Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

American Express to take over UBS’s stake in Swisscard

American Express to take over UBS's stake in Swisscard
"There is no short-term impact on cardholders, merchants or partners," Swisscard said. Keystone-SDA

American Express is to acquire UBS's 50% stake in credit card provider Swisscard, which the two groups currently hold in equal shares.

AmEx will become the sole owner of Swisscard on closing of the transaction, the timing of which has not yet been announced. Issuers have also been informed that Swisscard and UBS have reached an agreement to transfer Credit Suisse-branded cards to UBS.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

“This transfer of portfolios has no impact on the combined Credit Suisse card portfolio of CHF400 million [$462 million] of ABS notes in circulation,” Swisscard said in a statement on Monday.

Swisscard will continue to issue all the other card portfolios it issues under the American Express, Mastercard and Visa licenses, and will continue to operate the American Express acquiring business in Switzerland. “There is no short-term impact on cardholders, merchants or partners,” the company said.

+ Swiss regulator tells UBS to strengthen its crisis plans

American Express, it added, remains committed to operating in Switzerland through Swisscard.

UBS explained in a separate statement that issuing credit cards in Switzerland through Swisscard is not compatible with UBS’s existing operational processes and strategic priorities as the legal successor to Credit Suisse.

+ UBS to put 19 branches up for sale across Switzerland

“Customers with credit cards distributed under the Credit Suisse brand will be informed in a transparent and timely manner of the next steps in the transition to a new card,” said the bank. “Issuance of the new cards is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2025, at the same time as the transfer of banking relationships. For customers who already have a UBS credit card, nothing will change.”

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Children's books

More

Swiss to cut staff caring for underage asylum-seekers

This content was published on The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is reducing its support staff for unaccompanied minor asylum-seekers. It will cut 120 full-time positions at national level.

Read more: Swiss to cut staff caring for underage asylum-seekers
Almost 3000 people demonstrate for Palestine in Geneva

More

Almost 3,000 people demonstrate for Palestine in Geneva

This content was published on Almost 3,000 people took part in a solidarity rally for Palestine in Geneva on Saturday. The rally was organised by the BDS movement (Boycott - Divestment - Sanctions).

Read more: Almost 3,000 people demonstrate for Palestine in Geneva
100 percent of Swiss companies with a climate strategy

More

All Swiss listed companies have a climate strategy

This content was published on All major listed Swiss companies have a climate strategy. This puts Switzerland ahead of neighbouring Germany and Austria, says a study by Kirchhoff Consult and BDO.

Read more: All Swiss listed companies have a climate strategy

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR