RewardPay Alternatives

[glasszon]

RIP EBP, $24.95 monthly fee is quite significant for mere mortals that don't spend thousands on credit cards each month, guess it's time to look for an alternative.

 

[Bell21]

RIP EBP, $24.95 monthly fee is quite significant for mere mortals that don't spend thousands on credit cards each month, guess it's time to look for an alternative.

I guess it will depend on the overall $ / point value --- 1.7% surcharge on AMEX has always been my benchmark for switching from say RP etc to EBP for business expenses, so pleased about this change overall, but will 'run the numbers'

 

[Bell21]

PS I'm going to put my brakes on my initial enthusiasm though, as I wonder if the 'high value processing fee' might end up making the 1.7% no better than other providers...

 

[albyd]

That’s what I’m thinking. Also less enthused as it kicks in after the current Amex double points offer and you can’t get in touch with them. I’m not confident going from no fee to $24.95 per month will result in emails being responded to any sooner. I think my go to for Amex payments will be Creditrewards.

EBP do allow payment to a wider range of recipients for the time being. Not sure how long that will last FWIW. YMMV.

 

[odysseus]

Pretty shonky notification by ebp, just putting the massive fee in the terms and conditions rather than the main announcement.

Completely unjustified too, who needs a $25 a month fee just to pay occasional bills?

Think they should have announced a rebrand as well. Ebp is now Expensive Bill Pay.

 

[get me outta here]

No fee on suspended accounts. So, pay ATO 4 x a year after unsuspending 4 x times a year and pay 1%?

 

[jonboixxx]

PS I'm going to put my brakes on my initial enthusiasm though, as I wonder if the 'high value processing fee' might end up making the 1.7% no better than other providers...

"High Value Processing Fee means the amount calculated by multiplying the High Value Processing Rate by the aggregate amount of Top-up Payments made by the User in the applicable period.
High Value Processing Rate means the rate published from time to time on the Website, or if none is published then 1%."

This, from their T&C's; I guess we'll see once they do their site update.

 

[stevoplaystation]

$24.95 a month is a total scam. even the reduction to 1% for MC/VISA does not cut it. Numbers don't add up for occasional bill payers maybe only for big amounts but they will lose customers over this.

 

[Bell21]

"High Value Processing Fee means the amount calculated by multiplying the High Value Processing Rate by the aggregate amount of Top-up Payments made by the User in the applicable period.
High Value Processing Rate means the rate published from time to time on the Website, or if none is published then 1%."

This, from their T&C's; I guess we'll see once they do their site update.

Thanks for that - well, that's uncompetitive!

Post automatically merged: Jun 15, 2020

$24.95 a month is a total scam. even the reduction to 1% for MC/VISA does not cut it. Numbers don't add up for occasional bill payers maybe only for big amounts but they will lose customers over this.

Especially given YP!

 

[albyd]

I guess they were proposing a monthly fee when they first launched then scrapped it. There’s always a chance they will scrap it again if they see a drop off in volumes like BC started paying full points on ATO once they realized they weren’t getting that business.

The 1% high value fee sounds a bit rich. I can see why they didn’t want to make it obvious in the email.

 

[DeKa]

Citibank PayAll seems to be another competitor ... if you can call it that at 2%

​

We have introduced a whole new way to pay and earn Citi reward Points1 using your Citi Premier Card with Citi PayAll.2​

With Citi PayAll, you can set up your rent, taxes, education fees, property management fees, childcare, miscellaneous bills and more. And the good news is that the number of points you will earn is uncapped.3​

Set up single or regular Citi PayAll payments by transferring to recipients with a registered BSB and account number held with an Australian financial institution. You will earn 1 Citi reward Points per $1 spent each time you transfer.​

You will be charged a 2% PayAll fee of the Citi PayAll amount.4​

This feature is available now in the Citi Mobile® App.​

 

[Infrequent traveller]

Citibank PayAll seems to be another competitor ... if you can call it that at 2%

I really can't figure out how it would make economic/finance sense for the cardholder (barring it offers an award scheme similar to the current AMEX Charge card bonus MR points. The Citi reward points carry so dismal value I stopped factoring it in in my use of cards. Only keep the card Citi Premier (Signature) because it's FFFL and the 2 complimentary lounge visits on PP every year.

 

[albyd]

Agree, doesn’t make sense when there are already so many services for MC/Visa which are priced more competitively. Assuming their target market is less well informed customers who think this is a good idea and don’t realize there are already services where they can do this ... and less expensively.

 

[jonboixxx]

Pretty shonky notification by ebp, just putting the massive fee in the terms and conditions rather than the main announcement.

Completely unjustified too, who needs a $25 a month fee just to pay occasional bills?

Think they should have announced a rebrand as well. Ebp is now Expensive Bill Pay.

I also don't like the platform at all. Unnecessarily complicated compared with YP.

 

[SOPOOR]

its situations like these, I am curious what goes through the CEO/MD minds
are they making a loss on their existing fee structure, are they underestimating the possible impact of losing customers to a point it might be worse off?
or just greed?

 

[Bell21]

I also don't like the platform at all. Unnecessarily complicated compared with YP.

Yes - it can be a bit of a pain. If it helps, and I can't recall if it's explicitly covered up-thread, but EBP has confirmed for me that the 1.7% is exclusive of GST, and that the high value processing fee will only apply to amounts above the $20,000 monthly threshold (not to the full aggregate amount) - on that basis, even with the $24.95 monthly fee, it actually doesn't appear too bad points / value-wise for up to $20,000 business expenses on an AMEX plat card.

 

[Infrequent traveller]

...on that basis, even with the $24.95 monthly fee, it actually doesn't appear too bad points / value-wise for up to $20,000 business expenses on an AMEX plat card.

Yes, but on that base, the business is limiting its target market to those with a AMEX Charge card with a monthly spend of between $4,536 ($24.95/($0.0225-$0.017)) and $20,000 per month?! $0.0225 being the assumed points value per dollar spend after the special bonus offer). No doubt some users will still find value but am not sure this target market will be enough to support the business!

 

[Bell21]

Well, i don't know - I haven't done the calculation for non-Plat card users, although I doubt there will be many of us that find value in paying 2.25 cents / point at any time, let alone in the current climate - I think it would have to be about half that rate to attract many of us, so if 'that maths doesn't work-out', then yep, it's a pretty limited target market, although there is the 'cash flow' benefit as well, which shouldn't be entirely discounted.

 

[edman]

I've been putting a lot through Bluechain this month with their reduced rate and my EOFY spend. Looking to do my ATO bills tomorrow/Monday, anyone made payments to ATO last couple of weeks that can confirm its still working again as expected?

 

[daft009]

I've been putting a lot through Bluechain this month with their reduced rate and my EOFY spend. Looking to do my ATO bills tomorrow/Monday, anyone made payments to ATO last couple of weeks that can confirm its still working again as expected?

Used a couple of days ago via BC, got the double points