What is wrong with Westpac credit cards?

[cove]

There must be something seriously wrong with Westpac retail credit cards division to now only have one Amex /Westpac credit card that is competitive.(Kris Flyer Amex Platinum)
The directors and MD of Westpac must be losing a lot by being short arms on earning points on all but one card. They must be getting eaten alive and it is quite difficult to win back a customer once they depart to Woolworths,Bank West,HSBC,Citibank,American Express and others.

 

[significance]

Yes. I've been really happy with my Westpac Earth Platinum cards (great service and great travel insurance), but have recently signed up for Woolworths Everyday Rewards and Amex Ultimate because the points do matter.. I'll be dropping either the Amex or the Earth Platinum when the renewal fees come due. Which one gets dropped will depend on the quality of the Amex experience, I guess.

 

[oz_mark]

There must be something seriously wrong with Westpac retail credit cards division to now only have one Amex /Westpac credit card that is competitive.(Kris Flyer Amex Platinum)
The directors and MD of Westpac must be losing a lot by being short arms on earning points on all but one card. They must be getting eaten alive and it is quite difficult to win back a customer once they depart to Woolworths,Bank West,HSBC,Citibank,American Express and others.

I think it is quite telling that in the list of other banks, you don't mention one of the other big 4 (notwithstanding Bank West being owned by CommBank). From what I can see, Westpac are pretty much in line with the offerings of its peers, so I am not sure they are overly concerned. The other players only have a small market share, and it's going to take a lot more customers moving across before they change their ways.

 

[cove]

I think that once a bank customer starts dumping out of products it is rare for that customer to return.
It then follows that the customer may completely switch their accounts as there is nothing left to hold them other than it may seem too hard to switch.

 

[MAX_1]

I agree with cove.

Westpac has lost many big spenders , myself included to Woolworths Card.
CBA lost many as well and then released the Diamond card which is still short of whats available.
Be interesting to see how the Big 4 respond in the future to the Credit card war. Market share IS important.

Citibank moved rapidly to improve their offer as we have read in another thread.

 

[KLN]

i';m having a great time with Westpac Cards. i have the Altitude Platinum. i get the Visa/Amex, where the earn for Amex is 3point per $1.00.
Transfer rate is OK when getting 3-1, and i get to transfer to a range of other airlines (not QF) to which i transfer when necessary. have NOT flown Y on an overseas trip for at least 5 years, and do at least 2 trips a year. running a business off the cards does make life a little better, but have managed to clock up nearly 700,000 points because of the triple earner since last december, and of course the Bas payment too.

 

[cove]

It is their Visa part of the card at half a point per dollar that is the problem. Some of the Westpac Amex cards are working fine seeing you can cash a cheque at the bank counter for any amount to pay things like a BAS Tax bill that is way beyond a credit limit.

 

[KLN]

i only use the Visa when a merchant doesn't take AMEX. luckily my big business earners do. i have a $21,000 invoice to pay next month, and my BAS is an average of $40,000K per quarter

 

[Stephen65]

The Cth Diamond Amex card is a decent card - 1.5 QFF points per dollar, free or pretty cheap and with a $333,000 cap.

However the Cth Diamond MC part of the Diamond combo is not attractive or competitive at only 0.67 QFF points per dollar. You can get 1.00 QFF per dollar in a Visa/MC using either the cheap Woolworths Plat card or the Citi Plat and you can get 1.25 QFF per dollar on the Citibusiness Gold.

 

[Robert K]

with almost $4 billion profit i don't think they're too worried

 

[cove]

Yes but they are losing a lot of important customers who use credit cards who own businesses or have funds on deposit or have profitable loans. One way or the other it ends up affecting a much bigger chunk of business than one credit card at a time.
Getting new customers can be more expensive than retaining existing customers.