rounder, there are, of course, credit cards that are designed for specific categories of users. In specific cases, these can offer even better benefits. If this sounds interesting, you can take a look at our Credit Card Comparison and see the recommendations for the different user categories.

Experience has shown that the best alternatives are the following.

• Swisscard Cashback Cards: Free, high cashback.
• Cumulus credit card: Free, no foreign currency fee, rewards points at Migros.

Of course, it is also possible (and even smart) to have multiple credit cards. For example, there are cards that offer great domestic benefits but have high foreign currency fees, and others that have no foreign currency fees but fewer benefits. A combination would be the best solution in this case.

What is the conclusion of the review?

👍The Certo One Mastercard World impresses with an attractive cashback program as well as a variety of benefits. With 1% cashback at favorite merchants and 0.33% at all others, free application, a 50-franc starting balance, and a refer-a-friend option, it offers really good value.

👍The best price guarantee, purchase insurance, and low foreign currency fee of 1.5% are further plus points.

👎The card offers fewer additional services than some paid cards. For example, the card includes less insurance than other (more expensive) offers.

Despite the partial payment option, financial prudence is always advised to avoid interest.

Customer experiences are mostly positive, while Cembra boosts confidence as a reputable provider.

The different names for the card mean the same thing, except for Certo Mastercard World, which does not offer an individual favorite merchant choice.

Overall, the Certo credit card is a recommendable choice that offers a wealth of benefits.