When Qantas launched Qantas Cash last year, it quickly got the attention of our members. That attention has been both positive and negative. While our members like the ability to earn points through their own funds, getting those funds onto the card has proved to be an onerous exercise.
The quickest I’ve experienced is 48 hours. Of course once you have any currency on the card, transferring to another currency is instant. Once I’ve departed that country I sweep those funds over to the currency of my next destination so I’m not left with bits of currency all over the place.
Until last week, there were two methods of loading the card, each with their limitations on how effective a method it was. The first was to use BPAY, which could take up to three days to appear on your card. With banks having varying cut off times to make a BPAY transaction, it could be as late as Wednesday for a payment to show that was made the previous Friday afternoon.
The other payment method was POLI, which has been somewhat controversial. POLI works by allowing you to withdraw directly from the bank account and pay the merchant. During the process, you are given a window to access your internet banking from the POLI website. As POLI is a third party operating in the middle of the process, it was considered by many to be too risky from a security perspective, despite no reports of any accounts being compromised. With Qantas cash waiting up until three days to credit the funds, many members found BPAY to be just as effective.
Last week, it appeared Qantas had been listening to the feedback, and made an announcement that POLI was no longer in use, replaced by a new method:
An enhancement to celebrate! Qantas Cash has replaced POLi, introducing Bank Transfer as a faster way to load your funds. Experience faster loads (transfers can be made in up to one business day), and members can now make salary deposits (i.e. give to their employer to pay directly).
While our members still prefer the 28 Degrees product or the Citibank Plus account for low cost overseas transactions, the changes do make the product a good backup card when things go wrong, with load time significantly reduced. For those without access to a credit card product, it is also a good way of earning points locally, an area where it’s been suggested the next improvement could be made:
The next thing that needs improving is the time it takes for points earned using Qantas Cash to post.
Do you have an idea on how the product can be improved, or had an issue using Qantas Cash, why not join the conversation HERE.
