We all knew this day would come but CBA have joined the enshitification train. The best overview seems to be from Point Hacks with some additional details from CBA
In a nutshell, no more monthly fee waiver and reduced earn rates offset with some monthly 'vouchers' and subscriptions you probably don't want.
Also of note they're trying to sidestep the interchange fee ban by partnering with Discover as a card issuer
They all learn the same dribble at uni and think we are all morons. It’s like when qantas raise the price of points bookings and say they listened to their customers in doing so
That’s hilarious they are using discover for a new charge card to sidestep the interchange fees.
Can’t wait for Diner’s Club’s return.
Discover recently got acquired by Capital One so I wouldnt be surprised if they start aggressively expanding and growing the network. It's possible Commbank is trying to get itself into some sort of deal with Capital One and the Discover network "re-launching" in the Aus market.
Yes, the Capital One takeover is quite a pain as it was quite difficult for me to get my card issued on Mastercard since we don’t have Discover here.
Don't feel left out. They are all doing you over.
I only ever wanted a card to buy thigs I didn't carry enough cash for, and get up to 55 days free credit. And pay an annual Fee.
These days it seems like you need a degree in points to get any value at all out of them
Depending on how useful the monthly credits are it could still be a 'functionally' free card and if I can earn 0.8 Avios per $ on FX spend I'd probably just keep this card for that.
Tying earn to Yello tier is in my view incredibly unfair as I don't have a mortgage I can move to CBA and I'd rather not have to park $50k in a sub-par savings account for 15 days every 3 months just to hit a tier that earns me 1 whole Yello point per $ of spend.
Ultimate Awards Credit Card
The monthly fee waiver if you spend at least $4,000 will be removed from 1 January 2027.
cya cba
Same here. Bastards!
All I need is zero monthly fee and zero FX fees. They can jam their points.
Any ideas, brains trust?
Bendigo Ready CC
Ing Platinum Rewards get you $30 per month if you spend at least $3000 so it will cover the $149 annual fee i suppose?
Probably wait for 1 October as everyone will be making changes
Thats what I am doing, waiting a few months to see what offers are out there and what deals there are. Won't be long before someone has an introductory offer where the yearly fee is waived for the first year or something. Then everyone will be churning more than normal like shopping for NBN intro offers.
Unless you have the wealth package, the waiver still stays. Though I wouldn't be surprised if there are changes to that soon
I have a CBA Smart Awards credit card and always spend more than $2k per month so get the $19 fee waiver. Now that it's being scrapped ($228/year, no thanks!) I'll be looking for another credit card. The points earning rate has been halved as well.
In the same boat. Which cc would you recommend for similar monthly spend for less or zero fees, and with decent points or anything better than CBA? Tia
Many years ago I had a card with BankWest that had no fees and 55 days interest free. I'll have a look around after 1 October and switch from CBA as I believe CBA doesn't have any fee free options with interest free period. It's important to check out the offers after that date to make sure those cards also don't suddenly have fees added to them. No international transaction fees is also important to me. Paying 3% is a sick joke.
The days of getting decent points are probably long gone. Amex is still an option, although many business refuse to accept them (for good reason).
Thanks. Maybe I will wait until October 1 and see what better options are out there.
@AussieDaddy: Looks like fee waiver is staying till 1 Jan 2027, so you have a bit more time
https://www.commbank.com.au/credit-cards/card-updates.html
The monthly fee waiver if you spend at least $2,000 will be removed from 1 January 2027.
@interlocal: O, cool. That gives us some time to look for other alternatives. I thought the fee waiver was going to start on October this year.
I just moved to this from My Card … far out :( now i need to look for another so annoyed :(
Any remaining Awards Points will be converted to CommBank Yello points. The conversion is one for one – for example, 2,000 Awards Points will become 2,000 CommBank Yello points.
Are the points better or worse on Awards or Yello?
MYER $50 Digital Gift card
Awards: 10950 points
Yello: 12500 points
Worse… you literally answered your question.
yeah, that was my intention
have to pay to convert to Velocity points as well
Damn, I have to use all my points then before the changes happen.
Thanks for reminder! Just realised I forgot to exchange the points for gift cards.
Best one at the moment is $100 Coles Digital card @ 206.5 points per $. Better cash it out now before they remove gift cards (the gift card section looks so gutted)
I went to grab Coles vouchers now and they were gone haha. I just used it to reduce credit card balance but like everyone else am done by end of year.
well, time to switch this one off and find a new home for direct debits.
Didnt mind relatively low value for a fee-free card with the waiver in place. Certainly not paying for it!
CBA has always been the worst - closely followed by bankwest.
closely followed by bankwest.
bankwest were good for business accounts, then they closed them all…
Bankwest have seemingly not cut earn rates (below their fairly low monthly caps, then they're pretty much non existent after that) but have instead decided to carve a lot of insurances out. I think I'd prefer that approach.
bankwest more world no more uncapped earn rate.
The pointshack article is gone. Is there actually anything from the horse's mouth that says the credit card fee waivers are being removed?
https://www.commbank.com.au/credit-cards/card-updates.html
Smart Awards is going from fee free (minimum spend) and no international fees to $19/month and 3.5% on international transactions.
This sucks.
I just got the email from CBA saying the $35 fee will apply to the Ultimate from first statement after 1 Jan 2027.
The points hack article is back
New link on their website with details update
As expected the $10 monthly credit is for the new EatClub dine in deals and $10/$25 monthly travel credit is for use on their travel booking portal in partnership with hopper.
Open link and scroll down to Fees, features & new benefits and click a card to see the details.
Hahaha it’s so sh*t!! Knew it useless vouchers!
Wow, the Ultimate travel insurance is now useless.
Just $2500 cover for trip cancellation. If they keep the $500 excess that is just horrendous cover.
THIS IS SHIT HOUSE.
The way I read it there is no change for Ultimate, the reduced cancellation cover is only for Smart and Diamond Awards cards.
Ultimate just loses extended warranty and price protection, etc
STAND DOWN!! You are correct.
But it is shifting away from Cover-more.
card insurances will be underwritten by Allied World Assurance Company, arranged through Cover Genius
Now I am mostly angry about the fee waiver.
I have a 3 month trip next year that I’ve already activated a policy on, super intrigued to see if the new provider is in any way better and it’s worth redoing a new policy under it. Seems unlikely it will be an improvement but surely can’t do any worse then the $500-$600 excesses.
I do really like that they give you a certificate of insurance with a policy number.
Fee is dogshit, although there is a bar on EatClub not far from work and I will spend the $10/month voucher getting a solo lunch beer purely just to get value out of it.
@6079 Smith: I'm going to make a phone call and ask for a waiver. A $420 annual fee is a joke.
I could end up eating my words, but it seems this whole exercise is about cost cutting, so I cannot imagine the new provider being better.
@6079 Smith: I believe the travel and eatclub are credits not vouchers and will accumulate until they expire (which is in 12 months) so you should be able to bank up to $120 of eatclub to spend a year if you don't go monthly.
As it only mentions Ultimate and Smart I assume me on my old Diamond card will get shafted again and receive nothing (though my fee is grandfathered and lower than both those cards but really hard to find value in it any more)
(Also can't you just activate a second policy anyway? If need be claim on whichever one would benefit better at the time)
Another "fix" by this shit govt that will cost the end user.
I have noticed a lot of small businesses now offering discounted pricing for cash.
small businesses now offering discounted pricing for cash.
That’s been happening since the start of cashless payments.
Though now it’s 15-20% off rather than the usually 10% off
Exactly. But now I'm seeing even cafes and so on offering discounts for cash, not just trades and so on.
Some shops are cashless only though… So you have no option but to pay with card and they add a 1.5% card fee… joke
ohhh criticising a left wing government on reddit, I mean, ozbargain, risky move cotton, lets see how this plays out…
They're criticised everywhere becuase of the fact that they are a failure who toldsome significant lies.
They deserve the hate.
Oh I know. Just not around here, ozbargain has a large left wing base. I guess because those sorts have a lot of time to sit on internet forums, I dunno 🤷♂️
@Binchicken22: I'm amazed that even left-wing voters aren't horrified. Not that there's any viable alternatives… Sad state of politics
Just to make it worse, I am not currently eligible to be a Yello thingy members.
What a joke of a card.
So I absolutely didn't participate in a market research session a few months ago that foreshadowed replacing points and cashback with Yello.
And in that session I wasn't a part of I certainly didn't blast them for the fact I had to have a bank account that I cycle $2k through every month to ensure it stays free and then have to transfer that money out in 5 transactions just to hit the base tier of their stupid program and that this was an insane way to treat people who spend $25-50k+ on their credit card every year as you have to do to avoid the waivers on Smart and Ultimate.
They don't care. They've done the sums and it'll probably work out for them with customers who don't do enough research, frustrating as the churn is getting harder to make it worthwhile.
Market research sessions are a load of bollocks most of the time.
Question 1: What annual fee world you prefer?
Answer 1: $49
Answer 2: $99
Answer 3: $120
Answer 4: $149
100% of research participants said they'd like an annual fee on their card products.
It is a shame you weren't there.
Could have really saved this program had you been there and they listened.
Last FY I put over $100k through it. Now I can't get a single Qantas point because I am not eligible for Yello.
Damn! They removed majority of the gift cards, as of today only options are: BCF Myer, Rebel, Supercheap.
I usually redeem Coles $100 gift cards at 210 points/dollar, slightly worse than using points at Myer at 208 points/dollar.
Unless something worth buying from those 4 retailers, only option is cash back at 283 points/dollar.
Holy just checked you’re right!! The Coles one was still available last night!! All denominations. Supercheap was only $250 and now magically all denominations. Didn’t cash out my 150k points argh!! Don’t know what to get now as it seems the yello stuff is going to suffer 20+% points hit
That sucks, bloody fckers! They are just next level when it comes to these types of things. Hope people realize how bloody these scammers are and hope they stop existing one day. Many people still think they are big and good, probably because they don't know about these kind of things or don't realize how these guys are scamming them with these types of tactics.
I think sometimes they sell out. All we can do is wait and see if they will get restocked
Those are digital gift cards, how can they be sold out?
im just speculating. Ive 100% seen other rewards programs say out of stock for digital gift cards.
@faricity: Yes I think you are right. I'm guessing the notification prompted a lot of people to cash out.
Have seen Coles cards come and go on CBA Awards (usually the higher denominations)
@faricity: Are you right, Coles, Kmart, Target digital digit cards have reappeared.
Coles $100 is the best value:
I have redeemed multiple $100s in the past few days and this morning, they all have 26/Aug issue date. Which indicates they were not generated on demand, but created in batches. A few days short, but they are valid for 4 years, well exceeds the 3 years mandate.
wtf they are really messing their customers up
Well they need to increase their profit from 11 billion last year to 15 billion next year. How else can they achieve their target?
So this comes into effect October 1?
time to find a new card with no more fee waiver.
This is all about entwining you into the whole CBA ecosystem.
If you fall boots and all into Yello you are fool and need to hand in any OzBargain badges you may hold.
I've always felt the commbank cards were always the worst value, thats why I haven't had any for years.
The only saving grace I see is this credit for travel and dining, but will depend on how they apply it as say my bus fares which ANZ classify as transport would easily reach the $25 on their ultimate monthly and if dining was any restaurant that would be easy to reach too, so in one aspect this could be better than the fee waiver, depending on how easy it is.
The points earning looks like a pain to figure out at this stage and the extra fees look awful (almost suggest transferring to non Qantas or Virgin programme as can be easier to get redemptions in other programmes).
Can really see their "vouchers" being crapified again - only participating transport/dining venues - hope I'm wrong. CBA always been crap value for credit cards
Given the deal today about the promo with EatClub makes me think it will be something along those lines, eg the credit is just a $10 EatClub promo code
I squeezed a bit out of them over the past couple of years, I don't see any value in them right now as they don't have any signup bonuses compared to previously.
I had a Smart Awards card that I got around $800 or so gift cards for supermarkets for no monthly or annual fees, cancelled quickly after getting them all. Recently had a Low Rate CBA Credit Card. $75 cashback per month, minus a $6 monthly fee. Closed the card as soon as the last of the 6 $75 credit landed.
If you're able to get value from it the Ultimate card was great. Honestly unrivaled value in the market.
Over 4 years I paid $0 in fees, interest or FX charges and got 8 lounge passes, couple hundred bucks back in cashback, probably 10+ travel insurance policies (one of which I claimed on) and hundreds of thousands of points because back in the days of the twice annual 20% VA bonus you'd earn 1.2ppd on Groceries/utilities and 1.8 on foreign spend.
I'm with you. The Ultimate is the best daily driver out there.
I'm the same, never paid a cent for it, probably used 8 lounge passes (+ discounted extra), and saved I don't know how much on FX. I have been fond of the travel insurance with a proper Certificate of Insurance and human readable PDS. While the points earn is not the best, it is more than made up for with the other extras.
@happydude: I agree, I’ve had it for 2 years. Got around 500k points now, insurance has been used for 2 o/s trips.
You must have the older one with lounge passes as that’s what I’m missing
I spend enough to not have any fees.
If they bring back the fees I’ll email them and get a them waiver like I have with my world debIt card.
@Wiadro: I think you should have them. Did you register the card here? - https://mastercardtravelpass.dragonpass.com/
@happydude: I think I must have 2 passes. As it says 2/2 and not $32 per visit like my world debit card.
I’ll try it next month when I goto nz
Yeah agreed. Are we getting grandfathered in or migrated to the new card? I have a loan with CBA with a free credit card so I might be able to upgrade to the new premium option in the article
but but but they were so good to me by introducing me to dollarmite account and my school got a lot of commission from in and when I turned 18 they gave me the honour of applying for their credit cards drowning in debt and now i'm so happy :)
I had a Dollarmite account and when I turned 18 they started charging a $2/month account keeping fee without informing me. And because of that I haven't banked with them for 30 years.
Played the long game
The David Jones was best for rewards. 3 points for $1 on supermarkets and petrol. Now being wound back to 1 for 1.
The CBA rewards now looks like rubbish with those annual fees for worthless plastic so what's the best way to go from here do people think?
All the credit changes are due to the removal of surcharges and the forced lower interchange fees.
All the credit changes are due to the removal of surcharges and the forced lower interchange fees.
Great theory that the sole reason is due to the RBA changes to interchange fees.
Did you also consider that CBA wants customers to be further enmeshed into the CBA ecosystem? This is all about profit.
Any wonder the new Yello scheme removes cash backs (Australian Dollars), opting instead for its own current currency (Yello Points), that the CBA can devalue at any time (just like Qantas does).
What I'm seeing is a half-arsed attempt to replicate what Qantas has done with its Frequent Flyer program.
I would not recommend to anyone that they hold all their financial products with one bank, let alone all with CBA.
What reason do other banks have for making the same changes? Which all coincide with the removal of surcharge and lower interchange fees which is going to cost banks hundreds of millions?
I currently have a CBA credit card, usually churn cards once a year or so but I have kept this one because we've had a few OS trips and the lack of FX conversion fees as well as the no monthly fee has made it a very good offering. Also had decent insurance, not sure how that has changed.
But if I now have to pay for the card (monthly fee waiver being removed from next year) then it makes it substantially worse.
I find it hilarious that the removal of card surcharge fees is supposed to be good for consumers is probably just going to cost us in two ways. First, some places will put prices up to cover costs - absolutely fair enough but now cash paying customers are worse off, secondly credit card offerings are worse and if I keep this CBA card I will have to pay a fee per month. Higher price at the checkout and higher credit card fee, oh but at least I get some crap commbank perks.
So a rule change that was probably going to save me like $60-70 a year or something in card surcharges is now going to cost me like 5x that in monthly fees ($35 a month is absolutely ridiculous). I never even cared about the surcharges in the first place and now I am paying the price, just great.
Because some one else subsidized you. Now it is fairer. And dont pretend banks change their reward structures solely because of surcharges. Look at how credit card rewards have disappear over time
This is just a convienient excuse for them
Not really a ban on surcharges, the RBA will just remove the ban on credit card providers forcing merchants to not pass on fees separately.
As for the interchange fees, makes you wonder if the enshitification of credit cards is going to exponentially reduce their profits anyway. Gonna get to the point where the annual fees and crap benefits just don't make sense and you might as well use cash.
All the big banks are introducing additional fees for their reward cards from September / October sigh
damn it was good with ultimate. i need a card with no fx fee since we always travelling overseas - 1 week in a month on average.
They have restocked the majority of the gift cards.
What's the difference between a charge card and a credit card if you pay it off in full at the end of the month?
One important distinction is that a charge card does not count when applying for home or business loans because you technically are paying it off each month. Usually they don't have a credit limit either, so you can spend big when needed.
Charge cards also don’t have a pre-set limit in the same way credit cards have a “credit limit”.
That isn’t to say there is no limit, it’s widely rumoured for Amex it’s three times the highest statement closing amount in the last six months.
Also not being a revolving type of credit allows you to potentially not affect a home loan application the same way a credit card does.
Charge card must be paid so doesn’t technically have interest rates just huge late fees and a black mark on your credit rating
So high annual fee?
Usually, and I’m sure discover have a nice fat interchange fee
@Onemoredeal: Just wondering why would merchants would accept Discover and pay a higher interchange fee?
"Commonwealth Bank reimagines rewards for everyday banking, helping customers save on shopping, utility bills and travel"
The corporate speak is nauseating. "Reimagines", "helping… save". In reality it's cutting benefits while increasing fees.