As the SonntagsZeitung writes in its current issue, the call filter that Swisscom has been offering for around a year is actually designed to prevent dubious advertising calls. However, the blacklist kept by Swisscom also includes renowned opinion research institutes such as Demoscope and GFS Bern. The fact that Swisscom customers are less likely to be reached leads to a systematic error, says Stefan Klug of Demoscope. The reason: Swisscom customers form a specific group of people, since the proportion of higher earners, for example, is greater with this provider than with competitors. The result is distorted results in scientific surveys.

The Swiss Market and Social Research Association protests against Swisscom's action and demands that institutes that adhere to the association's rules do not end up on the list. Swisscom, in turn, counters that this is not the case anyway - there are no known cases in which the call filter has blocked research companies that have adhered to the rules - for example, no calls after 9 p.m., says a spokesperson to the SonntagsZeitung. However, there are customers who individually block numbers from survey institutes with an individual filter.

Intransparent catalog of criteria

In practice, however, the handling is not as transparent as Swisscom makes it out to be. Institutions are blacklisted on the basis of a complex algorithm that uses more than 100 criteria. However, Swisscom keeps the criteria secret. The list is dynamic, and the software continuously defines which numbers are blocked.

This uncertainty as to whether one is currently blocked makes matters worse, says Andreas Schaub of GFS Zurich. This makes it impossible to calculate the systematic error in a makeshift way.

Market researchers are also bothered by the fact that Swisscom grants special status to the Federal Statistical Office. Its surveys are given privileged treatment by the filters. The criticism is that this creates a monopoly for high-quality surveys.

Customers don't seem to care about Swisscom's questionable filter policy. They love the call filter: since its introduction in 2016, 260,000 fixed-network customers and 120,000 mobile customers have activated it. In the second quarter of 2018 alone, Swisscom blocked 12 million calls this way. (hae)

Around half (47%) of all men shop several times a day. The figure is significantly lower for women, where just over a quarter (28%) make several purchases a day. Men in particular like things to be convenient and always or occasionally pay by credit card (67% versus 55% among women). And around a quarter (23%) could imagine doing without cash altogether. That's why only one-seventh do without a credit card when shopping online, according to the findings of a national survey representative of the population conducted by Demoscope.

Especially people who buy something several times a day use credit cards several times more often. Convenient and fast, that seems to be the motto for many. It is therefore not surprising that people who use credit cards regularly often (61%) pay with a "tap" (contactless). Just under one in three of all respondents (29%) already makes contactless payments. Men twice as often as women and German-speaking Swiss around 50% more often than French-speaking Swiss. However, not everyone seems to be aware that almost every credit card (around 90%) can be used to make contactless payments - at two out of three payment terminals.

Credit cards are most frequently used for online shopping (84%). Men slightly more often than women (87% versus 81%). Vacation and flight bookings (77%) and spending abroad (76%) are also preferred to be paid by credit card. And almost half of all respondents with a higher income want to benefit from bonus programs.

When not paying with a credit card, the debit card comes in ahead of cash at 73 percent (71%). Around a quarter (23%) of all respondents can imagine doing without cash altogether. Especially 18-34-year-olds and men compared with 50-65-year-olds and women.

The population-representative online survey was conducted by Demoscope between July 6 and 17. 921 people from all over Switzerland aged 18 to 65 were surveyed on behalf of the Swiss Card Providers Association.