Comm Bank to issue AMEX... changes to QF/Velocity point earning

[yo yo ma]

U might be waiting for a while!

Applied on 8/11 and received cards on 18/11... Pretty happy with the turnaround and I am making good progress with the bonus points already!

 

[Diesellife]

must admit, this is the first time ive used an amex but admittedly its not accepted ANYWHERE,

the only place so far is a supermarket,

tried paying my phone, mobile, gas, electricity, rates, NONE of them are accepted....

can't believe Amex still exists!

maybe its time to shop around??
My phone, mobile, petrol, electricity, grocery are all with those merchant who accept amex. However, the council or any government related expenses are non amex...

 

[SOPOOR]

maybe its time to shop around??
My phone, mobile, petrol, electricity, grocery are all with those merchant who accept amex. However, the council or any government related expenses are non amex...

really? petrol and groceries are all fine, however, all utilities seem to be a no go, all accept postbillpay which doesn't accept amex, all of them also have their own payment gateway on their website but they all say "MC/Visa only accepted"

 

[Diesellife]

really? petrol and groceries are all fine, however, all utilities seem to be a no go, all accept postbillpay which doesn't accept amex, all of them also have their own payment gateway on their website but they all say "MC/Visa only accepted"

Telstra, 3, iinet (Telecommunication / Internet)
Energy Aust (Electricity)

 

[Flashback]

Telstra, 3, iinet (Telecommunication / Internet)
Energy Aust (Electricity)

3% surcharge on iiNet, not really worth bothering.

 

[Diesellife]

3% surcharge on iiNet, not really worth bothering.

I was just stating that they do accept amex, whether there is surcharge of not. On top of that, the point value varies for each individual...therefore those points might not worth bothering for you... But in my case, what I value my points is more than 3%

So I don't mind to pay 3% more to get 200% more points.

 

[Mal]

I tried using my CBA Amex today in London (train ticket machine), but of course without it containing a chip it was refused.

Why does Amex not use chips in Australia? :evil: CBA sending me a pin didn't help in this situation... And I certainly didn't want to queue for 20 mins to get a staffer to manually process my card.

 

[Diesellife]

Why does Amex not use chips in Australia? :evil: CBA sending me a pin didn't help in this situation... And I certainly didn't want to queue for 20 mins to get a staffer to manually process my card.

Maybe Amex (Aus) is lazy to reprint all their cards in Australia... and did not authorize the third parties (Branded amexs) to issue chip cards...

In theory, if CBA or other bank start issuing chip amex, it will force Amex to issue their own chip cards as well...

But then again, I'm only guessing the above statment.

 

[Nutcase]

Maybe Amex (Aus) is lazy to reprint all their cards in Australia... and did not authorize the third parties (Branded amexs) to issue chip cards...

In theory, if CBA or other bank start issuing chip amex, it will force Amex to issue their own chip cards as well...

But then again, I'm only guessing the above statment.

Not every Terminal in australia is chip enabled yet - specifically Amex EDC Terminals - this is reason 1

The other reason is that fraud on Amex cards as a % of total revenue is quite small (in Australia) compared with rolling out chip technology here so there is no urgency yet. There are only a handful of places that you cant use your Australian Amex compared with a Chip enabled one. Unfortunately buying tix in London is one of them.

So Lazy isnt the reason - cost is.

Also- there are some sweeping comments about Amex not being accepted ANYWHERE. I have no problems with using my card for everything that I need to purchase. Where do you live that there are no merchants?

 

[WOLF13]

Got my first QF points transfer from this card today- knocked up 57990 points in a month.

Was good to see such a big hit come in. I'll be upset when the bonus period ends in Feb!

Hopefully can reach the full 150,000 point cap before the bonus period ends..

 

[basic]

Got my first QF points transfer from this card today- knocked up 57990 points in a month.

*whistle* That's a good haul! how do you get so many points in such little time? Tonnes of bills?

-Me

 

[WOLF13]

Yeah, lots of bills, few business expenses etc.

Picked up a new flat panel TV- decided to buy from DSE- and got another bonus point per dollar with the EveryDay rewards card.

So, from just buying a 4400 TV, got 22,000 QF points.

3 points on the Amex, 1 bonus point on the first $5000 spend, and 1 point for Everyday rewards.

Might try to do most of my XMAS shopping at BigW and DSE to still get 4 points per dollar.

 

[GoldCoastGuy]

I tried using my CBA Amex today in London (train ticket machine), but of course without it containing a chip it was refused.

Why does Amex not use chips in Australia? :evil: CBA sending me a pin didn't help in this situation... And I certainly didn't want to queue for 20 mins to get a staffer to manually process my card.

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to use the Visa instead?


Evan :->

 

[Mal]

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to use the Visa instead?

Just want one transaction with the CBA Amex so that I know it's activated and working correctly...

 

[Joshua]

I've been having a lot if trouble using the card in Auckland this week. Been coming up as invalid/not registered after inputting pin. Maybe the number series hasn't registered yet in some systems? I don't know much about it but it's quite frustrating.

 

[Diesellife]

I've been having a lot if trouble using the card in Auckland this week. Been coming up as invalid/not registered after inputting pin. Maybe the number series hasn't registered yet in some systems? I don't know much about it but it's quite frustrating.

Did you try signing it instead?

 

[Diesellife]

For those who have their statements date fall after the first of month, here is a trick to maximise the current cba promotion.

I have just requested to change my statement date (Which denied initially) from the 5th of each month to the 28th of each month.

This allows my Jan 2010 purchases count towards prior to the 1st Feb change. I will be getting at least 15k extra points for doing that.

The only catch is your card number will be changed.

 

[WOLF13]

I got told by CBA- any purchase before Feb 1st would be at the current promotional rate- regardless of the statement date??

 

[Diesellife]

I got told by CBA- any purchase before Feb 1st would be at the current promotional rate- regardless of the statement date??

Maybe its worthwhile to check again, the award people told me that the transfer rate will be effective on Feb 1 regardless your statement date. In anyway, I will not allow any room for CBA to refuse my bonus by changing statement date I want my 3 per 1.

 

[WOLF13]

I'll definately check again after reading that.