NAB drops flybuys Rewards credit card
After five years on the market, the NAB flybuys Rewards credit card is no longer available for new applications.
Bad news, flybuys fans. As of yesterday, NAB has dropped its flybuys Rewards credit card from its lineup. Although the card is still available for current cardholders to use, it will no longer be available to new applicants.
This card rewarded cardholders with 1 flybuys point per $1 spent on eligible purchases (up to $20,000 per statement period) using their credit card. Considering you can usually only earn flybuys when you shop at Coles and other partnered merchants, this was an easy way for flybuys members to collect points on all of their purchases.
If you’re a loyal Coles customer, you can still redeem supermarket rewards with an NAB Rewards card. You can use your NAB Rewards to buy digital and in-store Coles gift cards. You can compare the different points prices for the gift cards below.
| Gift card type | Points price in NAB Rewards |
|---|---|
| Coles Digital Gift Card $25 | 4,180 points |
| Coles Digital Gift Card $50 | 9,620 points |
| Coles Express Gift Card $50 | 9,620 points |
| Coles Express Gift Card $100 | 19,230 points |
| Coles Digital Gift Card $20 | 3,850 points |
| Coles Digital Gift Card $50 | 9,620 points |
| Coles Digital Gift Card $100 | 19,230 points |
| Coles Digital Gift Card $250 | 48,080 points |
“NAB launched its proprietary rewards credit card (program) – NAB Rewards – in January this year, which offers customers reward points which can be redeemed for a whole range of benefits, including Coles vouchers,” said a spokesperson from NAB.
If you were exchanging the flybuys points from your NAB flybuys Rewards card for Velocity Points, you’ll also be pleased to know that you can also transfer your NAB Rewards to your frequent flyer account. You can transfer your NAB Rewards in multiples of 3,000 to your Velocity, Asia Miles or Airpoints account. You can compare the different exchange rates below.
| Frequent flyer program | Exchange rate |
|---|---|
| Virgin Australia Velocity | 3 NAB Rewards points = 1.5 Velocity Point |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 3 NAB Rewards points = 1.0 Asia Mile |
| New Zealand Airpoints Dollars | 3 NAB Rewards points = $0.015 Air New Zealand Dollars |
NAB’s decision to close the card also means that the Coles credit cards are now the only products that allow you to directly earn flybuys points on credit card purchases.
While NAB hasn’t confirmed the reason behind its decision to drop the NAB flybuys Rewards card from the market, it could be linked to the interchange fee regulations that rolled out in July this year. Before the new regulations, banks regularly charged a processing fee of 1.5% to 1.7% when accepting transactions from premium rewards credit cards. The banks then used these profits to fund their rewards programs.
As the interchange fee has since been capped at 0.8%, we’ve seen many card issuers reduce the value of their rewards programs to compensate for the loss. This means that banks such as NAB no longer seek to maintain their rewards relationships with partners like flybuys.
While NAB has yet to announce how long the existing flybuys Rewards credit cards will remain in circulation, we’ll update you as we learn more. In the meantime, you can start comparing other rewards credit cards to find the best deal for you.
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