# Tesco Bank Cuts Credit Card Rewards



## Gervan (26 Aug 2016)

If anyone was thinking of switching to the Tesco card because of its reward scheme, the reduction as from October may be a factor. Using the card will then generate only 1 point for every €8, rather than the €2 spend at the moment.


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## T McGibney (26 Aug 2016)

Gervan said:


> If anyone was thinking of switching to the Tesco card because of its reward scheme, the reduction as from October may be a factor. Using the card will then generate only 1 point for every €8, rather than the €2 spend at the moment.



Have you a link confirming this? I'm a Tesco credit card user & this is the first I've heard of it.


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## Nordkapp (26 Aug 2016)

Tesco website still says 1 point for every 2 Euro and no mention of any end to this loyalty perk or said changes indicated by Gervan. Will be changing if that is the case. KBC lined up.


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## Gervan (26 Aug 2016)

Sadly I got a letter in the post today. From 5th October:
_When you spend with your Tesco credit card in Tesco you will continue to receive the same number of points as you currently do. However, to reflect the industry changes, the amount of Clubcard points you earn when you use your card out of Tesco is changing to one point for every €8 you spend._
I do very little shopping in Tesco.


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## T McGibney (26 Aug 2016)

That's the end of it for most people so. :-(


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## Delboy (26 Aug 2016)

Fek!
I heard this happened in the UK last year due to a change in the way Credit Card settlements/fees were dealt with between the CC companies. Thats a real killer for this


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## Lightning (26 Aug 2016)

Yeah, Tesco Bank made the same change 1 year ago in the UK. Surprised that it took Tesco Bank so long to make the change here.

Worth pointing out that the minimum spend to qualify per transaction for points is now €8. This is in addition to the change in the points to 1 for every €8 spent outside Tesco. As the vast majority of transactions are below €8, most transactions now earn no points.

It's effectively a 75% decrease in the reward offered for shopping outside of Tesco. Real shame.

KBC and AIB platinum are now clearly better reward cards for most people.


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## MrEarl (27 Aug 2016)

T McGibney said:


> That's the end of it for most people so. :-(



I would be inclined to agree.

They never struck me as a particularly efficient service (or competitive once their promo rate was over) when I had them and ultimately cancelled the account due to their lack of online facilities (not sure if they ever set up online since ?).


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## Lightning (27 Aug 2016)

MrEarl said:


> not sure if they ever set up online since ?



Still no online access for Irish Tesco Bank customers. UK customers get online access.


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## LLDLY (29 Aug 2016)

Just received my letter this morning . Can anyone tell me if any CC provider offers air miles?
Cheers


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## Setanta12 (29 Aug 2016)

They set up online for UK CC customers, but never tried to for Irish customers.


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## Lightning (29 Aug 2016)

LLDLY said:


> Can anyone tell me if any CC provider offers air miles?



None out of the Irish credit card providers.


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## TomOC (29 Aug 2016)

Thats a pity.  It was worth a lot to me after trebling my points for my tesco mobile account. I will be back to solely having my TSB visa ICE in March and closing Tesco card before the April 30 Euro government charge. I am glad I kept my TSB card open as its a good card for travel.


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## llgon (29 Aug 2016)

How is the PTSB card better than the Tesco card for travel?


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## Gervan (29 Aug 2016)

TomOC said:


> closing Tesco card before the April 30 Euro government charge


I think you get charged when you close the account. The April stamp duty is for the prior year.


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## Lightning (29 Aug 2016)

For those switching, one avoids double stamp duty charges by giving a letter of account closure from your old credit card provider to your new credit card provider.


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## TomOC (29 Aug 2016)

llgon said:


> How is the PTSB card better than the Tesco card for travel?


If TSB CC is loaded with cash (which I know leaves a security risk as it may not be protected) and you withdraw foreign currency at ATM you will not pay the 1.5% cash advance fee.  Not many cards have this option


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## TomOC (29 Aug 2016)

Gervan said:


> I think you get charged when you close the account. The April stamp duty is for the prior year.



Thats correct.  If I close my Tesco card in march I will owe one 30 Euro charge for the previous year. If I close it in April I will owe 60 Euro to cover both years.


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## eggerb (31 Aug 2016)

Received the letter too  - the date is now confirmed on the page here.

I've just calculated that I earned €98 in vouchers over the last three quarters so I'll still get a free visit to the zoo for a family of five with a quarter of the points. For me, it was a bonus anyway as I moved away from BoI cc when they put up the cross border handling fee on non-euro FX transactions. It is 2.25% with BoI and 1.75% with Tesco Visa. I'm not sure what it is with the other providers but important to consider if you regularly transact in non-euro. Being able to withdraw cash abroad when your account is in credit without incurring a cash advance fee was attractive with BoI; that doesn't apply with Tesco Visa.

Is there an up-to-date AAM thread on credit cards offering some sort loyalty rewards? (This one is almost two years old).


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## ardkeen (31 Aug 2016)

unfortunately it will work out at lot less that quarter of the points for most people...e.g if you spend say 15 euro outside tesco up to now you would have gotten 7 points but that same transaction will now only get you 1 point...so the headline figure of 75% is actually the best case scenario....but for most users who use the card outside of tesco the cut will be significantly more in reality..you would have to spend at least 40K outside tesco to get 50 Euro back in voucher....and that is best case scenario...that's a lot of spending to save less that 50 euro on a card that doesn't even offer online facility and who's statements are regularly late.


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## Gervan (31 Aug 2016)

True, ardkeen, the drop is far worse than I first realised.
I was thinking of keeping the card just for my occasional Tesco purchases, as I double the vouchers against Bord Gais bills. But after analysis I see it will now be worth switching to a cheaper electricity supplier once the November vouchers have been used up.
I have had thousands of free money out of Tesco over the years, despite spending very little in their shops, so shouldn't complain.


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## ardkeen (31 Aug 2016)

I am in the same position as you Gervan...I think I would struggle now to get vouchers to the value of the government stamp duty so can't justify having 2 credit cards now so I think its bye bye to tesco....it was good while it lasted


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## Lightning (31 Aug 2016)

eggerb said:


> Is there an up-to-date AAM thread on credit cards offering some sort loyalty rewards? (This one is almost two years old).



I have updated the rewards in the best buy post for the tiny number of credit card reward schemes that remain.


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## TheJackal (1 Sep 2016)

I still haven't got the letter. Real shame. 

I never really found ways to put many large transactions on the card anyway as things like flights charged extra to pay by cc


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## Conshine (21 Sep 2016)

How does this change work?
Do you have to spend €8 to get the points, or does it add them up over the period?
Eg, if I spend €7 = no points
If I then spend €9, do I get the points for both transactions?


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## eggerb (21 Sep 2016)

The terms state "1 point awarded per €8 spent (€8 minimum) outside Tesco in each purchase transaction". If you spend €7.99, you'll get no points (outside Tesco). If you spend €79.90 in ten €7.99 transactions, you'll get no points - the spend is not aggregated for points purposes.


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## Slim (21 Sep 2016)

eggerb said:


> The terms state "1 point awarded per €8 spent (€8 minimum) outside Tesco in each purchase transaction". If you spend €7.99, you'll get no points (outside Tesco). If you spend €79.90 in ten €7.99 transactions, you'll get no points - the spend is not aggregated for points purposes.


Are you sure about that? I thought they divided the monthly spend by 8 and appply that number of points.


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## eggerb (21 Sep 2016)

Yes; I'm sure. It's per purchase transaction. That's how it currently works with 1 point per €2 spent outside Tesco. After 5th October, it'll be per €8 spent.


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## Slim (22 Sep 2016)

eggerb said:


> Yes; I'm sure. It's per purchase transaction. That's how it currently works with 1 point per €2 spent outside Tesco. After 5th October, it'll be per €8 spent.


Fiendish, what! I am done with Tesco now and will apply for an AIB Platinum Card for the cashback.


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## TomOC (27 Mar 2017)

TomOC said:


> Thats a pity.  It was worth a lot to me after trebling my points for my tesco mobile account. I will be back to solely having my TSB visa ICE in March and closing Tesco card before the April 30 Euro government charge.



Account now closed


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## Nordkapp (27 Mar 2017)

The regular 40 is now a paltry €16.50. Need to move to KBC


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## eggerb (28 Mar 2017)

Sorry ignore that post ...
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/stamp-duty/leaflets/stamp-duty-financial-cards.html


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