Cards Continue to Dominate Swiss Payments, Though Digital Wallets are Gaining Ground

In Switzerland, payment cards continue to be the dominant payment method for both online and in-store transactions, according to data from Worldpay’s latest Global Payments Report, underscoring the challenges Swiss consumers face in transitioning away from established habits.

However, digital wallets are rapidly gaining ground, projected to become the leading payment method for e-commerce by 2030.

The report, based on a survey of 63,441 consumers across 42 markets, indicates that in 2025, payment cards remained the preferred method over all others. They accounted for 48% of e-commerce and 52% of point-of-sale (POS) transaction value in Switzerland, with Mastercard and Visa carries most card network traffic.

In contrast, payment apps, which include digital wallets, account-to-account (A2A) transfers, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) options, collectively represented 47% of e-commerce payment.

The reliance of traditional methods, specially cards and cash, is even more pronounced in physical retail settings. These methods accounted for 72% of POS payment transaction value in 2025, leaving just 28% for payment apps.

This landscape stands in stark contrast to several other European nations, including the Nordic states, Germany, and Poland, which widely recognized for rapid cashless adoption. In 2025, payment apps dominated e-commerce volumes in these nations, accounting for 73% of e-commerce payment transaction value in Sweden in 2025, 85% in Germany, and 86% in Poland. In POS contexts, payment apps captured 43% of transaction value in Poland in 2025.

Digital wallets on the rise

While payment cards dominated e-commerce transaction in 2025, digital wallets are expected to overtake them by 2030. By then, digital wallets are projected to account for 42% of e-commerce transaction value, rising 8 points from 2025. In contrast, credit and debit cards are projected to decline by 8 points, falling to 40% of e-commerce transaction value.

Physical POS transactions are expected to evolve more slowly in Switzerland. Debit and credit cards are set to maintain their dominance, accounting for 48% of POS transaction value by 2030, compared to 32% for digital wallets.

In Switzerland, domestic payment wallet TWINT was cited more frequently than other brands both online and in-store, with PayPal and Apple Pay also featuring highly.

TWINT is the largest digital wallet in Switzerland and the country’s flagship A2A solution launched in 2017 that allows users to send and receive money, pay in stores, and make online purchases using a smartphone app linked to their bank account or a prepaid card.

The system is owned by a consortium of major Swiss financial institutions, and has reached near-ubiquitous adoption, with around 81% of physical stores and 86% of online shops in Switzerland accepting it. In 2025, it processed more than 901 million transactions, up 17% year-over-year (YoY), and claimed more than 6 million active users.

In the payment apps category, BNPL remains relatively new in Switzerland, holding only a limited market share. In 2025, BNPL arrangements accounted for just 8% of e-commerce transaction value, roughly matching the European average.

Like for digital wallets, TWINT and PayPal are the dominant BNPL providers online, followed by global leader Klarna. Domestic brands also exist, including CembraPay and HeyLight.

The Swiss BNPL market was estimated at around US$2.89 billion in 2026, up 20.9% YoY, according to one research firm. This growth trajectory is expected to continue, with forecasts predicting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.4% between 2026 and 2031. By the end of 2031, the BNPL sector is projected to be worth approximately US$6.45 billion.

European trends

Switzerland’s payment landscape broadly mirrors the wider European region, where cards remain the dominant method at both the POS and online. In 2025, cards accounted for 37% of e-commerce value and 58% of POS value across Europe.

This highly functional and entrenched card market has inhibited digital payment growth. In 2025, digital wallets accounted for just 18% of regional POS value, lagging the global average of 33%. However, digital wallets are expected to grow 12% CAGR between 2025 and 2030 to reach 26% This surge will be driven in part by two developments.

First, the European Commission accepted in 2024 legally binding commitments from Apple requiring it to provide free access to NFC payment functionality through APIs for competing wallet providers in the EEA. This ended Apple Pay’s exclusive access to NFC for contactless payments, allowing banks, payment providers, and digital wallet developers to create their own tap-to-pay apps on iPhones without routing payments through Apple Pay.

Second, Wero is expanding its footprint. Launched in 2024 by the European Payments Initiative, Wero is a European mobile payment system that allows users to send money instantly between bank accounts using a phone number or other simple identifiers. It’s being rolled out by European banks as a homegrown alternative to international payment platforms.

Wero started as a real-time payment system, before adding extended online payment functions in late 2025. POS payments, subscription management, and value-added services are scheduled to follow in 2026 and 2027.

European consumers are also the biggest users of BNPL globally, using the payment method at more than twice the global average. BNPL is especially popular in the Nordics, led by Sweden, the home of Klarna, where it accounts for a quarter of 2025 e-commerce value.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by Sketch Graphic via Magnific

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