AMP Card business bought by AMEX

arun · #1 (**permalink**) 7th March 2003, 10:54 PM

AMP has an AMEX credit card on issue. It provided good value with no annual fee (if you spend more than $10K), no rewards fee, etc. It is now bought over by AMEX itself. Only disadvantage ids the Ascent rewards fee. In the first year it will be $35 and then $55. It was a great card. I got 10,000 points just for getting the AMP card as a founder member. But can't pay $55 for loyalty. Here goes another card. I will cancel this when it comes for renewal. Then I will get the CPA Amex gold card - no annual fee, no rewards fee, 1.5 points per dollar for a short time.

oz_mark · #2 (**permalink**) 8th March 2003, 12:40 AM

I heard about this late last year/early this year, and have been waiting for official word from AMP or AMEX about this, but so far have heard nothing. Have they started to implement the changeover (not hard as AMEX were doing the processing anyway)?

Seems like another card will bite the dust (as soon as I redeem the current batch of points I have got)

kristo · #3 (**permalink**) 10th March 2003, 09:34 AM

The Amex Ascent reward scheme is VASTLY INFERIOR to the AMP scheme.
With AMP you can turn your rewards points into CASH at 0.9%.
That is 11000 points for a $100 credit to an AMP savings account.
The best Amex have are vouchers at 0.66%.

That is a 30% REDUCTION in benefits.

This is in effect the 2nd WORST reward scheme available, next to MYCARD :

However you get 1.5 points per dollar until 30 September 2003.

So we all know what to do, dont we!

arun · #4 (**permalink**) 10th March 2003, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oz_mark

I heard about this late last year/early this year, and have been waiting for official word from AMP or AMEX about this, but so far have heard nothing. Have they started to implement the changeover (not hard as AMEX were doing the processing anyway)?

Yes. I got a letter yesterday announcing the changeover. They say that they will be sending more info on when they will charge the fee soon. I will wait for the renewal time to cancel.

Lindsay Wilson · #5 (**permalink**) 10th March 2003, 11:38 PM

arun and ozmark, agree with your posts. I actually cancelled mine a month before it was sold to AMEX (as I was really only using it to flush more FF points), after transferring the points across to QFF. I think we will all agree that AMP Banking were trying to buy marketshare (and might have certainly been doing that successfully), but with AMP's current woes, Andrew Mohl and his management team were looking at culling "non-core" business and this was one of them.

kristo, haven't really gone down that path to check the "costs" (given that I have now exited the AMP card); but will agree with the veracity of your statement given the details quoted.

All in all, we used the AMP card for a purpose, with that now being changed for us by the card issuer. They created the poison chalice of FF points (which has become somewhat of a craze sweeping the world), so now we have to pay for it (from the introduction of increased fees). Now it is a matter of justfying certain card spending habits and the points they generate versus the cost, then working out whether it is worth it.

Just like shillard asking me about the Citibank Plat VC...

oz_mark · #6 (**permalink**) 14th March 2003, 01:18 AM

I got my official letter from Amex. I guess that since I have already have a Amex credit card (pretty much inactive aside from balance transfers at 7.99%, but it was free of annual fees), one of them will have to go.

Years ago, I had a Chase - AMP credit card, and that card business got sold off to Westpac, which then turned into a Global Rewards Card, and now altitude.

So this is the second time AMP have done this to me