Westpac Amex cards - gone

[sudoer]

Westpac pulls the plug on American Express-branded cards

American Express and Westpac will be going their separate ways, with Westpac credit card bundles set to end.

www.pointhacks.com.au

Hope this partnership comes back eventually - it's been a good earner while serving an 18 month wait for Amex signup bonus, and some of the Amex Offers are actually useful.

Westpac certainly wasn't pushing them hard, but the Qantas Black Amex was one of the better value cards around recently IMO - $199 annual fee, 1.25 points (+0.75 Int, +1.25 QF) per dollar and $3k min credit requirement made it great for churning!

 

[Mattg]

After all that effort Westpac went to to create an Amex-issued product to get around the RBA changes, this seems like a sad outcome.

Interesting that Westpac has blamed a "significant change in consumer appetite for bundled credit card products" - I presume this is covid/recession-related.

 

[sudoer]

Interesting that Westpac has blamed a "significant change in consumer appetite for bundled credit card products" - I presume this is covid/recession-related.

I think Westpac's promotions for the card was also part of the problem - and that was pre-covid.

The sign-up bonus on the Black Amex was a mere 20k QFF for $199, compared to the 80-100k on the Black MC for $250 or 120k on the direct Amex Qantas Ultimate for $450 (w/ $450 travel credit). I can certainly see how it could have lacked appeal to the average punter looking for a quick serve of Qantas points.

 

[Lynda2475]

Interesting that Westpac has blamed a "significant change in consumer appetite for bundled credit card products" - I presume this is covid/recession-related.

Covid might have been the last nail in the coffin, but fact is Westpac too long to stand up a Amex product after banks stopped issuing Amex cards and when they did, the reduction is Altitude Qantas earn and introduction of annual fee to get Qantas points made it unappealing.

I used to have Earth Black (QFF earning which replaced original Altitude) MasterCard & bank issued Amex combo a legacy option which had great points earn, no annual fee, no rewards fee. I still have the MasterCard as it costs me nothing and use it only when im churning other cards, but before Westpac announced their new Amex partner cards Id already switched to the Amex Qantas Ultimate which effectively costs nothing due to the travel credit and has better sign-on bonus, and better points earn, so had no need for what Westpac eventually stood up.

I think the smart cookies just realised it is much easier to get your Amex directly from Amex with superior points earn and sign-on bonuses, and just get a Visa or mastercrd or both directly form whichever bank is offering best incentive and then churn before any 2nd year fees are due.

 

[madrooster]

I think Westpac's promotions for the card was also part of the problem - and that was pre-covid.

The sign-up bonus on the Black Amex was a mere 20k QFF for $199, compared to the 80-100k on the Black MC for $250 or 120k on the direct Amex Qantas Ultimate for $450 (w/ $450 travel credit). I can certainly see how it could have lacked appeal to the average punter looking for a quick serve of Qantas points.

Even on a regular day, without sign up bonuses being considered... at $199 for the Westpac Black Amex, $250 for the Westpac Black MC and then a $50 QF rewards fee on top, it was quite an expensive proposition totalling $499/year.

As you mentioned, the Amex QF Ultimate with the $450 travel credit is by far a better proposition here in combination with the Westpac Black MC. With the travel credit factored in, it's just $300/year to hold both cards.

 

[33kft]

One advantage of the Westpac AMEX was that it was able to be held whilst serving out an AMEX exclusion period (for AMEX branded cards) as it did not count. Probably more important back when AMEX cards had higher earn rates, but still all the Visa/MC cards except the St George card (that I know of) have a cap for their earnings if they are anywhere near AMEX rate.

 

[mrmerc500]

This was surprising news & disappointing to hear as it could have the potential to weaken the competitiveness of the local credit card market.

I wonder if it was a directive from Amex directly looking to reduce credit liability however understand from a consumer’s perspective that 2 credit checks, limits & annual fee’s isn’t necessarily ideal.

It was a great package card to obtain if the Amex fee was $0 as was the case at least once & the Westpac card fee could be justified or was included with a Homeloan package.

It was considered Amex Affinity & had seperate statement periods.

 

[coolstepslg]

cancelled westpac mastercard and held onto amex companion card a couple of years ago. upgraded to black amex and back to platinum after receiving the 40k bonus points mail offer. dont know if ill be able to do that again? annual fee is $49 for 1 QFF point earn card is not too bad. Not sure if they will let me do a product transfer without a credit check to a discovery card as this is an affinity card when annual fee is due later next year.? Not a bad product for Amex card no. 4 in oz as David jones and westpac branded amex cards werent counted towards the 2 card limit policy.

 

[sudoer]

upgraded to black amex and back to platinum after receiving the 40k bonus points mail offer. dont know if ill be able to do that again? annual fee is $49 for 1 QFF point earn card is not too bad.

The Westpac Black Amex product has been retired so you wouldn't be able to apply for the upgrade, let alone be offered an incentive to do so.

Not sure if they will let me do a product transfer without a credit check to a discovery card as this is an affinity card when annual fee is due later next year.?

It's an interesting question. Amex do perform their own check for affinity cards, and they have a habit of accessing my Equifax file more than any other issuer... (while only holding an affinity card, but I suspect this has something to do with a significant increase in the spend I've started putting through the card this year)



If you hold an affinity card while applying for a direct card I suspect they *could* assess your credit worthiness without doing a full enquiry, but there's no certainty which way it'd go.

Not a bad product for Amex card no. 4 in oz as David jones and westpac branded amex cards werent counted towards the 2 card limit policy.

Yep, I'll be holding onto my Westpac Black Amex for a while yet... the Amex Connect offers tend to cover the annual fee.

 

[coolstepslg]

yep, I'll be holding onto my Westpac Amex for a while yet too unless i receive a better offer from them. They would not let me do a product transfer last year without a credit check as they stated it wasn't a direct issued amex card so i declined to proceed. the amex offers credits have covered the $49 annual fee. Ill check again next year to see if they have changed their tune as WBC has left the room. Personal card holders used to be able to reinstate a amex card within 60 days of cancellation but they said thats not allowed any longer not sure for business amex though i was told it was ok by a rep, so im going to try that trick this week on a business card that has its annual fee due.

 

[Lynda2475]

So Wetspac must be doing another round of culls. Got a letter today advsing my freebie Earth Black Mastercard (QFF earning) is being converted into Alitude Black card, they are going to continue to waive the annual card fee and not charge me the $50 Qantas fee that is standard with that card.

 

[Mattg]

So Wetspac must be doing another round of culls. Got a letter today advsing my freebie Earth Black Mastercard (QFF earning) is being converted into Alitude Black card, they are going to continue to waive the annual card fee and not charge me the $50 Qantas fee that is standard with that card.

They seem to be getting rid of a few of the legacy cards at the moment. The KrisFlyer Westpac card is also going:

New Westpac Offer for Singapore Airlines Platinum Cardholders

We have a Singapore Airlines Platinum Visa Card. It used to have an add on Amex card, however as we are retired we don't spend enough so that was removed. We earn miles directly from Krisflyer each month on a $ spend. Today we were sent a new Westpac offer by post. They are simplifying their...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au