Commonwealth Bank has cut back the points earned per dollar spent on its Platinum American Express credit card.
From October 1, consumers will earn 2.5 awards points per dollar spent - down from three points previously. They will earn 1.25 Qantas Frequent Flyer points per dollar spent - down from 1.5 points previously.
The change applies to consumer cards, not business card holders.
In response to an inquiry about why it was making the change, Commonwealth Bank spokesman Steve Batten emailed the following statement: "The bank regularly reviews its products to ensure they remain competitive. While we have changed the reward earning potential on some of or cards, others will continue to earn the same rewards points."
Last month, the comparison website Mozo.com.au
released a survey of the rewards card market, which claimed that card issuers were destroying the value proposition of rewards cards by pushing up fees and reducing points earning rates.
According to the Mozo survey, 31 out of the 96 cards reviewed had fees that were higher than the rewards on offer, and 46 of the cards return less than $20 of net value. Mozo's assessment was based on a consumer spending the average amount of A$17,000 a year and not taking advantage of bonus points offers.
Mozo found that only 14 out of the 96 cards it reviewed offered net value of more than $100 a year.