Anybody get deals from their OWN bank?

[jastel]

I bank Westpac, have for 30+ years, so has all the family.
Have Assets value of $1m and a business loan of $100000 left approx. Not a high flyer but not a bad credit risk either.
Have a business CC only for business expenses.

I don't use my personal Earth Platinum CC much, only when travelling for flights car rentals hotels etc on the internet. Usually it has a positive balance.
But when I go overseas I may spend $20000 on them. After the capping started last year I enquired about the Black Card but was put off by the large annual fee.
Being told by the girl the capping wont affect me was annoying, usually she would be correct but not when I travel. I said fine cap the card but lower the annual fee.($90)
No cant do that. So now I essentially pay the same and get less.
And I was not a big enough fish to get one for free in the initial offers.

Now I am sick of reading these offers for EVERYBODY else from other banks to come to Westpac and get 40000 points, fee free cards, stuff all interest rates etc
while I as a loyal customer of 30 years get absolutely nothing!!! I asked that exact question..."What can I get?"
Some recognition of loyalty would be nice. It seem the attitude is You are already our customer, we will focus on the people from ANZ and get them over here, meanwhile I walk out the door???
They are not gaining any customers??

I don't want the hassles of changing banks but has anyone got any tips to get banks to look at customers in the middle like me.
I don't have enough $$$ to get special attention and I don't owe them enough either so it seems I get ignored so long as I pay my loans back on time...

 

[jj92]

Interested to hear as well..
My commbank gold card is due for renewal in a month but won't bother renewing it unless I can get a fee waiver... atm I only use it as a secondary card

 

[BoyZeus]

I bank with Westpac and just today "threatened" to walk. By the end of the conversation my credit card interest rate on my platinum card was reduced significantly.

As a mortgagee with them, they have always provided me with one fee free credit card of my choice as well.

I'd do a little more jumping up and down !

 

[cove]

Jastel if you have any BAS or taxes to pay that would be how you can make a Black Altitude or Black Earth $395 fee work.
I pay the fee for each of them but I do run up a lot on each card to make that fee fee look tiny.
There is a free Citibank offer at the moment if you look through the threads where you earn good points and store them. The current Signature card offer is fee free and has been extended.

 

[suze2000]

Threaten to walk. I've done that with AMEX and the like before and suddenly fees disappear. I kept my Westpac card an extra year because of this, but in the end, I moved to an ANZ card instead.

 

[Pushka]

Foxtel is like that. Offers regularly to newbies but not those who have been loyal.

 

[bass_ke]

Maybe not so relevant to business owner and such but I am with a credit union and have found I'm treated much more like a human being and less like a number.

I have the contact details for 1 person in the credit union who sorts everything out or me, awesome stuff!

 

[jastel]

Thanks for the replies.

Cove - I pay BAS, tax etc on business CC, it is not a Black but fee is cheaper, gets me some QF points.
I know you shouldn't pay Business expenses, ATO etc on personal cards so have 2 separate ones.

Seems I need to make some more noise...trouble is I have had 3 relationship managers in the last year...none seem to stay very long. (I doubt its because of me!)

Just seems stupid that they ignore their own customers to attract new ones.
Wanted to see if this was just a Westpac thing or all banks.

 

[burmans]

Foxtel is like that. Offers regularly to newbies but not those who have been loyal.

That's just pure economics, and frankly it's largely our own fault. The reason that companies don't offer incentives to their own customers to stay is that they don't have to, people are usually not prepared to move even when they aren't really happy.

So yes, threaten to leave.

 

[cove]

Jastel we give the car financing to the lowest bidder so NAB steal these deals from Westpac on a regular basis and there is no harm that arises from that. Both banks get between 6 and 8 chances a year and it is up to them to compete.
I think we have 8 Foxtel services that we pay for and yes I see the new deals to new customers and we get offered dust.
We also have Sky and Direct TV plus Netflix and they do the same for new customers rather than existing ones so it is the same in the UK and the US.
By the way the Westpac Altitude Black is a winner at the moment if you want to enjoy travelling at the pointy end even though it starts out more expensive the points you get are probably worth several times more than Qantas points for overseas travel.
My youngest son uses my Velocity points for J travel coast to coast and he is delighted with the availability. For overseas we all use the Altitude points as they produce great travel results.

 

[PLANT]

Ask to be allocated a personal bank manager(should have automatically with business account).
Be prepared to walk.
Go into bank, the account held and ask to speak directly to Bank Manager.
Go to Bankwest and see how you would be paying alot less in fees.
Get a CitiBank Sig card if offer extended?

 

[prozac]

Hi jastel, it is possible someone might be able to assist you if your location was displayed in your profile. What region are you in? You;re right, loyalty is not often rewarded with the big banks. A good relationship manager can smooth the wrinkles for you and perhaps requesting a higher level of service will see one appointed to you.

I am a referral partner and can help with introductions for anyone looking for home and investment finance. Also atm there is a big push to gain new business customers requiring finance of $1m-$20m with many of the refinancing costs covered if switching banks. If interested pm me.

 

[jastel]

Thanks for the offer Prozac, but I will keep it local for now. Location is regional Qld, people cant leave here for the big smoke fast enough.
Never seem to get the same manager twice, start from scratch and explain it all again.
I do know a higher manager who I go to for large loans etc. but don't want to bother him with day to day stuff his staff should do.
It has been a while...maybe he has left to.

 

[prozac]

I used to have the same problems years ago and would folow managers from branch to branch just so that I did not have to re-educate another new one. I do not mind at least mentioning your issue with my banker to see if he can put you in touch with the right people in your area.

Alternatively you could ask your manager if there is a relationship manager for your area.

 

[cove]

Jastel the Westpac retail can be pretty ordinary so use everything you have to get your best deal.
We still get to use $3000 off Holdens on the old GM card and we have been getting up to 8 cents retail on SQ points that are sourced from Westpac credit cards.
Day to day stuff still matters so use that connection when you need to. If you don't ask you won't get and Gail Kelly has been hiking all the charges by a lot so asking for some back is appropriate.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I don't want the hassles of changing banks but has anyone got any tips to get banks to look at customers in the middle like me.

I think this is the issue. Westpac will do the least necessary to keep your business, provided you're still profitable. If they can keep your business by doing nothing, then they will do that.

You need to be able to threaten, realistically, to take your business elsewhere.

 

[jastel]

Well have finally got an Earth Black card. New teller made the mistake of asking was I happy and what else can we help you with?

Two hours later after meeting acting manager, who knew me from before, but was recently back to that branch, I had the card, fee free first year...said we will talk about next year...told them I will just cancel it then.
Also changed some other accounts to a better deal.
Fee went through at first, but got reversed after email.

Now just have to travel somewhere...and get Q passes too.

 

[Plutonus]

Glad to hear you got a good outcome! I can't remember who it was, but someone posted on another thread a while back we should all remember the banks make money from us, we don't make money from them. Something I've tried to live by in not being afraid to walk if they won't come to the party.

Well have finally got an Earth Black card. New teller made the mistake of asking was I happy and what else can we help you with?

Two hours later after meeting acting manager, who knew me from before, but was recently back to that branch, I had the card, fee free first year...said we will talk about next year...told them I will just cancel it then.
Also changed some other accounts to a better deal.
Fee went through at first, but got reversed after email.

Now just have to travel somewhere...and get Q passes too.

 

[Demonoid]

Just thought I'd add to the discussion here.

I do most of my banking with NAB, and had a lot of NAB debt on a credit card, which I got for 1% interest on a balance transfer offer. So I took it up and was making the minimum payments
Once the 12 months were up, my balance had shrunk a bit but was still substantial, so I looked around and noticed NAB started running (and still are) their 0% interest for 15 months on balance transfers which is just about the best offer out there.

I rang up and asked them to switch my debt to that card. They said sorry - its for new debt only (not NAB debt). I said see you later and rolled it over to a Westpac card for almost as good terms (0% for 14 months). Haven't looked back.

 

[prozac]

Westpac offering deals on business lending atm.