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Certo! One Mastercard World Review 2024

Baptiste Wicht | Updated: |

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)

Cembra is a well-known credit card provider in Switzerland. They are primarily known for their Cumulus card with a good cashback. After stopping this card, they started a new set of cards: The Certo One Mastercard World and the Certo Mastercard World.

And these cards look even better than the last card from Cembra. So, we delve into the details of these two cards and see how interesting they are.

By the end of this review, you will know whether you should use one of these new cards from Cembra.

About Certo! One
Yearly fee 0 CHF
Card Mastercard
Cashback 1% in three shops and 0.33% in other shops
Foreign exchange fee 1.50%
Interest rate 11.95%
Emitter Cembra

The end of the Cumulus Card

Until recently, Cembra issued the Cumulus Mastercard, an excellent free credit card in Switzerland. I have used this card for several years.

However, in May 2022, Migros Bank announced they would issue their credit card based on the Cumulus points system. This decision ended a 15-year partnership between Migros and Cembra.

So, Cembra started their Certo One! Mastercard and Certo Mastercard, in response to the end of this partnership, to retain their customers.

The cards previously issued by Cembra will remain valid until their expiration date. However, new cards will not be issued anymore.

Cembra Certo cards

To replace the loss of the Cumulus card, Cembra started two new cards:

  • The Certo Mastercard World that you can get in exchange for your Cumulus Mastercard.
  • The Certo One Mastercard World is an entirely new card.

In this review, we look at these two cards in detail.

Cembra started a new website for these two cards: Certo Cards. You can register there to get a new card for free.

Both cards are Mastercard, which shops in Switzerland accept very well. You can use them pretty much everywhere in shops and online. Mastercard is much better in Switzerland than American Express.

Certo Mastercard World

4/5

The first card, the Certo Mastercard World, is made to replace the Cumulus Mastercard offered by Cembra. You can only obtain it by exchanging your previous Cumulus card with this new card.

This card is free, which is generally the essential point about credit cards.

And second important point, this card has cashback:

  • 1% cash back at Migros, Coop, and SBB
  • 0.33% cash back at other shops and online

This cashback is better than the previous card that only gave 0.33% in every shop. For a free card, this is great! This level of cashback is quite good if you often shop at the first three shops.

Certo One Mastercard World

5/5
Best Swiss credit card
Certo! One Mastercard
No monthly fee

A great Swiss credit card with excellent cashback (up to 1%!), very flexible, and with a good mobile application.

Pros:
  • No yearly fee
  • 1% cashback in three shops
Order now

The second card, the Certo One Mastercard World, is a new card that anybody can order.

This card is also free. It also has cashback:

  • 1% cash back at three chosen retailers. You can select the retailers yourself and change them once a month.
  • 0.33% cash back at all other shops and online.

Here is the current list of available retailers (as of July 2022): Migros, Coop, SBB, Zalando, SWISS, Manor, Lidl, Decathlon, Aldi, H&M, Netflix, Spotify, Airbnb, Booking.com, Microspot, Digitec Galaxus, Ochsner Sport & Shoes, Interdiscount, Denner, Landi.

Like the other Certo card, cashback is accumulated for three months and then credited to your credit card bill.

I am pleasantly surprised by this card. The ability to choose the three places where you want the highest cashback is excellent! Looking at the list, I would use Migros, Lidl, and Digitec Galaxus. These three shops cover a lot of our expenses!

I do not understand why the Certo (without the One) Mastercard exists. The Certo One is better for me since you can achieve the same cash back even better.

The fees

4.5/5

We also need to talk about the fees of the card.

As mentioned before, the base price of the card is free. There is no annual or monthly fee. If you use these cards correctly, you will never pay any fee.

You can also get an additional card for free. An additional card is useful if you want a single account for you and your partner but still want to have two cards.

If you carry some balance, you will pay 11.95% interest. This interest rate is extremely expensive, but it is probably not a huge deal since you should always pay your entire balance. A credit card is only attractive financially if you do not carry credit card debt.

There are other fees as well:

  • If you pay in full but late, you must pay 30 CHF.
  • If you need a replacement card, you will have to pay 20 CHF
  • If you withdraw money in Switzerland or abroad, you will pay a 3.75% fee
  • If you pay abroad on in foreign currency, you will pay 1.5% extra

All those fees are pretty high. However, you can avoid all these fees. So, I still consider this card free, which is excellent.

The insurance benefits of Certo One

4/5

Many credit cards come with some insurance benefits. So, we can quickly review the Certo One Mastercard World insurance benefits.

This card has three different insurance benefits:

  1. Best price guarantee: At most 3000 CHF per year and 2000 CHF per event
  2. Purchase insurance: At most 2000 CHF per year and 2000 CHF per event
  3. Rescue assistance insurance: Transfer to the nearest hospital, repatriation, search, and rescue

All these insurance benefits come free of charge with the card.

Insurance benefits on credit cards are not essential. In the immense majority of cases, people will never use them. On top of that, some of these insurance benefits could be covered by complementary insurance.

Nevertheless, these insurance benefits are interesting, and it is good to know about them using this card.

Alternatives

Finally, we must compare the Certo One card with some alternatives.

Certo One vs Cembra Cumulus Mastercard

Before, the Cumulus Mastercard from Cembra was the best card available in Switzerland. So, we can compare the new Certo One vs the old Cembra Cumulus card.

The previous Cumulus card offered 0.33% cashback in every shop, with no other improvements. The new Certo One card offers 1% on three select shops and 0.33% on all other shops. Therefore, the new Certo One card is significantly better than the Cembra Cumulus Mastercard.

On all other fronts, the two cards are similar. They have the same fees and use the same system. There are some differences on the insurance front, but this does not matter to most people. And insurance in credit cards is generally just a marketing argument.

Overall, I much prefer the new Certo One Card!

Certo One vs Migros Cumulus Visa

Since Migros recently launched a new Cumulus credit card, we must compare the Certo One Mastercard and the Migros Cumulus Visa credit card.

Both cards are free. There is no annual or monthly fee.

The first difference is that the card from Migros is a Visa, while the card from Cembra is a Mastercard. But in Switzerland, it should make no difference. Both Visa and Mastercard are always accepted together.

The new card from Migros offers 1% cash back at Migros (2% the first year) and 0.33% cashback in other shops. This cashback is very similar to the Certo One card.

However, with Certo One, you can get 1% cashback in three different shops, including Migros, while you only get Migros shop with the Migros Bank card. Therefore, the Certo One card is better than the Migros Cumulus card!

Also, the cashback from Certo is real cashback on your credit card bill. You can only spend the cashback from Cumulus at Migros. So, the cashback from Certo is more interesting than the cashback from Cumulus.

The Migros Cumulus Visa card is slightly cheaper on other fees:

  • 2.5% for withdrawing money instead of 3.75%
  • 9.4% interest rate instead of 11.95%

Since you should not pay any of these fees, these differences should not matter.

Also, Migros Cumulus Visa card has no fee for foreign exchange, compared to Certo’s 1.5% exchange fee! One. However, this card is still not good to use abroad! The card has no fee, but you will use the Migros Bank exchange rate, which is, on average, 1.5% more expensive than the interbank exchange rate. It is better than the Certo One, but you should not use these cards abroad or online (use Neon to save money on foreign currency transactions)!

With Certo One, you will have to use the Cembra mobile app. And with the Migros card, you will have to use the One app. I have never tested any of these apps. But I have had a bad experience with Cembra and Migros Bank applications. So, I do not expect a good application from any of them. It should not make much difference anyway.

One difference that could be significant for some is that Cembra does not have any support for e-bills. On the other hand, Migros Bank supports it well. So,  if you rely on e-bills, the Cumulus Visa has an advantage.

So, overall, the Cembra Certo One Mastercard World looks better than the Migros Cumulus Visa card!

To learn more, read my full review of the Migros Cumulus Visa credit card.

Certo One FAQ

What is Certo! One monthly fee?

Certo! One Mastercard World has no monthly fee!

Can you pay your Certo! One with e-bill?

No, unfortunately, Cembra does not offer support for e-bills.

What is Certo One! good for?

Certo One! is great for all payments in Switzerland and online in CHF.

What is Certo One! not good at?

Certo One! is not good for payments abroad or in foreign currencies since it has expensive currency conversion fees.

Certo One Summary

5/5
Certo! One Mastercard World

An excellent Swiss credit card with excellent cashback (up to 1%!), very flexible, and with a good mobile application.

Product Brand: Cembra

Editor's Rating:
4.5

Certo! One Mastercard World Pros

Let's summarize the main advantages of Certo! One Mastercard World:

  • 1% cashback on three shops
  • 0.33% cashback in all other shops
  • The cashback is real cash back, not points
  • Free card
  • Free additional card
  • Extra insurance benefits

Certo! One Mastercard World Cons

Let's summarize the main disadvantages of Certo! One Mastercard World:

  • Expensive to use abroad
  • No support for e-bills

Conclusion

Best Swiss credit card
Certo! One Mastercard
No monthly fee

A great Swiss credit card with excellent cashback (up to 1%!), very flexible, and with a good mobile application.

Pros:
  • No yearly fee
  • 1% cashback in three shops
Order now

For me, the new Cembra Certo One Mastercard World is the new best credit card in Switzerland. You can use it everywhere; it is free and has high cashback.

It is better than the previous Cumulus card and better than the new Cumulus card from Migros, with more flexible rewards.

The card is free but has several high fees that you should avoid. But since You can avoid all the fees, we can still consider this card a free card!

The only thing I do not understand is why they created two different cards, and especially why they encourage people to exchange to the Certo Mastercard (no One! in the name) even though the One! is always at least as good.

I am now using the Certo One! card, and I am quite happy about that. For me, it is better than the old Cumulus card.

One card that I should still mention is the Swisscard Cashback American Express. It has 1% cashback in each shop. However, you cannot use it everywhere since it is an American Express. The new Certo card is better than the Amex if you only want one card. But you can get both for maximum cashback everywhere if you want to optimize.

To learn more about credit cards, you can learn about my credit card strategy.

What about you? What do you think about this new credit card?

The best financial services for your money!

Download this e-book and optimize your finances and save money by using the best financial services available in Switzerland!

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Photo of Baptiste Wicht

Baptiste Wicht started thepoorswiss.com in 2017. He realized that he was falling into the trap of lifestyle inflation. He decided to cut his expenses and increase his income. This blog is relating his story and findings. In 2019, he is saving more than 50% of his income. He made it a goal to reach Financial Independence. You can send Mr. The Poor Swiss a message here.

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82 thoughts on “Certo! One Mastercard World Review 2024”

  1. Hello Baptiste,
    Always appreciate great contents.
    I wonder what no-support of e-bill entails? Am I getting the statement by mail? – Is this free?
    How do you usually pay for credit card bills then?

      1. Hi Baptiste,

        Thanks for your answer.
        Would you also know about “Lastschriftverfahren (LSV) / Debit Direct”. I did not select this but if I agree, is Cembra automatically withdrawing from my bank account?
        How are you doing with this option?
        I think I selected yes for the Swisscard AMEX one tho.

  2. I am trying to sign up for a Certo! One Mastercard® World at this link.
    https://certo-card.ch/app/fr/new
    But when I select the card design and click on “suivant” (on the French page), I get “Error page”. I tried a few times and once was able to get to the next page once where I entered my name and birth date, but when I selected continue, it gave me “Error page” again.
    I had this issue a few months ago when I clicked on the link in the email that Cembra sent me.
    Does anyone else get this error, and were you able to get around it? I see that they have a Mon-Fri phone number that can be used for sign-up.

    1. Hi,

      I did not encounter these issues. One thing you may try is either change browser or open the page in anonymous mode. This sometimes help with bad cookies.
      If that does not work, you should indeed call them.

  3. Hi.

    Have you managed to migrate from Certo Mastercard to Certo One! ?

    If so, what did you do?

    I also would like to migrate / change from the Certo Mastercard to Certo One! and I don’t know if I try reaching out Cembra or if I just order a new Certo One!

    1. Hi Bruno

      I don’t have the Certo master, so I am not trying to migrate.
      I have recently received the Certo one but the process is not yet finished since I still need to active the card in the app and I am missing information from Cembra. This process has taken way longer than I expected.

  4. hi Baptiste,
    does selecting Migros also get 1% cashback at Voi and Farmy (owned by Migros), or just solely Migros supermarkets?
    Thanks

  5. I have something which is not clear yet to me…Booking.com is a partner, however the recommendation is not to use this card online. Paying for a hotel reservation on booking.com should be in CHF and therefore no conversion or any fees should be taken right, so it should be still “safe” to use it as a payment method online from CH right?
    Thanks,

    1. Hi Adi,

      As long as you pay in CHF and the payment processor is in Switzerland (not sure about Booking), then this card should be used.
      It’s perfectly fine to use this card online, you just need to be make sure the payment will be processed in Switzerland, not only in CHF.

  6. I was recommended the swisscard cashback card but it seems a scam. I have a standing order to pay off the balance but they first charge the interest on the outstanding money and later they withdraw money from my account via the standing order. So in reality I have never received the cash back from them.

  7. Hi Baptiste, if you have both certo cards then you can have 1% cashback at 6 shops. Does not it makes sense then to have both?

    1. Hi Dimich

      If you really want to optimize that could make sense indeed. But for me, I prefer the simplicity of one with three optimized shops rather than two cards.
      But yes, you could get more cashback.

  8. Thanks for the great review! With the Migros Visa Card you get 2% cashback in the first year and 1% afterwards but with the Certo One card and an additional cumulus card (just the regular migros card to collect the points, not the credit card), I get another 1%, so basically I would have 2% cashback for an unlimitied amount of time. Do get this right?

  9. One thing that is missing in the comparison is in fact transactions in _CHF_ from abroad. Most credit cards charge you exactly the same fee for CHF from abroad as for foreign currency. Alas, you often have no clue, if a store charges from abroad or not, even if you order on a Swiss website (or a website which has a Swiss frontend).
    Example: I rented a car at TCS. Price was offered in CHF and paid in CHF. But as ADAC from Germany is behind that, I had a fee of 60 CHF on my CC bill. Same thing e.g. with the Lego Online Store, which has a dedicated swiss store and dedicated Swiss prices. My ZKB Mastercard charges me 1.75% on that. by the way, a ZKB Mastercard that is offered by Viseca just like the new Cumulus…
    So I now use neon for most online stores.
    However, the TCS example is exactly a case, where I’d need a real credit card, as it is a car rental, which will not accept Debit cards.
    And for this case, the new Cumulus would be the right card in combination with neon for everything else.
    Or am I missing something here?

    1. Hi Hinnerk,

      You are right, most people don’t know that if the online store payment processor is located abroad, the currency conversion fee is also due. This sucks! However, I have never had the issue myself. But people should be careful indeed. It’s good to know about TCS and Lego.

      If you need a credit card and want to minimize the foreign fees, then the new Cumulus is a great option!

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