Bankwest Transaction account [General Discussion]

[burmans]

It'll definitely get picked up. I guarantee you BW know we are doing it. It'd have come up on reports from day dot.

They won't change the promotion, they'll kick us out of the bank in all likely hood. It'll just take some time for them to do it.

They have to weigh the amount we are losing them against the cost of FOS complaints which anyone who is kicked out will lodge (right guys).

I've obtained all my cards using their internet banking.

I'm not really doing this much anymore since they Optus killed that trick, Telstra no good as I don't have a Telstra account and really can't be bothered with the 50 Coles transactions per day.

But I don't agree they won't change the promotion. I'd certainly be complaining to FOS IF they didn't give me points I was legitimately entitled to and if this is a problem to them the best way is to change the promotion (an obvious way would be to have a minimum transaction value). Sure they can close our accounts but that only closes the door for us, I am sure we'd be happy to tell our friends and it won't stop then (or at least not for some time).

 

[burmans]

I doubt they can legally ban us for life.

Exactly which law is you feel requires BW to accept us as a customer?

 

[Rick93]

Bankwest is owned by CBA, isn't it?

I had an issue with CBA some five years ago ( or rather, they had an issue with me ! ). Would have thought they would have picked up on some previous 'history' ...

Do you think it makes a difference, being a DEBIT card ( and not a 'credit' card ? )

( my last weekly statement ran to 29 pages !! )

 

[coles525]

Exactly which law is you feel requires BW to accept us as a customer?

No exact law, BUT if we are going exactly as per the conditions of use from both the provider (BW) and the purchase (optus / telstra / citylink / others), there isn't much they can do to ban us!

They can always just change the conditions of use to say: minimum transactions of $10 will get the 5 points per $ as a reward/loyalty, or the purchase provider can be forced (by BW) to accept a greater minimum payment amount. (ie: $1.00 just like the banks when transferring funds).

Plain and simple: We the account holders aren't doing anything wrong! Until they change the written rules, it's "get it while it's here"!

Just like the QFF ASA changes, they were required to "payout" on everything until the closing date of June, someone making a booking in November 2013, is required to get the full points and status credits.

 

[Cephalopod]

It's extremely common for banks to ban customers. When I worked for CBA we banned hundreds a month. FOS can't touch it nor will they try.

The only times banks share "ban" information is when it is a case of fraud but it's not proactively done. There is no system and very limited operational integration between BW and CBA.

 

[Cephalopod]

The entire push behind this account is that you earn good points for low value transactions. Add a minimum and they destroy the account.

They don't need to provide a reason to ban you and in almost all cases the bank will not tell you why they banned you (but may tell FOS). If they attempted to not pay out points you would win that claim in FOS but not the banning.

No exact law, BUT if we are going exactly as per the conditions of use from both the provider (BW) and the purchase (optus / telstra / citylink / others), there isn't much they can do to ban us!

They can always just change the conditions of use to say: minimum transactions of $10 will get the 5 points per $ as a reward/loyalty, or the purchase provider can be forced (by BW) to accept a greater minimum payment amount. (ie: $1.00 just like the banks when transferring funds).

Plain and simple: We the account holders aren't doing anything wrong! Until they change the written rules, it's "get it while it's here"!

Just like the QFF ASA changes, they were required to "payout" on everything until the closing date of June, someone making a booking in November 2013, is required to get the full points and status credits.

 

[ablecookie]

The entire push behind this account is that you earn good points for low value transactions. Add a minimum and they destroy the account.

They don't need to provide a reason to ban you and in almost all cases the bank will not tell you why they banned you (but may tell FOS). If they attempted to not pay out points you would win that claim in FOS but not the banning.

That is a very fair statement. The bank cannot withhold points already earned, but it can change the rules of awarding points.

 

[neon_crossing]

I don't have a Telstra account .

Happy to provide my telstra account details should you want to pick up the 50 transactions a day if you would like to pay $15 for 7,500 points a month.

Or if you have a spare ipad/phone or something you can probably get a wireless broadband telstra account with 1gig for $25 a month.

$25 a month for 7,500 points and 1gig of mobile data is a pretty good deal in my book.

 

[ETA_2022]

Happy to provide my telstra account details should you want to pick up the 50 transactions a day if you would like to pay $15 for 7,500 points a month.

Was considering your offer, though I'd need it to be about $38 a month, not $15. Then I thought why don't I just buy more services from Telstra rather than giving you $38 ($15) a month.

My problem is that I'm running out of things to pay for, because $2 a day in Telstra payments is paying my monthly connection fee in just 12 days. I need another bill within a week, otherwise my 1000 points a day haul (2 cards on 2 accounts) is going to grind to a halt!

Perhaps I'll have to move, so I can get Foxtel from Telstra - cough the new pricing means that still wouldn't be enough, except in winter (Sports).

Who else takes 1¢ payments?

Damn you Bankwest - you've got me considering moving just to get more points - is this points chasing another form of addiction?

 

[FrankC]

Was considering your offer, though I'd need it to be about $38 a month, not $15. Then I thought why don't I just buy more services from Telstra rather than giving you $38 ($15) a month.

My problem is that I'm running out of things to pay for, because $2 a day in Telstra payments is paying my monthly connection fee in just 12 days. I need another bill within a week, otherwise my 1000 points a day haul (2 cards on 2 accounts) is going to grind to a halt!

Perhaps I'll have to move, so I can get Foxtel from Telstra - cough the new pricing means that still wouldn't be enough, except in winter (Sports).

Who else takes 1¢ payments?

Damn you Bankwest - you've got me considering moving just to get more points - is this points chasing another form of addiction?

Just wondering - what happens if you overpay?

 

[neon_crossing]

I have a platinum card on my account and my gifriends. How do you get a second card for the account?

 

[ETA_2022]

Just wondering - what happens if you overpay?

My account is currently in credit $6 according to Telstra & I've paid $2 today that they haven't recognised yet. My last invoice was due on Monday, so at the moment I'm pre-paying a future invoice that hasn't been issued. It's just occurred to me, that at this rate I'll have paid off the next invoice before I receive it!

While I don't think they'd complain if I was $38 in credit after the invoice was paid, I don't think they'd thank me for lending them money either. I'd rather pay for services that I've used, than services that I'll use in two or six months time. That's why Citylink payments aren't happening.

There'll be a quarterly electricity bill coming soon, but if it has $1 payment limits, then at $200/day it will take less than two days to pay it!

 

[ETA_2022]

I have a platinum card on my account and my gifriends. How do you get a second card for the account?

In my case, start with a platinum and ask to change to a standard card and hope they don't cancel the platinum. You could also claim you card is faulty and hope they don't cancel the old card.

Others actually received a faulty card (there was a batch with bad chips I think) and then another card without asking - I'm not sure that their faulty cards were ever cancelled and the card number was valid, so it should work ok for online purchases.

 

[jlien]

Was considering your offer, though I'd need it to be about $38 a month, not $15. Then I thought why don't I just buy more services from Telstra rather than giving you $38 ($15) a month.

My problem is that I'm running out of things to pay for, because $2 a day in Telstra payments is paying my monthly connection fee in just 12 days. I need another bill within a week, otherwise my 1000 points a day haul (2 cards on 2 accounts) is going to grind to a halt!

Perhaps I'll have to move, so I can get Foxtel from Telstra - cough the new pricing means that still wouldn't be enough, except in winter (Sports).

Who else takes 1¢ payments?

Damn you Bankwest - you've got me considering moving just to get more points - is this points chasing another form of addiction?

Why not just sign up to a new mobile plan, get a new iphone or something popular and sell it off. You'll get a cash injection, and a bill to pay for the next 2 years

 

[ETA_2022]

Why not just sign up to a new mobile plan, get a new iphone or something popular and sell it off. You'll get a cash injection, and a bill to pay for the next 2 years

Perhaps you've done the numbers, but I can't see how I can get a plan & phone and then sell the phone for enough to pay for the phone & the plan for 24 months.

I have no use for Telstra mobile as I don't think Telstra can match my $1 a month access charge (not usage which is usually $0).

 

[coles525]

Just wondering - what happens if you overpay?

Nothing, except being in credit for future bills.

$2 per day = $60ish cr each month, with my bill down to still owing maby another $30.

 

[neon_crossing]

You can order another coloured card by choice for $15.
I wonder if it would be a straight out duplicate on other plastic with the same code on the back or would it be different?
Has anyone ordered one?

 

[Cephalopod]

Yeah they knock it back, you can't have coloured cards for the qantas acct.

You're also not allowed multiple cards per account like CBA allow. With CBA you can order 10 debit mastercards for one account with no issues.

 

[ETA_2022]

Yeah they knock it back, you can't have coloured cards for the qantas acct.

When I rang them to get a standard card instead of a platinum, I was asked what colour I wanted. I got black, but it doesn't have the Qantas logo on it anywhere, unlike the standard orange one my partner got (she wasn't asked what colour she wanted). It works fine though. But I'll have to ring up and request an orange one to see if I can have three active cards at the same time.

 

[Cephalopod]

When I rang them to get a standard card instead of a platinum, I was asked what colour I wanted. I got black, but it doesn't have the Qantas logo on it anywhere, unlike the standard orange one my partner got (she wasn't asked what colour she wanted). It works fine though. But I'll have to ring up and request an orange one to see if I can have three active cards at the same time.

Serious?

Assholes lied to me.