Another one bites the dust, Amex dumped by CBA

[nickfromeastryde]

As in they have one of the worst least competitive products, except for the OS Spend part

And supermarkets, major dept stores etc. There were still plenty of places to use the card domestically with reasonable earn though I would agree for the unwary, easy to get ripped off by it as well

 

[N0mad]

i can't believe this, i'm flying out to Thailand on 1 november and was planning on using this. now to decide if it's worth keeping the qantas amex till then. will probably cancel it and pleb at the gate or food court. at least i can get some food with my priority pass.

 

[gavinwa]

No surprise that they've exited from Amex but quite disappointed that they haven't reintroduced fee-free international transactions to the higher-tier cards.

 

[Nutcase]

Signing up for new cards and flipping them is going to earn the normal spender more than annual spend will anyway. CBA were never very generous with sign on bonuses - in fact I don't remember ever seeing one. Given that they are the largest card issuer in the country (by a significant margin) they can really do what they want and get away with it. Banks cards businesses are under significant pressure and AMEX has shrunk its market share so its a bit of a race to the bottom at the moment with points cards really on the nose.

 

[woodyren]

This has been my only long term card. Semi retired and spend about 3-4 months per year outside of Australia so the travel insurance (which will remain on the MC) the fee free OS spend and the points at supermarkets, petrol stations and OS all combined to make it worth keeping while churning other cards with generous sign up bonuses around it. I never use the MC and now will have to work out which card to get and hold. As I will slowly lose the income required to keep higher end cards but still want the benefit of one this was going to be a keeper.

 

[DerekG]

I never use the MC and now will have to work out which card to get and hold. As I will slowly lose the income required to keep higher end cards but still want the benefit of one this was going to be a keeper.

I'm in the same boat, but saw this coming & so moved over to the Amex Explorer Card earlier this year.

The $395 annual fee is covered by the $400 travel credit. Just remember the $400 has to be spent in the one hit.

The cost of a Virgin flight is actually less than booking it on the Virgin website as you pay the same price for the flight, but Amex don't charge you a credit card fee if you use your Amex card for the payment.

PS: There is currently a 50,000 point signup bonus (works out at 37,500 Virgin points).

 

[Cryptarcadian]

I'm not surprised to hear this, but am sad all the same, given it's a card (pair) I've had for over a decade that's still managed to find some use even today internationally.

I can't really see the value in keeping the useless Mastercard portion after October, unless CBA waive the annual fee. No other benefits to make up for the change, really?

At this point, it's basically just competing with the cost of taking out an annual travel insurance policy!

 

[N860CR]

The one thing I liked about this card was the travel insurance. It felt a little more secure to receive a "policy" when activating it.

My partner had the basic awards card that was "upgraded" to the platinum for free (so pays $59 a year or whatever small amount it is) so we'll keep that one. I just dropped mine down to the basic one purely to keep it open for Amex offers, but I can't see any point in keeping the mastercard only

 

[N860CR]

Seems CBA are very keen to drop the Amex. Just had my card reissued after an unauthorized transaction, they didn’t even send an Amex out.

 

[DerekG]

Seems CBA are very keen to drop the Amex.

CBA will have to significantly reduce the price of the the standalone Mastercard, otherwise many people will cancel this credit card & move elsewhere.

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

CBA will have to significantly reduce the price of the the standalone Mastercard, otherwise many people will cancel this credit card & move elsewhere.

No-one has CBA cards because they are the best value on the market. They have them because they choose to tie themselves to CBA, or because they have a package on their mortgage with the cards part of the deal, in which case they are essentially free. CBA customers could move all their banking (including home loan) to another institution but I don't think there is much more attractive out there as a bundle. Bankwest is good, but also CBA-owned.

In short, CBA have very little to lose from dumping the Amex for the majority of their customers as long as no other bank is offering it.

 

[burmans]

No-one has CBA cards because they are the best value on the market. They have them because they choose to tie themselves to CBA, or because they have a package on their mortgage with the cards part of the deal, in which case they are essentially free. CBA customers could move all their banking (including home loan) to another institution but I don't think there is much more attractive out there as a bundle. Bankwest is good, but also CBA-owned.

In short, CBA have very little to lose from dumping the Amex for the majority of their customers as long as no other bank is offering it.

Aside from Westpac they may not offer an Amex (yeah I know it isn’t really a Westpac Amex but your average customer would find that subtlety lost on them) but in general other banks certainly offer way better rewards cards.

In my case my mortgage is so low I'm really not sure it’s worth moving but if I had a substantial mortgage I'd certainly be investigating other banks about now.

The main reason people don’t move is simply inertia, not any belief CBA is better.

 

[nonscenic]

I too have a CBA Diamond MC and Amex as the result of a past Investment loan, and I have enjoyed a much reduced annual fee for several years since the loan was paid off. This fee was reasonable for the travel insurance included. I rarely used the AMEX card apart from in the local Woolies in recent times (it worked out a better points deal than using my Coles Mastercard in Woolies). I use 28 degrees MC for any international transactions and the only time I tried to use my CBA Amex on an international transaction (booking a Ryanair flight from home) it was declined and I got a phone call from the CBA asking if I had made the authorisation.
Living in Melbourne I had hoped to use my AMEX card in the new AMEX lounge at MEL (how does the AMEX lounge dragon know how many of your 2 admissions per year you have used, or do you have to obtain a pass prior to travel, the CBA website is silent on the process) but I might not have the opportunity now before November.

Apart from the points capping and the different maximum lengths of travel in the insurance cover it will make the Diamond an expensive option compared to the Platinum for little extra benefit. I use the MC mainly for DD rather than everyday shopping so that if there are unauthorised transactions on my everyday CC and a new card is issued it is less of a pain for changing DD. If there is an increase in annual fees generally, or if I no longer get the much reduced rate on my Diamond card it will be goodbye CBA

 

[N0mad]

Living in Melbourne I had hoped to use my AMEX card in the new AMEX lounge at MEL (how does the AMEX lounge dragon know how many of your 2 admissions per year you have used, or do you have to obtain a pass prior to travel, the CBA website is silent on the process) but I might not have the opportunity now before November.

you turn up and present your Amex card, they will have a record of number of visits.

 

[nonscenic]

you turn up and present your Amex card, they will have a record of number of visits.

Thanks, I might use it one last time when I travel in September.

 

[nonscenic]

CBA will have to significantly reduce the price of the the standalone Mastercard, otherwise many people will cancel this credit card & move elsewhere.

Certainly most people would be unable to benefit the $100 difference between the Platinum and Diamond MC, and anyone not travelling overseas enough to benefit from the Travel insurance would find much better MC deals elsewhere.

 

[large]

I have the CBA MC and Amex Platinum bundle as part of a home loan package. The AMEX had a good point earn and the no foreign currency transaction fee saved me heaps on my last trip to Europe. I rang CBA to ask them about how the travel insurance works and the consultant asked me for my permission to activate the 50k of life insurance that went with it. Didn't know about that one.

I'm stuck with the MC as its my ATM card as well and once the CBA AMEX goes then its back to my QF AMEX Discovery, provided I cant find another card with a no annual fee sign up points bonus to churn out.

As mentioned a few posts back, CBA did once have a sign up bonus of 40K QF points but that was back before all banks stopped ATO payments as being an eligible spend.

 

[DerekG]

I'm stuck with the MC as its my ATM card as well

You can request a standalone ATM card from CBA. It is called a Keycard & has Cirrus & Maestro on the back of it. You can use this in any ATM that has Cirrus & Maestro signs on it & is a debit card only.

 

[SOPOOR]

I will be sad, but I wil l be cancelleing my CBA cards, in the next comign weeks,
lack of annual fee being waived this year,
poor points ratio for amex and MC

the only good thing is free travel insurance and int fees free on amex,

cannot justify to keep it
added to that CCR changes, means more credit risk

 

[straitman]

I will be sad, but I wil l be cancelleing my CBA cards, in the next comign weeks,
lack of annual fee being waived this year,
poor points ratio for amex and MC

the only good thing is free travel insurance and int fees free on amex,

cannot justify to keep it
added to that CCR changes, means more credit risk

Likewise I have all but given up on CBA cards for rewards. I dumped their Amex ages ago for that very reason.