Review: BankSA Amplify Signature Visa
Get up to 150,000 bonus Amplify Points, worth up to 75,000 Velocity Points. Apply by 31 December 2022 & meet the spend criteria.
By Staff Writers, August 31 2021
Disclaimer
Executive Traveller may receive a commission when you apply for these credit cards via our links.
The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.
FF Program
Amplify Rewards
Sign Up Bonus
90,000 bonus Qantas Points. Or, up to 150,000 bonus Amplify Points (= 100,000 Velocity Points).
Annual Fee
$139 First Year Annual fee ($279 Fee 2nd year on)
Interest Rate
19.49% p.a. on purchases
21.49% p.a. on cash
Notes
The Good
- Uncapped points earning on Amplify points
- 10% 'birthday bonus' on points
- Travel insurance, airport lounge access
The Bad
- 3% international transaction fee
Added Value
- Australia's highest earning rate for KrisFlyer miles on non-AMEX/Diners spend
Introduction
With no limit to the number of points you can earn, Australia's highest earning rate for Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles on 'everyday' Visa spend and the ability to earn points with Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer, Malaysia Airlines Enrich and Qantas Frequent Flyer (depending on the card variation you choose), the BankSA Amplify Signature Visa shouldn't be overlooked when considering your next frequent flyer credit card.
Backed by Westpac Group – a portfolio that also includes St.George and Bank of Melbourne – BankSA tempts new cardholders with up to 150,000 bonus Amplify points (if you choose Amplify Signature with Amplify Points: currently worth up to 75,000 Velocity Points (or 75,000 KrisFlyer or Enrich miles), to help keep you flying in business class.
Alternatively, you could earn 90,000 bonus Qantas Points if you select Amplify Qantas: full details below.
BankSA Amplify Signature card: fast facts
- Grade/tier: Black
- Card type: Visa Signature
- Loyalty variants: Amplify Points (Amplify Rewards) or Qantas Points (Qantas Frequent Flyer)
- Amplify Points earned per A$1 spent (Amplify Rewards): 1.5 (1.65 including a 10% 'birthday bonus') on eligible purchases.
- 1.65 Amplify Points = 0.825 Velocity Points, 0.825 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles or 0.825 Malaysia Airlines Enrich miles.
- Or, Qantas Points earned per A$1 spent (Qantas Frequent Flyer): 0.75 (0.825/$1 with that 'birthday bonus') on eligible purchases.
- Points capping/tiering: From 1 January 2022, earn 0.75 Qantas Points per $1 up to a maximum of $250,000 spent on eligible purchases annually. Bonus Qantas Points not included in the cap.
Bank disclaimer: Eligible purchases do not include interest, fees and charges, cash or ATM cash advances, cash equivalent transactions, gambling transactions, a purchase from or payment to a local, state or federal government or government related agency, BPAY or similar transactions (such as Post Billpay), refunds and balance transfers debited to the card account.
BankSA Amplify Signature: fees, charges and interest
- Annual fee: $139 First Year Annual fee ($279 Fee 2nd year on)
- Additional/supplementary cardholder fee: $0 (one additional cardholder permitted with either rewards option)
- Interest rate on purchases: 19.49% p.a.
- Interest-free days on purchases^: Up to 55
- Interest rate on cash advances: 21.49% p.a.
- International transaction fee: 3.0%
- Minimum income requirement: No defined minimum, joint applications accepted also
- Minimum credit limit: $15,000
Earning points for free flights:
One of this card's biggest upsides is that there's no points capping or tiering on the Signature Amplify Points option – so unlike other banks which sometimes reward you less as you spend more, this card continues pumping out points at its full earn rate, regardless of how much you transact. On the Qantas Points option, from 1 January 2022, there will be a cap of $250,000 spent on eligible purchases annually. Bonus Qantas Points not included in the cap.
Choose the Amplify Signature card with Amplify Points to pocket up to 150,000 bonus Amplify Points when you apply online by 31 December 2022 and spend $12,000 on elegible purchases in the first year.
Alternatively, grab 90,000 bonus Qantas Points when you apply online for the Amplify Signature card with Qantas Points by 31 December 2022, and spend $6,000+ on eligible purchases in the first 90 days from new card approval.
In the month of your birthday you'll also score a 10% 'birthday bonus' on all the points you've earned on your card over the past year (except for that sign-up bonus), which elevates the frequent flyer earning rate from 0.75/$1 upfront to 0.825/$1, regardless of which frequent flyer program takes your fancy.
For example, if Velocity Points are your goal, you'd select the Amplify Signature card with Amplify Points to earn 1.5 Amplify points per $1 spent, on-par with 0.75 Velocity Points when converted to Velocity at a 2:1 rate.
Factoring in the 10% 'birthday bonus', this becomes 0.825 Velocity Points per $1 spent, uncapped.
This birthday bonus also makes the Amplify Signature card with Amplify Points the highest-earning Visa or Mastercard plastic in Australia for building up Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles on everyday purchases, given the ability to earn up to 0.825 KrisFlyer miles per $1 spent under the same arrangement as for Velocity.
Airport lounge access:
Two airport lounge visits are included each year, and those visits are tailored towards the card variant you've chosen, giving you the best chance of using them.
If you've chosen the Amplify Signature card with Amplify Points, you'll be given a complimentary Priority Pass lounge membership with two visits included each year, and the ability to pay US$32 for additional visits through Priority Pass, which can often be cheaper than a lounge's standard walk-in rates.
Alternatively, if you select the Amplify Signature card with Qantas Points, you'll receive two complimentary Qantas lounge passes each year after requesting them from BankSA, which can be used for access to domestic Qantas Club lounges and most Qantas-operated international business class lounges when flying with Qantas or Jetstar.
Free insurance coverage:
International travel insurance comes as standard – as you'd rightly expect of a Black-level card – and may be activated on a per-trip basis after at least $500 worth of travel costs have been charged to the Amplify Signature card before leaving Australia and when holding a return ticket for trips of six months or less.
That flexible approach means you may be able to purchase an international ($500+) airfare using the card to get over the line, or could simply pre-pay some accommodation costs, and use your hard-earned frequent flyer points to book your international flights instead while still being covered (but do consult the policy documents to ensure you're covered and that the insurance meets your needs).
Domestic trips may also be covered through inclusions of interstate flight inconvenience insurance, transit accident insurance and rental vehicle excess insurance, with extended warranty cover, purchase protection and price guarantees also available on eligible purchases.
Restrictions to this cover may apply during the COVID-19 pandemic. For further information or to confirm whether your intended journey is covered by this policy, speak directly with the card issuer or insurance underwriter.
BankSA Amplify Signature: the verdict
With an affordable annual fee, an attractive sign-up bonus, inclusions like airport lounge access and travel insurance and a reasonable ongoing earning rate, it's hard to fault the BankSA Amplify Signature card for the price.
Of course, with a minimum credit limit of $15,000, the BankSA Amplify Signature card is geared towards higher spenders who'll put the card to good use – but even if you spend less, you could still come out ahead if you make good use of the card's other features throughout the year.
Bank disclaimer: ^If your account has an interest free period for purchases, to be entitled to that interest free period, you need to pay off the “monthly payment balance” listed on your statement of account (not the full closing balance) by the relevant payment due date.
Disclaimer
Executive Traveller may receive a commission when you apply for these credit cards via our links.
The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
20 Dec 2011
Total posts 20
HOW do we collect the 2 free QA passes?
I have the Bank of Melbourne equivalent and they do not come with the welcome pack. I also have a Westpac Black card and same thing - mno passes have arrived.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2431
As covered in the article, you need to request them from BankSA (so contact BankSA).
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Jan 2017
Total posts 67
The lounge passes are opt in. You don’t automatically get them.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
20 Dec 2011
Total posts 20
"The lounge passes are opt in. You don’t automatically get them. " - yes you are correct. I finally found the online form to complete to opt in, and have done so.
I have also done same for Altitude Black card but that was a bit different as you don't just get passes , rather you must opt-in and then buy "Qantas product" i.e. buy QF (non-Jetstar) flights and THEN you get
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