Velocity Global wallet has published a new PDS, making a number of changes to the way the product operates. Among the changes are an increased rate of earn on international spend and a decrease when spending domestically.
Some of the changes are for the better, while others are not so good. The improved features are taking effect from September 1. On the other hand, changes that are not in the cardholders favour come into effect from October 1.
The changes come 6 months after Qantas made a round of changes to the Qantas Cash earning rates. Overall, the changes will leave the Velocity Global Wallet earning more points that the Qantas equivalent, but there are a few things still to watch out for.
Earning Rate Changes
| Proposition | Current earn rate | New earn rate | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|
| International | 1 Velocity Point per $1 spent | 2 Velocity Points per $1 spent | 1 September 2017 |
| Domestic | 1 Velocity Points per $2 spent | 1 Velocity Point per $3 spent | 1 October 2017 |
International Spend
The earn rate on international spend is increasing to 2 points for every Australian Dollar equivalent. This is a doubling of the current earn rate. It also puts it ahead of Qantas Cash, which is currently 1.5 Qantas Points per dollar.
Domestic Spend
The earn rate on domestic spend is falling from the current 1 point per 2 dollars down to 1 point for each 3 dollars of spend. This change takes effect from 1 October. Again, this is better than the Qantas Cash equivalent, which is at 1 point per 4 dollars.
Other Changes
No earn on ATO Payments
There are anecdotes around that the Global Wallet stopped paying points on ATO payments early in the year, This is now formalised in the new PDS, which specifically calls out payments to the ATO as being ineligible to earn.
Inactivity Fee going up
This fee can sting if you don;t use your Global Wallet for 12 months. After 12 months of inactivity, you get charges $1.00 per month inactivity fee. From October 1, this is stepping up to a fee of $1.95 per month.
This is a bit of a disappointing increase, especially as the Qantas Cash equivalent removed their inactivty fee some time ago.
Other fees
There are a number of other fee adjustments being made at the same time:
- ATM withdrawals will cost AU$1.95 when withdrawing cash in Australia.
- ATM withdrawal fees will be a fixed AU$1.95 regardless of which country you are in
- A 0.5% load fee when loading to an Australia Currenct wallet with BPay
- The currency conversion fee is reducing from 3% to 2.25%
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