Commonwealth Bank American Express® Card + MasterCard®

POWERevolution on 03/11/2009 - 13:16
Last edited 04/11/2009 - 11:27

2 cards for only 1 fee…is there any catch?
Any of you signed up this offer yet? Like to hear your inputs.

Two cards, one account, more rewards
Your Commonwealth Bank American Express® Card and Commonwealth Bank MasterCard® or Visa are linked to one account. So, no matter which card you use you’ll be earning points.
Use your Commonwealth Bank American Express Card and earn more points for every dollar you spend. You can also use your MasterCard or Visa and enjoy the convenience of worldwide acceptance at over 29 million locations. And of course, you can take advantage of your card’s great features like the low balance transfer rate and interest-free period.
With two cards, you can choose which card you’d like to use and when.

General Discussion

Comments

  • discostu on 03/11/2009 - 13:46

    I got the same offer but have yet to accept. From what I can tell there's no catch for us but the reason they are doing this I believe is that AMEX charge higher merchant rates, that's why at some places they charge an additional $1 if you use AMEX. So AMEX have probably offered CommBank some amount for the contract, the points don't mean too much to CommBank as the fees they earn from us using the card will be more than the wholesale price they pay for the products from the award scheme but it's enough to induce us to use it more often than our other cards

    • POWERevolution on 04/11/2009 - 11:32

      I know some merchants charged extra on AMEX card but you always have the power to use MASTER card.

  • inherentchoice on 03/11/2009 - 18:10
    +1

    2 cards for 1 fee? I'd rather 1 card for no fee…

    • POWERevolution on 04/11/2009 - 11:29

      ATM not many cards offer no fee with reward points!

      • discostu on 04/11/2009 - 12:19

        I got my awards card for free, they sent me a letter in the mail saying I was pre-approved - I'm guessing they had a look at my bank account and saw a steady income and that the balance was never dire. You can always call them up and say you want to cancel your account because you found another card with no fee - the workers on the phone have the authority to waiver it.

        • POWERevolution on 04/11/2009 - 12:24

          Is this free for 1 year or for life? May I ask how long you signed up?

          • discostu on 04/11/2009 - 12:55

            @POWERevolution: I think it's only meant to be for the first year, it was to induce me to sign up. I signed up right before Christmas last year. I'm going to try and haggle my way out of the fees when it pops up again or alternatively I can forfeit some points I think

  • leon_rox on 04/11/2009 - 10:45

    Ye I signed up as soon as i saw the ad on the awards site. I received a letter where it said that you will receive 3pts per $1 spent Gold Card) if you sign up before end of Nov. I mean it doesn't hurt to have a second card since it's free anyways but like discostu pointed out you'd be inclined to use it more than u have to, even if you have to pay the extra %. That's probably the only catch, but if you have the will power u'll be fine :) I have actually been able to see an AMEX card number for a week or so on NetBank under Mastercard account information so I assume i'll be getting it in the mail soon.

  • POWERevolution on 04/11/2009 - 11:30

    Yeah its sound too good but I need to read more on the fine prints.

  • SirCH on 04/11/2009 - 13:33

    A lot of credit cards are 2 cards. They offer you more points with the Amex card (because the merchant has to pay them more) and then a Mastercard for the (many) places that don't accept Amex or charge a surcharge to you.

    Just off the top of my head: http://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/nab/nab/home/Personal_…

  • bac0n on 06/11/2009 - 19:58

    I got my cards,

    Apart from being ugly, theres no catch attached. I believe they are currently offering bonus points on the AMEX card (2.5 instead of 1.5) for a few months. Like others have said, make your purchases/pay bills on the AMEX card if theres no surcharge. If theres a surcharge, switch to your mastercard/visa. This way you're just accumulating more points for the same spend.

    Speaking to the customer rep, I believe the reason they're introducing this is because they're no longer partnering with VISA anymore, and consequently formed a parternship with AMEX. The AMEX brand has significantly reduced their merchant fees of late and have pushed to offer greater acceptance worldwide, so it can't be a bad thing.

    In my opinion, you're not paying extra, or more inconvinienced by it, so apply for it and if you don't like it cut it up. You can even give it to a family member to use instead of applying for an additional card (which costs $15/year).

    • discostu on 08/11/2009 - 00:06

      They are indeed hideous aren't they! That's what I thought when I saw the letter(they're really trying to push it, e-mailed me 3 times and snail mailed me) - wasn't overly impressed with the look of it. Just out of curiosity, does the old dark green still work if you have the 2 new ones?

      • bac0n on 08/11/2009 - 10:05

        The old card gets deactivated within 30 days of receiving your new cards. Shame, its such a waste of plastic. The 'new' mastercard/amex is exactly the same as your old one except for the colours.

  • hmbush on 07/11/2009 - 21:46

    There was a recent newspaper article comparing the loyalty program of credit cards which mentions that Westpac has the best program among the big four banks. They also offer AMEX and Visa.

    PS: I do not work nor affiliated with them, but have been a happy customer.

  • tsandu on 10/11/2009 - 11:45

    Cba not only have this for mastercards, but also for visa.. so went from 2 cards, to 4 now.. I signed up because the added points from the amex makes it worthwhile. When the merchang wants to charge more for amex, i just use the visa/master card instead. So best of both worlds

  • sydney_kings on 10/11/2009 - 17:25

    This is a poor deal compared to the old CBA rewards program.
    The transfer rate is effectively halved for non-Amex purchases.
    Also, maximum bonus points available during this promotion are capped at 5,000 (Platinum), 3,000 (Gold), 1,500 (Awards) which is extremely low

  • bamzero on 10/11/2009 - 18:35

    You can't add the Commbank Amex to your Paypal account either as it only accepts US Amex cards.. I spoke to Commbank and they said they were working with Paypal to have it available in future.

    And Paypal responded with:

    I understand that you would like to register your Amex card in your
    PayPal account. I apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused
    you. Unfortunately, Amex card cannot be registered or used in PayPal
    Australia. All American Express cards are processed in USD, causing
    currency conversion fees for our members outside the US. Another reason
    why is because PayPal has localized the Australian site, PayPal believes
    it is in your best interest to add a Visa or MasterCard to avoid the
    currency conversion fees for using an American Express card. Please
    understand that we constantly improving our service. There are some
    features or services that may not be available in Australia but we are
    looking other alternatives or options to satisfy our customers’ needs.

    If you already registered an Amex Card before PayPal Australia had been
    localized, you may use the card up until the expiration date of the
    card. Once the card expired, you would not be able to use it or update
    it. The only way is to add a Visa or MasterCard.

    • TheBooleanOne on 15/11/2009 - 16:49

      Funny, but I have a currency conversion fee on my Visa already. So I don't know why they're using that as an excuse not to offer Amex!

  • kasumi on 15/11/2009 - 17:31

    i have a fee free AMEX already, and was wondering about this offer in relation to the bonus points? I assume the CBA-AMEX rewards options will be the same as the normal CBA credit cards (i have a visa)?

    My current AMEX has more flexibility with whom i can transfer the reward points to in relation to frequent flyer points, that's why i ALWAYS use my AMEX unless they don't accept it (like @ IKEA hehe).

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