Manor Credit Card Review and Experiences 2024

The Manor credit card (Manor World Mastercard) offers numerous benefits, including no annual fee and free additional cards. Particularly noteworthy are the various discounts, including up to 25% with partners such as Alpamare and m-way. In addition, users collect reward points that can be redeemed at Manor and receive travel interruption insurance and purchase insurance. The card has a low foreign currency fee of 1.5% and enables simple customer service through the numerous Manor branches in Switzerland.

The credit card’s disadvantages are the limited validity of the reward points, which expire after 2 years, and the lower cashback rates compared to other cards. There are fees for cash withdrawals (4% and a minimum of CHF 10) and payments abroad (1.5%).

The card is particularly worthwhile for regular Manor customers and discount seekers but is less suitable for people who do not use the discounts.

What are the best Manor credit card benefits?

The Manor credit card has several advantages. However, in my analysis, two of them stood out as offering the biggest potential savings.

1. Free Card and Free Additional Cards 💳

The first big advantage is that the credit card is free. As I’m sure you know, most credit cards on the Swiss market have a fee that is usually somewhere between 60 and 400 francs.

So if all the extras of the expensive cards don’t mean much to you, you have a working, free alternative with the Manor credit card.

2. Discounts (Card Specials) 🎁

In addition, the Manor credit card offers a pretty extensive range of savings options. The so-called “Card Specials” include discounts in all kinds of areas. The offers vary, but to give you an idea, here are some examples:

• 25% discount at Alpamare
• 15% discount at m-way (e-bikes)
• 10% voucher offer on additional insurance
• Hotelcard for 79.- instead of 99.- (gives discounts up to 50% in hotels)

Depending on how many of the offers you use, you can quickly save a few hundred francs per year. Because the card is free, you have nothing to lose.

What other advantages does the card have?

The other benefits are also attractive, but usually save less money than the two mentioned above. Nevertheless, these are also very valuable. For example, insurance doesn’t get you anything in everyday life but can, of course, be very useful in an emergency.

1. Manor Card Points 🎉

With the Manor credit card, you collect points for every franc you spend. When you use it to make normal purchases, you get 1 point for every 2 francs spent, or, in other words, 0.5 points per franc. When you make valid Manor purchases, you get 2 points per franc, which is 4 times more than usual. So the points can be worth it, especially if you often shop at Manor. If you apply for additional cards, the points from all cards will be loaded into a common points account.

The reason that the reward points are not listed at the top with the other best benefits is that you don’t really save much with them over the year. You can redeem the points at Manor for CHF 5 per 500 points. This corresponds to 1% in savings. However, since you only get half a point per franc in everyday life, the net benefit of the reward points is 0.5%.

For comparison: Volgmärkli have an advantage of 1%, because you get CHF 10 if you spend CHF 1’000.

It follows… You will certainly not become rich with the reward points of the Manor credit card. You will find a fictitious example with expenses and benefits in the usage example further below.

2. Insurance 📜

The Manor credit card offers a few insurance benefits at no extra cost. Since the card is free, these are actually free insurances, which is pretty awesome if you ask me.

Included in the insurance package are:

Trip Interruption Insurance: Should you need to end a trip early, this insurance covers the cost of unused activities and any additional return expenses.

Purchase and transport insurance: With the Manor Mastercard, your purchases are covered against damage and loss for up to 30 days after purchase.

Free warranty extension: If you pay for a new electronic device with the Manor Mastercard, the warranty protection is automatically extended for another year at no additional charge. In the event of a warranty claim, repair or replacement costs are reimbursed up to CHF 1’000 per year.

3. Good Customer Service Due to Stores 🏠

Manor is a very well-known company in Switzerland, with many stores throughout the country. In total, there are 59 department stores, 27 food supermarkets, and 23 restaurants in Switzerland. On top of that, there is also a large online store. So if you ever have any questions, you are well served by phone or on-site all over Switzerland.

At first glance, this may sound obvious, but there are quite a few credit card offers issued by foreign companies. If you want something from the customer service there, the process may well take a few weeks.

4. Foreign Currency Fee of Only 1.5% 😏

The Manor credit card has a foreign currency/foreign transaction fee of 1.5%, which is relatively low. Most offers in Switzerland are at 2.5%. So, the credit card is attractive even when you are abroad.

What are the disadvantages of the Manor credit card?

Since the Manor credit card is free of charge, there is not much to complain about. However, to address some shortcomings, here are the areas where the Manor credit card does not score incredibly well.

1. Reward Points Only Valid for 2 Years 🙄

As you could probably read between the lines above, I’m not the biggest fan of rewards points. People seem to love them, but often, they are just one of many items for more efficient marketing. With the Manor credit card, the main drawback is that the points expire after 2 years.

So if you do the math, for example, to get a 30 franc credit, you’ll have to spend 6’000 francs in everyday life or 1’500 francs at Manor within two years. Not too bad, but not really exciting either.

2. There are better Cards for Everyday spendings 🤔

Since the advantage of the points amounts to only 0.5% of the money spent, there are alternatives that bring higher percentages. You can take a look at our guide on the best Swiss credit cards to get a better overview of all the different credit card offers.

3. Manor Credit Card Fees 💲

Nobody likes fees, which is why they’re listed as cons here. However, it’s not that Manors credit card fees are high. On the contrary, it has no annual fee. Other than that, the following fees apply.

How could a fictitious usage example look?

The following is a fictitious example to illustrate the use of the credit card in everyday life.

Daniela applies for a Manor credit card and one additional card for herself and her husband. After the application is accepted, the cards are sent to her.

From now on, the two of them pay for items and services by credit card and diligently collect points. They each pay 1’000 francs per month. They spend one month abroad on vacation, where they also pay by card.

On one occasion, they take advantage of the applicable cards offers and go to Alpamare with their two children. Thanks to the Manor credit card, they get a 25% discount.

A few weeks later, Daniela buys an e-bike, including shipping, to drive to her office daily. It’s worth CHF 3’000, but she gets a 15% discount.

Twice, they go to Manor with the children and buy them gifts worth an average of CHF 100 per child per visit.

Now follows the usage example in numbers.

When visiting Alpamare, Daniela and her husband pay CHF 152.25 instead of CHF 203, thanks to the discount. So they get a benefit of CHF 50.75.

When buying the e-bike, Daniela pays CHF 2’550 instead of CHF 3’000, thanks to the discount. The advantage amounts to CHF 450.

With the Manor visits, they collect 800 reward points, and with the other expenses, they collect 12’000 points. Converted, this makes CHF 128.

As there is a foreign currency fee of 1.5% for payments abroad, the card costs of their vacation amount to CHF 30.

After one year, Daniela and her husband have made the following net profit with their Manor credit cards: CHF 50.75 + CHF 450 + CHF 128 – CHF 30 = CHF 598.75

What is the spending limit for the Manor Mastercard?

The initial limit is set when your application is reviewed and depends on the information you provide and your creditworthiness. If you have a permanent job, the limit is usually around CHF 2’000 initially.

However, if the card denied you it’s service multiple times or if you just like a higher limit, you can easily submit an application for more funds. Manor has a special form (in German, not available in English, unfortunately) on their website where you can request a limit increase to 5’000, 10’000, 15’000, or 20’000 francs.

What is my experience with the Manor credit card?

I myself have had the Manor credit card for years. In the past, when I used to go to Manor more often, I also used the card (together with a visa debit card) as my main card in everyday life. In the meantime, I rarely go to Manor anymore, which is why the points don’t bring me as much as when I use one of my other credit cards. However, the Special Offers are, of course, still attractive, and I can get a bargain every now and then.

Basically, I am a fan of the Manor credit card because it is free but still offers advantages that are comparable to paid credit cards, and has a very straightforward customer service.

If you often shop at Manor, it is especially worthwhile, but otherwise, you can also simply benefit from the discounts.

For whom is the Manor Mastercard worthwhile?

The Manor credit card is worthwhile if the discounts interest you. Also, if other benefits like the insurance appeal to you, it is obviously a better option than a regular bank card. Also, if your current credit card has an annual fee, it can be worth switching to the Manor credit card.

If you spend a relatively large amount of money at Manor, the card is even more worthwhile because the reward points will also be useful.

On the other hand, the credit card is not for you if you will never use the discounts and want to pay with another credit card in everyday life anyway.

If you intend to pay exclusively at Manor with the card, it is usually not the best choice too because the collected points expire after two years. So you would have to spend quite a lot of money at Manor within two years to make it worthwhile.

In this case, you can save yourself the application, even if the credit card costs nothing. After all, there are other cards with rewards that don’t expire when used in this manner (see next section).

What are the alternatives to the Manor World Mastercard?

Since the Manor credit card is free, there aren’t countless alternatives that also deliver comparable benefits and cost nothing. Most well-known cards, e.g. the Amex gold card, have an annual fee. If you would like to read a more comprehensive article about the credit card offers in Switzerland, you are welcome to take a look at our overview of the best credit cards in Switzerland (sorted by user category).

The best alternatives to the Manor credit card are the following.

• Swisscard Cashback Cards, Amex + Visa Card (Free, 1% cashback)
• Certo Credit Card (Free, up to 1% cashback)
• TCS Member Mastercard (free, insurance and various benefits)

What is the conclusion of the review?

The Manor World Mastercard is a free credit card with a number of benefits.

👍Outstanding benefits include no annual fee, attractive discounts through “Card Specials,” and free additional insurance that applies in when you travel or shop.

👍The card is also attractive for foreign currencies with a comparatively low fee of only 1.5%.

👎On the other hand, the reward points you earn are only valid for two years and offer lower cashback opportunities compared to other cards.

The card is particularly suitable for individuals regularly shopping at Manor or those who want to take advantage of the discounts and the free insurance. However, those who focus exclusively on reward points but do not regularly shop at Manor may be disappointed with the Manor credit card.

If you yourself have collected some insights on the card you’d like to share, we believe feedback is king, and we always have an open ear!