Newk
Established Member
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2012
- Posts
- 1,617
I'll start this thread and see how it goes. Discussion of the XS card began in the "ATO payment by credit card" thread as use of the XS card seemed to be a way to pay tax (sort of) by Amex and diminish the fees involved. The discussion has evolved to potential other ways to use the XS card. So maybe we can carry over that conversation and expand upon it here..
I think that as with many topics discussed on AFF everyone values points and their time differently. So what is discussed here may not be worth anything to some readers. Read and decide for yourself.
As well as value though is the fun and intellectual challenge. As an example I love that mhen recently documented the various convoluted pathways that points could be spun away from Diners. Many of these paths may never be used. But I feel better that they have been documented.
Short summary so far:
Westfield XS cards can be bought from Westfield centres and on-line. There is a $4.95 fee per card, no matter what the valuation. They max out at $995. They can be bought with credit cards including Amex but so far as I know not Diners. The cards are not to be confused with Westfield gift cards which are a totally different proposition.
The XS card is accepted by Australia Post for payment of bills including ATO and credit card bills with PO bar code. This has been documented elsewhere. Hint: take the instructions that come with the card. You may find some lack of knowledge at the PO. Show them the instructions. Tell them that the transfer comes from a nominal "savings" account...one of the EFTPOS choices. It DOES work for these two things
I believe that as well as the PO these cards can be used anywhere that Eftpos is accepted. Banks anyone??
The known unknowns:
1) can credit cards be paid without the bar code on the credit card bill?...note for Amex and possibly Diners you need the posted account to be able to use the bar code. What we need to know is can these and other cards be paid without the bar code. I note that there is a hint of a possibility of this in the "Bank@Post" agency banking slip that I picked up yesterday. It has a tick box account identification line. Included are cheque, savings and credit boxes. And a space for card number further down.
2) what credit card fees are there for this? Diners yesterday charged me $1.55 for a $400 payment. The post office charged me nothing by the way
3) can these cards be used to make deposits to saving and cheque accounts? See note about the deposit slip under 1) above. So I suspect the answer is yes. So: what fees, if any are involved?
4) does the value proposition change when the cards are bought in bulk on-line? Does the delivery fee outweigh the lower fee. xsiq was thinking about looking into this
5) insert your imagination here. the unkown unkowns. We need to discuss other potential uses. One suggestion has been to use XS to avoid fees anywhere that charges Amex/Diners surcharges
the way I see it these cards can be used for many interesting things that I'll leave to your imagination. (Note I edited this bit so that you need to use your own imagination.)
I think that as with many topics discussed on AFF everyone values points and their time differently. So what is discussed here may not be worth anything to some readers. Read and decide for yourself.
As well as value though is the fun and intellectual challenge. As an example I love that mhen recently documented the various convoluted pathways that points could be spun away from Diners. Many of these paths may never be used. But I feel better that they have been documented.
Short summary so far:
Westfield XS cards can be bought from Westfield centres and on-line. There is a $4.95 fee per card, no matter what the valuation. They max out at $995. They can be bought with credit cards including Amex but so far as I know not Diners. The cards are not to be confused with Westfield gift cards which are a totally different proposition.
The XS card is accepted by Australia Post for payment of bills including ATO and credit card bills with PO bar code. This has been documented elsewhere. Hint: take the instructions that come with the card. You may find some lack of knowledge at the PO. Show them the instructions. Tell them that the transfer comes from a nominal "savings" account...one of the EFTPOS choices. It DOES work for these two things
I believe that as well as the PO these cards can be used anywhere that Eftpos is accepted. Banks anyone??
The known unknowns:
1) can credit cards be paid without the bar code on the credit card bill?...note for Amex and possibly Diners you need the posted account to be able to use the bar code. What we need to know is can these and other cards be paid without the bar code. I note that there is a hint of a possibility of this in the "Bank@Post" agency banking slip that I picked up yesterday. It has a tick box account identification line. Included are cheque, savings and credit boxes. And a space for card number further down.
2) what credit card fees are there for this? Diners yesterday charged me $1.55 for a $400 payment. The post office charged me nothing by the way
3) can these cards be used to make deposits to saving and cheque accounts? See note about the deposit slip under 1) above. So I suspect the answer is yes. So: what fees, if any are involved?
4) does the value proposition change when the cards are bought in bulk on-line? Does the delivery fee outweigh the lower fee. xsiq was thinking about looking into this
5) insert your imagination here. the unkown unkowns. We need to discuss other potential uses. One suggestion has been to use XS to avoid fees anywhere that charges Amex/Diners surcharges
the way I see it these cards can be used for many interesting things that I'll leave to your imagination. (Note I edited this bit so that you need to use your own imagination.)
Last edited:
. Don't post to it. LOL I won't post again until someone else does
