If you had bought Bitcoins at the beginning of this year, you’d be much richer by now, but if you bought them Friday morning you’d have lost money. With talks of Bitcoin (and other virtual currencies) about to become the biggest financial bubble to burst in many years, the Swiss have a currency which is stable and guarantees a modest return. No, not the Swiss Franc but the Reka checks!
Reka checks were invented to help promote local tourism and are valid for anything from transport, leisure and holidays in Switzerland.
You get a 3% return on your investment at the offset if you buy them from Coop with your supercard. Employers can give them to you with up to 20% off and from then on you get to save, save, save on your leisure activities.
You can redeem your checks at some 9,000 reception points: hotels, restaurants, travel agents, Reka Holidays, public transport, events tickets (at SBB-railway stations), museums, mountain railways and ski lifts, leisure parks, sport and fitness centres, circuses, zoos and much more.
You can find all businesses accepting Reka money as well as many special offers and excursion tips at www.reka-guide.ch. And with the Reka-Guide App for smartphones, you can also keep up to date on redemption opportunities when travelling.
They also now offer a prepaid debit card with a 2% return, if you’d rather not have extra cash in your wallet.
Reka-Check benefits of up to CHF 600.– annually need not be declared in the next salary statement and up to CHF 500.- Reka Checks as gifts (be it for birthday, Christmas or other special occasion) do not have to be declared in your tax return forms.
Many Swiss use Reka checks regularly and personally we find that they offer great deals when we go on holiday or for daily outings in Switzerland.
So it might not be a 900% return on your investment but it does offer a safer alternative, plus it’s tax free money and you get to use the money for fun things!
You can find out more at their website.
