Australian credit card rewards got cut, here's what each bank changed

On 1 October 2026 the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the most a bank can collect in interchange on a consumer credit card from 0.8% to 0.3% of each purchase, and the banks have answered by cutting points, raising fees and trimming the travel insurance that came free with the card. As of 9 October 2026, NAB and Virgin Money have lowered earn rates, Westpac has added or raised its rewards program fees and cut its complimentary overseas cover, CommBank has replaced CommBank Awards with Yello points, and ANZ caps the spend that earns points from 28 October. The dated table below lists each change with the bank's own notice as the source.

What actually changed on 1 October

Interchange is the fee a shop's bank pays your bank every time you tap a card, and on Australian consumer credit cards the ceiling on it fell from 0.8% to 0.3% of the purchase on 1 October 2026. The RBA's Payments System Board set that level after its Issuer Cost Study put banks' eligible costs on consumer credit cards at about 0.2% of transaction value. The board's conclusions paper says the new cap "would, on average, provide revenue sufficient to cover eligible costs", and that it applies to consumer charge cards too. Commercial credit cards keep a 0.8% cap, and a cap on foreign-issued cards used in Australia follows on 1 April 2027.

The same reform ended card surcharges at the checkout, which we cover separately in Australia's card surcharge ban, and what it changes for travellers. This page is about the other side of the trade: the rewards that interchange used to pay for.

The RBA was blunt about that. Its paper says: “If issuers wish to attract customers by offering them frequent flyer or other rewards points, it would be more efficient for those issuers to bear the cost rather than those rewards programs being funded by merchants through higher interchange fees.” Its FAQ now confirms that “a number of financial institutions have announced changes to credit card rewards programs, pricing structures and related benefits” in response.

The tracker, bank by bank

Every row below comes from the bank's own change notice or product page, read between 7 and 9 October 2026. We list what changed and when. We do not rank the cards or tell you which to hold; that depends on how you spend, and in Australia it is personal credit advice we are not licensed to give.

In plain words: NAB cut the per-dollar rate and the monthly cap on both Qantas cards and turned its Signature rewards card's waivable monthly fee into a $395 annual one. Virgin Money cut both Velocity cards by about a quarter and added $20 to each annual fee. Westpac kept most earn rates but charges more for the rewards program itself and stripped its free overseas policy back to medical cover. CommBank rebuilt its whole program around how much other banking you do with it, and the Smart card now charges 3.5% on foreign-currency purchases. ANZ has left its earn rates alone for now and capped the spend that earns instead, with its insurance cuts arriving in December and March.

Interest rates moved at the same time. NAB's purchase rate on its Qantas, Rewards and Low Fee cards rose from 20.99% to 22.49% a year on 1 October, and Virgin Money's Velocity cards now show 21.99%. If you carry a balance, that costs more than any points change.

What a quarter fewer points looks like on one month's spend

On $3,000 of everyday domestic spending in one statement, the three cards that published old and new rates all earn 25% fewer points. That is our arithmetic from each bank's published before-and-after rates, for spend inside the first earn tier, before any international bonus.

Above the first tier the cut bites harder. On the High Flyer, spend from $5,000 to $8,000 a statement used to earn a full point per dollar and now earns 0.25, and on NAB's Signature card nothing above $15,000 earns at all, down from $20,000.

Why American Express is treated differently

The cap does not touch American Express because Amex has no interchange fee to cap. Visa and Mastercard are four-party networks: the shop's bank and your bank are different companies, and interchange is the payment between them. Amex mostly issues its own cards and signs up its own merchants, a three-party network, so it charges the shop directly through its merchant fee. The RBA regulates interchange on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa, the three networks it has formally designated.

Banks argued this would hand Amex an edge, and the RBA's paper records the objection: stakeholders said Amex “could continue to offer substantial consumer reward programs unencumbered by revenue reductions”. The board went ahead anyway. It judged that Amex's consumer cards “primarily target affluent consumers” and are not a close substitute for most cardholders, and it said a large switch to Amex or buy-now-pay-later would be needed to erode the benefit to merchants. The board said it will consider three-party networks in its next review, due to begin in mid-2026 under its widened payments powers.

On surcharges, Amex has lined up with the regulated networks. The RBA's FAQ lists American Express as having removed surcharging from 1 October 2026, and records that it withdrew from its old undertaking with the RBA on the same day. So paying by Amex no longer costs a card fee at an Australian checkout, while the cards themselves sit outside the interchange cap.

The travel insurance cuts matter more than the points

If you rely on a card's free travel insurance, the changes to that cover are the part that can cost you real money abroad. A quarter fewer points is a small loss next to a cancellation claim that is no longer covered or a hospital stay abroad that falls outside the trip limit.

Westpac's new complimentary international policy, in force from 1 October 2026, keeps overseas emergency assistance, medical and hospital expenses, funeral expenses and personal liability. In Westpac's words, “Benefits such as Trip Cancellation, Travel Delay and Luggage will no longer be included.” Cover now starts only if you activate it in Westpac Online Banking or the app before you leave, and trips are capped at one month on Platinum cards and three on Black cards. Travel already eligible under the old policy before 1 October stays on it, as long as the trip ends by 30 September 2027.

ANZ is moving in two steps. From 9 December 2026 its Rewards Platinum card loses international travel, domestic travel and rental vehicle excess cover entirely, and Platinum-level cards such as Frequent Flyer Platinum cover overseas trips of up to one month instead of three. Rewards Black loses its complimentary travel insurance on 24 March 2027.

NAB and CommBank changed their card cover earlier in the year; our round-up of Australian card travel insurance cuts sets those dates out next to these.

What to do before your next trip

Read the notice your bank emailed you, then check three things: your insurance, your fees abroad, and any points you are holding.

• Insurance. If you hold a Westpac Altitude card, activate the cover before departure or you have none. If your trip runs longer than one month on a Platinum-level card from Westpac or (from 9 December) ANZ, the card will not cover all of it. Nothing in the new Westpac policy covers cancellation, delays or lost bags unless you pay to upgrade.
• Fees abroad. CommBank's Smart card added a 3.5% international transaction fee on 29 September. Look up the foreign-currency fee on your own card before you use it overseas; our guide to avoiding foreign transaction and ATM fees covers the alternatives.
• Points you already hold. Existing balances were not cut, but some transfer and redemption terms changed with the programs. CommBank converted Awards points to Yello points by 7 October. If you are saving toward a specific flight, check the current transfer rate on your program's own page before you plan around an old one; how transfer partners work explains the mechanics.
• Annual fee dates. Westpac's new program fees apply from your next card fee date, so an existing cardholder may not see the charge until months after 30 September.

Our verdict

The reform is doing exactly what the RBA said it would: merchants pay less, and the cost of rewards moves onto cardholders through fewer points, higher fees and thinner insurance. For most people the points change is a quarter off the everyday rate, which is annoying but small. The change that can actually hurt a traveller is the insurance: medical-only cover, activation steps and one-month trip limits are easy to miss until you need to claim. If your next trip is booked, check your card's cover against your dates this week, and do not count on free card insurance for cancellations, delays or luggage. We will update this table as further banks publish notices.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

Sources: Reserve Bank of Australia, Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper (31 March 2026), chapter 3 Interchange Fees, and FAQs on the removal of card payment surcharges, read 9 October 2026. NAB, Upcoming changes to your credit card (effective 1 October 2026). Virgin Money, Velocity Flyer and High Flyer variation notice (October 2026) and Compare credit cards page. Westpac, Important notice about our personal credit cards, and Altitude Rewards Black and Altitude Qantas Black product pages. Commonwealth Bank, Upcoming changes to CommBank credit cards (29 September 2026). ANZ, Important changes to ANZ credit cards. Qantas Money, Platinum card page. ABC News, “Banks are slashing credit card perks”, 1 October 2026. All bank pages read 7 to 9 October 2026. Points comparisons are our arithmetic from published rates. This is general information, not financial advice, and it does not consider your circumstances; read the notice from your own bank before acting.