Capital One axing cashback for some, cuts cashback rates for others

fly-catchers

bsms1147 wrote: »

Aqua 0.5%, AMEX 1.25%, M&S 0.5% (voucher).

Or finally start slow stoozing (just taken the 0.5% 'cash'back M&S card; also has 19 months 0% interest on spending, so might slow-stooze while earning my 0.5% 'cash'back.)

Would not recommend Aqua whatsoever. Ever since they dropped the 3% and went to 0.5% I have not received a penny in cashback. And phoning and e-mailing gets me nowhere. Just fobbed off that the cashback will be credited next time and it isn't!

bsms1147

fly-catchers wrote: »

Would not recommend Aqua whatsoever. Ever since they dropped the 3% and went to 0.5% I have not received a penny in cashback. And phoning and e-mailing gets me nowhere. Just fobbed off that the cashback will be credited next time and it isn't!

Fair enough. I cancelled it after the 3% ran out, but I don't recall having any problems during the time I was with them.

darren72

I've still got the Aqua card as it is the only card I know of that pays cashback on foreign purchases, and has 0% foreign transaction purchase fee.

Never had a problem with them paying out the cashback either.

ratechaser

If they do cut cashback on the Elite card (and although no one here has reported getting a letter for that card, it must only be a matter of time), then I think it will be back to Amex by default with the Santander 123 for petrol, trains, John Lewis and other dept stores, plus everything abroad. There may be a bit of a gap there with any non-Amex taking British establishments that do not earn CB with Santander,but they will be so few and far between (for me), that I can live with those 2. I may also give some thought to taking out a new Amex at the right time given the double CB in the anniversary month deal. Wouldn't be that hard to get 2.5% on 15-20k of spend if I timed it right.

The only other one that looks interesting right now is RBS with its 10% CB on restaurants, although that's only till June...

reclusive46

ratechaser wrote: »

If they do cut cashback on the Elite card (and although no one here has reported getting a letter for that card, it must only be a matter of time), then I think it will be back to Amex by default with the Santander 123 for petrol, trains, John Lewis and other dept stores, plus everything abroad. There may be a bit of a gap there with any non-Amex taking British establishments that do not earn CB with Santander,but they will be so few and far between (for me), that I can live with those 2. I may also give some thought to taking out a new Amex at the right time given the double CB in the anniversary month deal. Wouldn't be that hard to get 2.5% on 15-20k of spend if I timed it right.

The only other one that looks interesting right now is RBS with its 10% CB on restaurants, although that's only till June...

I imagine the elite card will be cut. From the 1st of April, the extra interchange from MC Elite and MC World cards was dropped to the regular mastercard rate.

redux

MSE_Megan wrote: »

As you may already know, for legal reasons we can't put back posts that have been deleted but feel free to continue the discussion on this thread.

MSE_Megan wrote: »

Yes, of course.

As we don't moderate the forum, we work on a 'report a post' system, so we only deal with posts when they're reported to us.

Any content on the forum is unmoderated and we don't know about it until it comes to the forum team through the reports. We then decide if it can stay, or it needs to go. If we were to delete it, then repost it, technically, we're publishing the content.

Hope that clears it up!

I still don't understand that. I've seen various threads disappear, and some be reinstated again, even one I posted myself.

In that case, I contacted the board guide to ask if he knew what had happened. He said the forum team had removed it, he didn't know why, and suggested I contact them.

I did so. They said it had been removed by mistake, and they reinstated it.

If there is nothing legally contentious involved, and if the thread has not actually been reported (which seems to be a condition you are mentioning), I don't see the problem. Maybe forum practice has gradually been evolving on this matter, but someone else's thread was reinstated only a few weeks ago.

planteria

reclusive46 wrote: »

I imagine the elite card will be cut. From the 1st of April, the extra interchange from MC Elite and MC World cards was dropped to the regular mastercard rate.

would you mind explaining your post further please reclusive?

reclusive46

planteria wrote: »

would you mind explaining your post further please reclusive?

In the past, a merchant would pay about upto an extra 1% for MasterCard World transactions and 1.5% for World Elite when they took one of those types of cards. Meaning a merchant could end up paying 3%, (Which I find quite funny when a smaller merchant refuses to take an Amex they'd probably pay 2% on and then I'd pay with a World Elite card, costing them 3%) these extra fees funded the rewards programmes but as of the 1st April MasterCard has ended this (Due to the result of an EU Antitrust ruling).

Merchants themselves may not actually see a saving (Small businesses almost definitely won't) though as the merchant account providers will probably keep passing the fee on and pocket the different when MasterCard charges the merchant bank.

planteria

thanks reclusive:)

reclusive46 wrote: »

...as of the 1st April MasterCard has ended this.

sorry, but Mastercard are no longer going to be charging the merchants such high fees, is that right? and therefore will no longer be able to fund such generous cashback/rewards for cardholders?

reclusive46

planteria wrote: »

thanks reclusive:)



sorry, but Mastercard are no longer going to be charging the merchants such high fees, is that right? and therefore will no longer be able to fund such generous cashback/rewards for cardholders?

Correct.

Here is a copy of updates to interchange that have come this year:

March 2015
What's Happening?

From 1st March 2015 the domestic interchange rates for Visa Debit transactions will be changing. Card present rates will change from a fixed 8p/18p per transaction to 0.2% of the transaction value plus 1p/11p for secure and non-secure transactions respectively. Rates for eCommerce and MOTO transactions will also change as will rates for Visa Business Debit.

Who Does It Affect?

All UK merchants who accept Visa Debit transactions. Merchants with a low ATV will stand to benefit from the change to an ad-valorem charging structure whilst those with a high ATV will see significant cost increases. Merchants accepting predominantly MOTO transactions will also be adversely affected.

What You Can Do

All merchants will need to consider how they accept payments and whether the changes have an impact on the optimal solution. Merchants on blended pricing structures need to understand the underlying costs of their existing charges to ensure their acquirers accurately pass on the changes without inflating their margins.

April 2015
What's Happening?

From 1st April 2015 MasterCard will reduce interchange rates for its ‘premium’ credit cards down to the consumer card rate of 0.8%. Furthermore, MasterCard has agreed to a gradual reduction of consumer credit card interchange fees that we expect to commence in mid-2015 and reach the 0.3% level by mid-2016.

Who Does It Affect?

All UK merchants who accept MasterCard Credit transactions will see a benefit. Merchants in sectors with a predominance of credit card usage such will enjoy the greatest benefit.

What You Can Do

Merchants on blended pricing structures need to understand the underlying costs of their existing charges to ensure their acquirers accurately pass on the changes without inflating their margins. Merchants also need to ensure changes are passed on a timely manner and keep up to date with the latest regulatory developments, which may impact on timescales.