Bankwest Qantas Transaction account [being withdrawn in 2025]

Running tens of thousands of 1c Telstra payments through this account years ago is still my all time favourite points earn. Good times! 😂

They were special times. Still remember my morning script run with coffee. Possibly only beaten by BW accidentally doubling everyone’s points rather than clawing them back. Good times!
 
Looks like this account is now in its last days:
The Qantas Transaction Account will be withdrawn from sale from approximately 15 May 2025. Bankwest will commence migrating existing customers to the Easy Transaction Account from approximately 1 September 2025. Qantas Points are not earned on the Easy Transaction Account.

I've noticed that AMP has now announced a new transaction account that earns Qantas points, don't know if the end of the Bankwest account and the creation of the AMP product are linked.
 
It seems that Bankwest is going to the dogs. They've also closed all their branches. I think I might close my transaction account with them, as it no longer offers anything that's not available from other banks, and there is also the monthly fee (which of course I avoid). On top of that, they are very selective as to which payments they won't block.

I can see ComBank's grubby hands all over this.
 
It seems that Bankwest is going to the dogs. They've also closed all their branches. I think I might close my transaction account with them, as it no longer offers anything that's not available from other banks, and there is also the monthly fee (which of course I avoid). On top of that, they are very selective as to which payments they won't block.

I can see ComBank's grubby hands all over this.
Yep I agree. I have had one of these accounts for almost 10 yrs. It was an easy way of making sure your Qantas points kept ticking over and never expired. Ah well, will have to look at something else now as I already have a Easy Transaction account and might look to close that too.
 
Looks like this account is now in its last days:


I've noticed that AMP has now announced a new transaction account that earns Qantas points, don't know if the end of the Bankwest account and the creation of the AMP product are linked.
As a former AMP Bank customer I have to say they are best avoided. The worst systems and service of any Australian bank I've experienced in recent yrs.
 
We had an account each for the original sign up bonus. Handy alternative to Wise in countries with erratic ATM service (Vietnam - sometimes one worked, sometimes the other). Bit of a pain transferring in $2k each month though to avoid the charge, so I closed one. We have Commbank Ultimate cc which earns 1.5 Velocity points on overseas spend, so for frequent overseas travellers it's great, locally it's terrible. Given I never keep more than a few dollars in there except when going overseas (for ATM withdrawals) I suspect the new one will make life easier for me with no need to t/f $2k in and out each month.
 
As the person who started this thread all those years ago I’m stunned it still has a life, time for it to just die off methinks.
i am still under bankwest as i speak but i might move to another bank in future
 
I opened this account for the initial sign-up bonus and have been transferring money in to avoid fees and then straight out to other accounts with good interest earn automatically for a handful of points. Also liked the idea of another fee free txn account for overseas travel as back-up for Macquarie and the NAB Citibank replacement.

But I will now close this and also the Qudos account by end of June; as the points earn isn't worth the effort and much better savings rates to be had at Macquarie and Westpac with no minimum deposit and no penalty if a withdrawal is needed.
 
I opened this account for the initial sign-up bonus and have been transferring money in to avoid fees and then straight out to other accounts with good interest earn automatically for a handful of points. Also liked the idea of another fee free txn account for overseas travel as back-up for Macquarie and the NAB Citibank replacement.

But I will now close this and also the Qudos account by end of June; as the points earn isn't worth the effort and much better savings rates to be had at Macquarie and Westpac with no minimum deposit and no penalty if a withdrawal is needed.
Yes, absolutely.

I opened this account mainly because of the favourable foreign currency conversion rates, but as Bankwest declines many of my foreign currency transactions because of its hypersensitivity to possible fraud, I find it quite difficult to use.

So I mainly use Wise for these transactions. It would seem that Bankwest is going to the dogs, at CBA's direction, I guess.
 
This is my go-to card for foreign purchases because my understanding is that MasterCard has better FX rates than Visa.
Actually marginal difference for AUD based card holders IME comparing like for like transactions OS.

This article suggests the main variation is the currency your paying in.
 

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