The RBA’s upcoming caps on the fees that merchants pay when a consumer uses a credit card are expected to shrink the profit pool that banks traditionally use to fund rewards programmes. In response, the country’s major issuers have announced a series of cuts that will make it harder for shoppers to earn and redeem airline points.
Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest credit‑card provider, will close its long‑running Awards scheme on 29 September. From 1 October the programme will be replaced by an expanded CommBank Yello offering points not only for credit‑card spend but also for debit‑card purchases, home‑loan payments and insurance. The change also halves the earn rate on the bank’s premium “Ultimate” card – from 1.5 Velocity points per Australian dollar spent overseas to just 0.8 – and adds a $99 annual fee for Velocity‑earning customers.
National Australia Bank is revising its Qantas‑branded cards, lowering baseline earn rates and tightening tier thresholds. A customer who spends $5,000 a month on the Qantas Signature card will see monthly earnings fall from 5,000 Qantas points to roughly 2,750 points. Westpac’s Black‑level Qantas card will also see a modest reduction, with a $10,000 monthly spend yielding 4,000 points instead of the current 5,000.
Virgin Money and other issuers are following suit with lower points accrual and higher fees, while HSBC has announced it will exit the Australian consumer credit‑card market altogether in November, closing all personal cards. ANZ is one of the few banks still offering a full airline point per dollar on its top‑tier cards, but it is cutting complimentary travel insurance on several products and imposing new monthly points caps.
American Express, which sits outside the RBA’s fee caps, has not announced further cuts, but its Membership Rewards programme was devalued in late 2025, requiring 50 percent more points for the same airline reward conversions.
The reforms also ban merchants from surcharging customers for credit‑card use starting 1 October. While the move could lower transaction costs for shoppers, analysts warn that businesses may simply embed the cost into higher base prices.
Travel experts note that, despite the erosion of card‑based points, Qantas will begin offering up to 140 status credits a year from 8 December for activities such as grocery shopping and utility payments, giving frequent‑flyer members a non‑flight path to elite status.