Westpac wins Air NZ card deal

Westpac has signed a ten year deal to provide the credit card for New Zealand's most popular air points loyalty scheme, winning it off National Australia Bank's BNZ, which had held the deal for 16 years.

Westpac described the agreement with Air New Zealand as "an important win" and "a strong growth opportunity in an otherwise tight environment."

The Air New Zealand airpoints programme has 1.8 million members and BNZ had partnered with the scheme, which offers airpoints on credit card balances.
 
"Tens of thousands of BNZ GlobalPlus customers will need to change credit card provider by 1 May to continue to earn Airpoints on their credit card spend," Westpac CEO David McLean said in a statement.

"The number of customers involved has created a multi-billion dollar category. We are intent on competing strongly to win Airpoints customers, and will be introducing market-first innovations in the short-to-medium term," McLean said.

Westpac, which immediately launched online advertising pitched at GlobalPlus customers looking to swap, said it would initially launch four new cards and a mortgage product that could earn Airpoints Dollars.

For the first three months until 31 July, new customers would earn triple Airpoints Dollars and for a limited time all cards, except the Airpoints World Card, would have the first year's annual fee waived. Westpac is also offering a zero per cent per annum balance transfer for all cardholders.

Its current hotpoints rewards programme will remain in place.

BNZ Director of Retail Banking and Marketing Craig Herbison said the bank would be developing alternatives for its customers. The new rewards would be cash based, other media reported. BNZ would offer customers $1 for every airpoint they would have earned, which they can use to purchase travel, goods - or retire debt.