Westpac is capping rewards points monthly from June 17th 2013

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Not quite...

Each scheme charges different fees so it is 3% for MC and 3.5% for Amex

From the website...

Westpac Processing Fee
We charge a fee of 2% of the Australian dollar value of any purchases or cash advances/withdrawals when the applicable credit card scheme converts the transaction from a foreign currency into Australian dollars.

Westpac On-Charged Scheme Fee
The credit card schemes also charge fees when processing transactions made in foreign currencies. The fees are either charged during the process of converting the foreign currency amount into Australian dollars , or are charged separately to Westpac and passed on to you by us.

The fees vary depending on the applicable credit card scheme:

MasterCard® Issuer Cross Border Assessment - 0.8% of the transaction amount where a transaction is made using your MasterCard and the merchant or financial institution accepting the card is located outside of Australia. We pass this on to the account holder.

MasterCard®Currency Conversion Assessment - 0.2% of the transaction amount for converting foreign currency transactions made using a MasterCard into Australian dollars. We pass this on to the account holder.

American Express®Foreign Exchange Conversion Fee - 1.5% charged on the transaction amount for converting foreign currency transactions made using an American Express card into Australian dollars. We pass this on to the account holder.

Good pickup - 0.5% cheaper on the MasterCard and same points earn as the AmEx on international transactions.

I shall be breaking the habit and hammering the MasterCard OS hence forth!

 

[prozac]

Good pickup - 0.5% cheaper on the MasterCard and same points earn as the AmEx on international transactions.

I shall be breaking the habit and hammering the MasterCard OS hence forth!

Yes, well spotted greenfrog.

 

[canberran85]

I'm currently a PlatinumPlus Earth customer who didn't get any Black upgrade marketing... after reading this thread I called up four weeks ago to try and get an upgrade... two phone calls later (I'm not sure why they couldn't transfer me, I had to call the Black line separately) they said they would send 'information' out in two weeks.

After nothing showing up in my letter box I called them last night and asked what had happened. There was a lot of quiet tapping of keys on the other end of the phone, and I got told there was a delay at MasterCard's end and that I could expect cards ready to activate in my letterbox in 'mid-to-late-August'. When I said I was heading overseas at the end of August he told me the points cap wasn't coming in before then, but didn't seem to have a solution to other card benefits (e.g. Starwood status) that I would like to access while overseas.

I did suggest that the rather overt advertising campaign (on news websites, at airport terminals, and on billboards) might be contributing to the demand and if they couldn't deliver they should delay the campaign, but the operator didn't seem impressed with that suggestion.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to hurry the process up?

 

[PLANT]

Put it in writing!
Email em.
Go to the bank with a copy of the email and hand it to the manager personally.
Call complaints department.
Or make like a tree and leave!

 

[blackcat20]

Got bitten by the cap already. If I'd remembered I would have swapped cards

 

[serfty]

I was going to hang on to this card merely for the car rental excess cover - but realised the annual fee kills any cost effectiveness.

So it has seen my last transaction.

 

[k3nnis]

Only reason I am keeping this card is because its included free for my home loan package.