What is the most popular payment method in Switzerland?
It depends on how you count. By transactions, mobile devices lead with 34.5% in May 2026, mainly TWINT and Apple Pay. By method, the debit card remains first at the point of sale in the SNB's 2025 survey, followed by cash and payment apps.
In detail
It depends on how you count. By transactions, mobile devices lead with 34.5% in May 2026, according to the Swiss Payment Monitor run by ZHAW and the University of St. Gallen. Cash follows at 23.2%, then physical debit cards at 22.5% and physical credit cards at 14.5%. TWINT and Apple Pay carry most mobile payments.
By method
The Swiss National Bank's 2025 survey still ranks the debit card first at the point of sale, followed by cash and payment apps. Counting cards stored in wallets, debit cards made 33.2% of in-person transactions in May 2026. Swiss banks replaced Maestro and V PAY with Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit cards, which also work online.
The local champion
TWINT, the bank-owned payment app, processed 901 million transactions in 2025 and is accepted by about 81% of physical stores and 86% of online shops.
Online
Purchase on invoice covered 34.6% of online spending in May 2026, a Swiss particularity.
What it means for payment operators
A Swiss checkout without TWINT, debit cards and an invoice option leaves money on the table. Operators serving Swiss merchants can connect these providers once and activate them per merchant, next to Apple Pay and credit cards.