Upcoming Changes to HSBC & Bankwest Credit Cards

HSBC and Bankwest have announced a range of changes to their Australian credit cards. These include changes to annual fees and earning rates on HSBC credit cards, and a cut to the Qantas points earn rate on one of Bankwest’s popular cards.

Here’s a summary of what’s changing…

HSBC credit card changes from 28 August 2023

On 28 August 2023, HSBC will increase the annual fees on its HSBC Platinum and HSBC Platinum Qantas credit cards. However, it will also increase the overall amount of points that cardholders can earn.

The annual fee on the HSBC Platinum Qantas credit card will increase from $99 to $299. However, the full earn rate of 1 Qantas point per dollar spent will no longer be limited to the first $1,000 of spend each month. The cap of 7,500 Qantas points per statement period will also be removed, in exchange for an annual earning limit of 120,000 Qantas points.

The HSBC Platinum credit card, which earns HSBC Rewards Plus points instead of Qantas points, will have its earning cap changed from 10,000 points per month to 120,000 points per year. The earn rate is currently 1 point per $1 on domestic transactions or 2 points per $1 on international transactions. This will change to a new earn rate of 1.5 points per $1 on all transactions. The annual fee will rise from $129 to $149.

The same change to earning rates and points caps will also apply from 28 August 2023 to the HSBC Premier World Mastercard, for customers opting to earn HSBC Rewards Plus points. On that card, the international transaction fee will also increase from 2% to 3%.

For customers with a HSBC Premier World Mastercard who choose to earn Qantas points, the increased international transaction fee will also apply. In addition, the points cap will change from 10,000 Qantas points per month to 120,000 points per year. But HSBC will remove the $99 annual fee.

Note that the HSBC Premier World Mastercard is only available to HSBC Premier customers.

See the HSBC website for a full summary of the upcoming changes.

Bankwest credit card changes as of 8 September 2023

From 8 September 2023, Bankwest will reduce the rate at which Qantas points are earned on the Bankwest Qantas Platinum Mastercard. Instead of 0.75 Qantas points per $1 on the first $2,500 spent each month, this earn rate will reduce to 0.6 Qantas points per $1. The earn rate on amounts spent over $2,500 each month remains 0.3 Qantas points per $1.

Bankwest is also making some changes to its cash advance fees. And from 31 December 2023, Bankwest will remove annual bonus points on its More Classic, Platinum and World Mastercard products.

See the Bankwest website for a summary of the changes.

The Bankwest website provides the following reason for these changes:

We’re making some changes to our credit card products as we simplify our banking. This includes considering a number of factors including the economic environment and increasing costs.

Other recent credit card changes

During the pandemic, Australian banks made relatively few changes to the fees, earn rates or redemption rates on their credit cards. But we’ve recently seen changes from a series of banks and loyalty programs.

For example, Westpac recently increased the annual fees on its Altitude Platinum and Black credit cards. St.George, Bank of Melbourne and Bank SA (which Westpac owns) also recently increased the yearly fees on their Amplify Rewards credit cards.

Commonwealth Bank also recently adjusted its credit card line-up. And the opt-in fee to earn Qantas points on CommBank Awards credit cards is increasing from $30 to $60 per year from 25 August 2023.

It comes as the St.George Amplify Rewards program recently devalued the rate at which points convert to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles. Amex Membership Rewards will also decrease the value of KrisFlyer and Emirates Skywards redemptions in October 2023. However, Amex Membership Rewards is softening the blow by adding two new airline partners.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.