Bankwest Transaction account [General Discussion]

[Aussie_flyer]

I believe you need to stay way under 50 to be safe



Nope. My family all had 1 card each all doing 50 a day. All cancelled.

Bankwest appears to be still sending out letters.

You are neglecting to mention you did have two cards each account but were forced to cancel. Its not the same situation as those who have only ever had 1

 

[Skyring]

You are neglecting to mention you did have two cards each account but were forced to cancel. Its not the same situation as those who have only ever had 1

It may be that BW is working their way down the list, starting with those who have gained the most points. Presumably those who have had a house full of two-card accounts for the longest time will head the list, those who came in late with one card in the household will be nearer the bottom.

At some point there will be those who are clearly legitimately using the account, making (say) ten or twenty transactions in a week for regular things, even if they are small, like cups of coffee. Maybe worthwhile switching over to regular use now until the heat dies down?

 

[hossein_au]

It may be that BW is working their way down the list, starting with those who have gained the most points. Presumably those who have had a house full of two-card accounts for the longest time will head the list, those who came in late with one card in the household will be nearer the bottom.

At some point there will be those who are clearly legitimately using the account, making (say) ten or twenty transactions in a week for regular things, even if they are small, like cups of coffee. Maybe worthwhile switching over to regular use now until the heat dies down?

We had one account we opened about 3 weeks ago (with two cards) and we have already received the letter, so it is definitely not an ordered list of who has gained the most points.

 

[HTG2016]

We had one account we opened about 3 weeks ago (with two cards) and we have already received the letter, so it is definitely not an ordered list of who has gained the most points.

Pretty sure the 50 mark is main factor if ur account get closed or not .

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Pretty sure the 50 mark is main factor if ur account get closed or not .

Agreed that's looking right

 

[Valdek]

Pretty sure the 50 mark is main factor if ur account get closed or not .

I am not really sure of that. One of the Members quoted above the answer he's got from the bank for his enquiry:

"The circumstances that led to the closure of your account was the unusual use of your account to make multiple consecutive payment transactions at a very low value, some at one cent each, for payments (such as purchases at Coles) that would ordinarily be paid by one transaction. "
It clearly states "multiple consecutive payment transactions at a very low value"
They did not mention any number of transactions.

 

[Valdek]

I think "transactions at a very low value" seems to be the main reason. Bank wouldn't mind 50 transactions a day worth $100 each, would they?

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I am not really sure of that. One of the Members quoted above the answer he's got from the bank for his enquiry:

"The circumstances that led to the closure of your account was the unusual use of your account to make multiple consecutive payment transactions at a very low value, some at one cent each, for payments (such as purchases at Coles) that would ordinarily be paid by one transaction. "
It clearly states "multiple consecutive payment transactions at a very low value"
They did not mention any number of transactions.

The evidence here strongly supports the theory single card accounts (which can only do 50 a day) have survived the cull

 

[coles525]

My opinion if points aren't transferred in 12 days (sept 5th), is to organise a AFF class action.

For anyone in this topic, a few months ago a major cc provider (citibank?) pulled the wool over aff members. One member kindly wrote up a letter. Citibank retreated and providedwhat was owing.

Also: Read your letter carefully. It statespoints are not issued after the closing date of the account. Ie: All spend before date of closure is to have points credited.

 

[Valdek]

Today was to be my final day with the account. I phoned them up to ask the reason why my account was being closed and the person I spoke to could not find any record against my account that it was going to be closed. He said that he'd put a note against my account that I didn't want it closed and said that it should prevent it from happening.

20 minutes after putting the phone down the account disappeared from my online logon!

BTW, did you have any money left sitting in your account at the time?
I still have got some savings at BW. What happens to that if the account finally disappears? Are the funds confiscated by the bank?

 

[burmans]

My opinion if points aren't transferred in 12 days (sept 5th), is to organise a AFF class action.

For anyone in this topic, a few months ago a major cc provider (citibank?) pulled the wool over aff members. One member kindly wrote up a letter. Citibank retreated and providedwhat was owing.

Also: Read your letter carefully. It statespoints are not issued after the closing date of the account. Ie: All spend before date of closure is to have points credited.

Well I can only wish you good luck. The point on the Citibank case was that their T&Cs said they would give a certain amount of notice which they didn't. So there was a strong legal basis to the response, which was almost certainly the reason they backtracked rather than the fact that a load of people complained.

I'd be interested to hear why you believe the BankWest T&Cs have been breached. And sorry, but just being very unhappy with BankWest is not a legal argument with any chance of success.

 

[N860CR]

Well I can only wish you good luck. The point on the Citibank case was that their T&Cs said they would give a certain amount of notice which they didn't. So there was a strong legal basis to the response, which was almost certainly the reason they backtracked rather than the fact that a load of people complained.

I'd be interested to hear why you believe the BankWest T&Cs have been breached. And sorry, but just being very unhappy with BankWest is not a legal argument with any chance of success.

I think it's a reasonable claim. Bankwest are within their rights to close the account, but I can't find a clause that says they can keep the points that have been earned in full compliance with the product T&Cs

 

[basso]

I just wished BW could issue a cease or decease, rather than a kill order.

Cease or _decease_ is a bit brutal Seriously though, would anyone have taken notice?

I think it's a reasonable claim. Bankwest are within their rights to close the account, but I can't find a clause that says they can keep the points that have been earned in full compliance with the product T&Cs

How about this one?

If your Account is closed or access to it is cancelled, all Qantas Points accrued in the month of closure will be forfeited

 

[Valdek]

Also: Read your letter carefully. It statespoints are not issued after the closing date of the account. Ie: All spend before date of closure is to have points credited.

Unfortunately my letter does not states "points are not issued after the closing date of the account"
What I've got is: "The decision to take this action means you will no longer have access to the Bankwest Qantas Rewards Program"
Since points are to be deposited to the QFF program AFTER the closing date of your Bankwest account it would mean... from non-existent account?
Is it possible?

 

[N860CR]

Unfortunately my letter does not states "points are not issued after the closing date of the account"
What I've got is: "The decision to take this action means you will no longer have access to the Bankwest Qantas Rewards Program"
Since points are to be deposited to the QFF program AFTER the closing date of your Bankwest account it would mean... from non-existent account?
Is it possible?

I'd suggest just emailing them and stating that you expect all points to be issued up until the closing of the account. Otherwise raise it with the FOS. It's bankwests own stupid fault for not covering themselves in the product T&C

 

[N860CR]

Cease or _decease_ is a bit brutal Seriously though, would anyone have taken notice? How about this one?

Where abouts is that? I haven't been able to find it as yet

 

[Skyring]

I believe you need to stay way under 50 to be safe

...

Nope. My family all had 1 card each all doing 50 a day. All cancelled.

Bankwest appears to be still sending out letters.

This indicates to me that the process isn't automated. Otherwise there would be one day for all of us. Looks more like somebody is working through the accounts and sending out letters as they identify the troublemakers.

I haven't received the letter - yet. I might just cease my script for the time being. It may be that once the person doing the manual checking has finished their task, they will be reallocated to something else and in a month or so I could resume.

Interesting that the reason given above is that multiple small consecutive transactions were being made for things that would normally be paid in one go. Fair enough.

 

[Skyring]

Now, if making fifty consecutive one cent transactions per day for (say) a Telstra bill is coming it a bit high (because most people would pay their Telstra bill completely once a month) then perhaps fifty random transactions, one every half hour on average, to various billers of small but higher amounts would appear more kosher. This could be scripted.

Credit card transaction fees might make it uneconomical. I tend to value QFF points at a cent each, so if the fee for a transaction passes five cents, I'm going backwards. At (say) 2%, that's a ceiling of $2.50 per transaction. Telstra charges 1%, making $5 the upper limit.

Now it may be that BW continues to allow fifty one cent payments to Telstra per day. If so, all well and good. But a safer approach would be to make larger payments to more accounts, and to do it over a longer period (say, ten to fifteen minutes between transactions).

 

[burmans]

I think it's a reasonable claim. Bankwest are within their rights to close the account, but I can't find a clause that says they can keep the points that have been earned in full compliance with the product T&Cs

Don't think you've looked very hard! Bullet point 4 below in http://www.bankwest.com.au/library/pdf/PDS_20120629-163837.pdf.

7. When you will not earn Qantas Points and
when we may cancel your Qantas Points

You will not earn Qantas Points or Bonus Qantas Points in respect of an Eligible Purchase (and we may correct your Rewards Statement by deleting or reversing any Qantas Points invalidly awarded) if:
• a monthly payment is more than 30 days overdue;
• your Card has been reported lost or stolen and a lost or stolen status has been placed on your Card Account;
• you have reached your Qantas Points Cap;
• we cancel your Card or terminate your Card Account for any reason;
• we reasonably decide that you or an Additional Cardholder are behaving fraudulently;
• a transaction relates to the conduct of a business, the Card is used to make business-related purchases (including any purchases of a personal business nature) or we reasonably believe the Card is used to purchase goods or services for Business Related Expenses; or
• you breach the conditions of your Card Account or these Terms and Conditions.

 

[scubabe]

Still no letter here.

I'm going to stop doing payments for a month or so and see what happens... I've earned a tonne of points from this account in the last 12 months so I'm very happy with my earn so far, and if they close my account I'm not gonna kick up a stink.