Westpac dumps AMEX - changes points earn on MC

[Nutcase]

There was a little hyperbole in my post. My main point was that I'm not going to meekly continue with products/services no longer suitable for me.

OK - Thats not what you said. You said that Westpac was going to put you through hell with having to change your recurring payments. That doesn't seem align with your assertion around meekness with Banking products.

It would seem that a more stable Banking product such as a Bank account direct debit would be a more suitable payment method given the hyperbole and challenges with changing the recurring payments.

Some customers struggle with changing payment methods especially when cards expire. This is why most billers provide an online portal in which to manage your payment details and update these details yourself.

Your card details are truncated as they are tokenised and not stored by the biller in case there are concerns around security that some card holders have (PCI-DSS)

 

[Nutcase]

CC providers are great - providing they are lucrative

If CC providers aren’t lucrative then they unnecessarily tie up credit limits and need to be dumped .....

Not quite sure what you mean here. There are only a handful of card issuers in the country. 70% of the market is owned by the big 4 plus Citibank and they are profitable so there's that.

You may be referring to credit limit utilisation. This is the amount of credit utilised as a percentage of the total limit.

Currently this sits at around 32% which is the lowest it has ever been.

 

[Steady]

Not quite sure what you mean here.

I meant the same as you meant in the post quoted - it works from both the CC provider, and the savvy customers perspective.

 

[Nutcase]

I meant the same as you meant in the post quoted - it works from both the CC provider, and the savvy customers perspective.

It sounds like you are referring to the credit card issuer which is the Bank which in this case is Westpac. In other words, the Bank owns the customer relationship and are the issuer of the card. The Bank is carrying the credit risk.

I think you have just made my point again and changed the name to mean the same thing.

The Bank is not a provider - it is an issuer.

What is a provider?

 

[Steady]

It sounds like you are referring to the credit card issuer which is the Bank which in this case is Westpac. In other words, the Bank owns the customer relationship and are the issuer of the card. The Bank is carrying the credit risk.

I think you have just made my point again and changed the name to mean the same thing.

The Bank is not a provider - it is an issuer.

What is a provider?

I have gone off topic referring to CC’s in general, I used the word provider to generalise but issuer/financial institution/club/company all work from my (off topic) perspective. As issuer is the correct term lets go with that

Rightly or wrongly, I consider a credit card to be a product that an issuer offers to a customer in order to generate wealth. Some customers are not valuable to the issuer, some issuers products do not, or no longer meet the customers’ needs, so are not valuable to them.

While I probably misunderstand what you are saying, I don't believe the bank owns the customer relationship, but I do believe banks think they do. I guess if they do own the customer relationship, then the flip side is that the customer owns the bank relationship? Maybe that is why the divorce rate is so high - one party isn't considering the other in the relationship (both the points chaser and the issuer)

I never plan to be a valuable customer in the eyes of the CC issuers.... I see a valuable customer to the issuer as someone who pays late, pays the exorbitant interest every month, and accepts the regular credit increases so they can get further into debt and make the issuer even more money.

I also believe the issuer makes money from customers who pay their debt fully and on time - no doubt far less than the valuable customers and the recent changes would have dented their creamy bottom line but not eliminated it.

 

[burmans]

Not quite sure what you mean here. There are only a handful of card issuers in the country. 70% of the market is owned by the big 4 plus Citibank and they are profitable so there's that.

You may be referring to credit limit utilisation. This is the amount of credit utilised as a percentage of the total limit.

Currently this sits at around 32% which is the lowest it has ever been.

I would suggest he is not referring to credit utilisation as that is not what is being reported to credit bureau's under our legislation. Under CCR all that gets reported is credit limit, if you aren't actually using that credit limit then you may be restricting your ability to apply for future credit. Of course this all depends on the assumptions individual lenders are making about how much of that credit limit you are actually using but this also ties into responsible lending legislation.

 

[Nutcase]

Rightly or wrongly, I consider a credit card to be a product that an issuer offers to a customer in order to generate wealth. Some customers are not valuable to the issuer, some issuers products do not, or no longer meet the customers’ needs, so are not valuable to them.

I don't believe the bank owns the customer relationship, but I do believe banks think they do.

I also believe the issuer makes money from customers who pay their debt fully and on time.

Im not sure how a credit card can generate wealth. Its a payment method.

Issuers do not make money from "transactors". A transactor is someone who pays off their debt in full every month.

 

[Steady]

Im not sure how a credit card can generate wealth. Its a payment method.

Your not sure how an issuer generates wealth from a CC?

 

[Nutcase]

Your not sure how an issuer generates wealth from a CC?

An issuer generates revenue and possibly profit but definitely not wealth.

Perhaps you can explain how wealth is generated by a CC?

 

[cove]

Westpac CCs meant we could travel in Suites on SQ using Kris Miles so their credit cards kept our flying costs pretty reasonable.

 

[Steady]

An issuer generates revenue and possibly profit but definitely not wealth.

Perhaps you can explain how wealth is generated by a CC?

No there is no need, I am not interested in semantics.
I am happy agreeing to disagree

 

[Nutcase]

No there is no need, I am not interested in semantics.
I am happy agreeing to disagree

Thats probably the best option under the circumstances

 

[OzEire]

Called to cancel my Westpac Black account and spoke to a nice guy in the 'retentions' area who "convinced" me to keep my card (by giving me exactly what I wanted!).

As posted up thread, he confirmed the April 2018 switch and 'reduced' annual fee to $250 (from $395) after the Amex companion card is dropped.

I’m keeping my Altitude Black until Westpac unveil their Amex direct offering before I decide on my next move. This card is otherwise not getting any spend from me until then. I see it as a free call option on a new Amex assuming the approval process is easy to encourage migration

Westpac CSR also hinted at this, seems that existing card holders will get early access to a discounted co-brand Westpac Amex product.

Final point of interest was for those who are pushing points to QF, Westpac will introduce a $50 annual QFF fee on top of the card fees! but waived for the first year for existing card holders.

 

[blackcat20]

Final point of interest was for those who are pushing points to QF, Westpac will introduce a $50 annual QFF fee on top of the card fees! but waived for the first year for existing card holders.

And also not applicable to the Earth card apparently as it was introduced as a QF specific product.

Rang today and had my annual fee waived; it was either that or I was going to cancel.

 

[astrosly]

And also not applicable to the Earth card apparently as it was introduced as a QF specific product.

Rang today and had my annual fee waived; it was either that or I was going to cancel.

I'm curious blackcat20 was your annual fee the full or half fee? I signed up for Earth Black when it was offering half annual fee for life so I'm not sure if I'll get the same result.

 

[blackcat20]

I'm curious blackcat20 was your annual fee the full or half fee? I signed up for Earth Black when it was offering half annual fee for life so I'm not sure if I'll get the same result.

Full but I had the Platinum card.

 

[cove]

I haven’t stopped but I will around 31st March. Lots still to do.

 

[albyd]

Received a letter from Westpac in today’s mail. Confirmed closure of the Amex card and that there will be a new Amex issued card to replace it in ‘early 2018’. Hope it will be worth the wait

 

[Hvr]

Currently hace the Earth card.

I rang Westpac on Thursday night since I was having a look at current promotions and trying to decide what will be my points earning credit card,

Westpac wouldn't/couldn't tell me what the new offer would be but did say the offer will be released on Monday 29 January.

I said that I could get a large amount of points from another company and hoped that I would be offered same with the new card or I would cancel the card. She said she couldn't say anything but did immediately offer to waive my annual fee.

Told her I wasn't interested, only wanted points.

I suspect I'm going to be disappointed and will apply for a new card on Tuesday.

Que sera sera, life moves on. In the last 12 months I've changed energy companies, phone provider with more to come. My bank of 30+ years is on the chopping block if they don't ship up.

Loyalty to me not a company (except Qantas because I have golden handcuffs aka LTG).

 

[KLMCM]

Anyone find out any details on the new offer yet?