RewardPay and B2Bpay have both reduced their fees this week following the major changes to Amex credit cards from 15 April. But after such a significant devaluation to Amex Membership Rewards, this may not be enough for these services to remain competitive going forward.
Services like RewardPay and B2Bpay offer customers the opportunity to pay bills such as ATO tax payments using an Amex credit card. Cardholders benefit from the ability to earn credit card or frequent flyer reward points at the full “everyday spend” rate for transactions made through these services. There is a payment fee, but the idea is that the points earned should make the fee worthwhile. These types of services can be useful when paying a biller that does not accept Amex. They can also be handy for paying the ATO, as you’ll earn points at the full rate rather than Amex’s reduced earn rates for tax payments.
RewardPay, from 15 April, reduced its payment fee from 2.4% to 2.15% (rates excluding GST) for payments up to $20,000. And under a new tiered fee structure, the rates now become progressively cheaper as you make larger payments. Single transactions of over $1 million will attract the lowest payment surcharge of 1.75% plus GST.
On 17 April, B2Bpay reduced its own fee for Amex card payments from 2.4% to 2.2%, excluding GST. This makes B2Bpay, which partners with Qantas Business Rewards, slightly more expensive now than RewardPay.
Payment Logic, another Australian business offering a similar service has also reduced its fees from 15 April. This service now charges a flat fee of 2.15% plus GST.
While the fee reductions are welcome, in many cases they may not quite be enough to compensate for the revised point-earning rates on most Amex cards. As one AFF member says…
Amex points earn rate has been 1/2ed. RP have not been reduced enough to make up for this..I’m now an ex RP user! I’m only interested in “buying” points at 1c or less for KF miles, less for Qf.
B2Bpay has attempted to spin the changes as a positive, as Amex Platinum cardholders can now earn slightly more Amex Membership Rewards points on tax payments while paying a lower fee. This is true, however many other Amex cardholders may be worse-off overall.
If you have a very large tax bill, RewardPay’s new tiered pricing structure could still be competitive. For smaller payments, it may now be a little harder to justify the fees.
It’s a really good deal for those of us out there paying $1m invoices (or over), but not for anyone else. Bye bye RP, not going to use it anymore
But as the RewardPay and B2Bpay fees may be tax deductible, the services could still make sense for some…
While it probably doesn’t make sense at the 30% tax rate, using Platinum charge at the top personal rate is still justifiable.
It is still possible to pay the ATO with an Amex card directly and, in most cases, Amex has not changed the rate at which points are earned for tax payments. But points for tax payments continue to be earned at reduced rates compared to “everyday” spend. And with the ATO charging a 1.45% surcharge for Amex credit card payments, this is not generally worthwhile.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: New RewardPay Rates are not really good enough
