Your guide to the Amplify Rewards credit card program

Here's your guide to earning and maximising reward points on St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA Amplify credit cards.

By Staff Writers, June 18 2020
Your guide to the Amplify Rewards credit card program
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.

As the loyalty program attached to the Amplify credit cards of St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA, Amplify Rewards allows you to earn points on these Visa credit card spends and later convert them into frequent flyer points in programs like Virgin Australia Velocity and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.

Alternatively, these cardholders can opt-in to Amplify Qantas, which instead sees all reward points earned on these cards credited directly to Qantas Frequent Flyer every month.

Whether you’re an existing Amplify credit card customer or are considering the switch to what could be a more rewarding credit card, here’s what you need to know about Amplify Rewards, including some of the best ways to spend your points.

Amplify Rewards: eligible credit cards

Amplify Points can be earned on the aptly-named Amplify credit cards issued by St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA, when the cardholder is enrolled in the Amplify Rewards program.

Eligible credit cards include:

St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA are all owned and operated by Westpac, although Westpac’s own-brand rewards credit cards are instead linked with the separate Altitude Rewards program, not Amplify Rewards as for these other brands.

For example, on the Westpac Altitude Platinum Mastercard and the Westpac Altitude Black Mastercard, cardholders have the option of earning Altitude Points in Altitude Rewards – but can’t earn Amplify Points in Amplify Rewards, as this program applies only to St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA.

Similarly, cardholders from these three subsidiary banks cannot earn Altitude Points with Westpac on their spends – the two are separate programs, despite having relatively similar names.

Amplify Rewards: earning Amplify Points

Customers that opt to earn points directly in the Amplify Rewards program (as opposed to Qantas Points via Amplify Qantas) will earn a certain number of Amplify Points per dollar spent on eligible purchases, as below.

Earn rate

Amplify Visa

Amplify Platinum Visa

Amplify Signature Visa

Amplify Points per $1

1.0

1.0

1.5

With 10% ‘birthday bonus’

N/A

N/A

1.65

As you can see, the highest earning rates can be had on the Amplify Signature Visa – which, on top of a higher base earn rate, also credits you with a 10% bonus in the month of your birthday on all the points earned on your card over the past year (or part-year, for new applicants).

Note that the Amplify Points earning rates are the same regardless of which bank issues your card: so a St.George Amplify Signature Visa will earn the same number of points as a Bank of Melbourne Amplify Signature Visa or a BankSA Amplify Signature Visa.

Across the board, there’s no cap on the number of Amplify Points you can earn, and there’s no monthly tiering either – so regardless of what you spend every month or every year, you’ll continue earning points at the rates above.

Some other banks limit how many points you can earn per statement period or provide fewer points after spending a certain amount every month, which can make these Amplify Rewards credit cards appealing, particularly for higher spenders.

Amplify Rewards: convert Amplify Points into frequent flyer points

The points earned in your Amplify Rewards account can be converted into frequent flyer points with several airlines.

This is generally considered to be the best way to spend your Amplify Points, rather than using them to purchase merchandise and the like via the Amplify Rewards website.

Amplify Points can be converted into frequent flyer points at the following rates:

Frequent flyer programs

Conversion rate

Example

Malaysia Airlines Enrich

2:1

2 Amplify Points = 1 Enrich mile

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

2:1

2 Amplify Points = 1 KrisFlyer mile

Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer

2:1

2 Amplify Points = 1 Velocity Point

Knowing both the ‘earning rate’ – how many Amplify Points you can earn per dollar spent on each card – as well as the ‘conversion rate’, being how Amplify Points translate into airline frequent flyer points, we can see that cardholders seeking frequent flyer points are earning these at the following rates on eligible purchases:

Earn rate

Amplify Visa

Amplify Platinum Visa

Amplify Signature Visa

Equivalent frequent flyer points or miles per $1

0.5

0.5

0.75

Plus 10% ‘birthday bonus’

N/A

N/A

0.825

For instance, on the St.George Amplify Signature Visa, spending $1 earns the equivalent of 0.75 frequent flyer points in KrisFlyer, Enrich or Velocity, or 0.825 points after factoring in the card’s birthday bonus.

When converting Amplify Points into frequent flyer points, transfers to some frequent flyer programs may have a minimum transfer volume attached – such as 3,000 Amplify Points when converting to KrisFlyer – but check the Amplify Rewards website for the latest details.

Amplify Rewards: earning Qantas Points

As an alternative to earning Amplify Points via Amplify Rewards, you could instead opt for Amplify Qantas, which gives you a direct serve of Qantas Points on your eligible credit card spends.

Rather than having to first earn Amplify Points – and later convert those Amplify Points into frequent flyer points, as with the other programs above – Amplify Qantas uses a ‘direct earn’ approach, through which your credit card spends automatically translate into frequent flyer points.

When opting-in for Amplify Qantas, here’s how many Qantas Points you can earn per dollar spent on eligible purchases across the range of Amplify credit cards issued by St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA:

Earn rate

Amplify Visa

Amplify Platinum Visa

Amplify Signature Visa

Qantas Points earned per $1 spent

0.5

0.5

0.75

Plus 10% ‘birthday bonus’

N/A

N/A

0.825

For example, on the St.George Amplify Platinum Visa, you can earn 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent, however from January 1, 2022 you are limited to earning points on the first $100,000 of annual spend. Amplify Signature Visa Qantas will earn 0.75 points per dollar up to $250,000 annual spend. 

You’ll notice that the earning rates for Qantas Points align with the equivalent frequent flyer earning rates via Amplify Rewards.

On that same St.George Amplify Platinum Visa, for instance, you could earn 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent via Amplify Qantas, or the equivalent of 0.5 frequent flyer points per $1 spent in programs like Velocity, KrisFlyer and Enrich, by choosing Amplify Rewards instead.

With Amplify Rewards, you have the flexibility of keeping your points in the Amplify program until you’re ready to use them, at which time, you can choose which frequent flyer program is the best-fit for your dream trip.

However, Amplify Points cannot be converted into Qantas Points. You can only earn Qantas Points by opting for the separate Amplify Qantas track – and you’ll need to do this before you shop, not after.

For existing cardholders, it’s possible to switch between Amplify Qantas and Amplify Rewards without applying for a separate card, but you’ll need to contact your issuing bank (St.George, Bank of Melbourne or BankSA) to arrange this.

Amplify Rewards: earning bonus Amplify Points or Qantas Points

When applying for a new Amplify credit card from St.George, Bank of Melbourne or BankSA, you may qualify for a serve of bonus points if you apply during an offer period and follow the requirements of that offer.

These requirements can change from time to time, so here’s a selection of offers currently on the table across the Amplify credit card range.

Amplify Signature Visa – Amplify Qantas

Apply for the Amplify Signature Visa with Amplify Qantas to grab 90,000 bonus Qantas Points when you spend $6,000+ on eligible purchases in the first 90 days from new card approval.

These cards have a $279 card fee, with the offer available through the St.George Amplify Signature Visa, the Bank of Melbourne Amplify Signature Visa and the BankSA Amplify Signature Visa: just be sure to opt for Amplify Qantas, as opposed to Amplify Rewards.

Amplify Signature Visa – Amplify Rewards

Earn up to 150,000 bonus Amplify Points when you apply for the Amplify Signature Visa with Amplify Rewards and spend $12,000 on eligible purchases in one year.

Given the 2:1 conversion rate of Amplify Points into frequent flyer points, that’s a bonus worth up to 75,000 frequent flyer points, with the card having a $139 First Year Annual fee ($279 Fee 2nd year on).

This offer is available on the St.George Amplify Signature Visa, the Bank of Melbourne Amplify Signature Visa and the BankSA Amplify Signature Visa.

Amplify Platinum Visa – Amplify Qantas

Prefer to earn Qantas Points? Apply for the Amplify Platinum Visa with Amplify Qantas and you could earn an easy 60,000 bonus Qantas Points after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases within 90 days.

The has a $99 card fee, with this offer available via the St.George Amplify Platinum Visa, the Bank of Melbourne Amplify Platinum Visa and the BankSA Amplify Platinum Visa, when opting for Amplify Qantas as your rewards option.

Amplify Platinum Visa – Amplify Rewards

Earn 100,000 bonus Amplify Points when you apply for the Amplify Platinum Visa with Amplify Rewards and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases within 90 days.

Again, with a 2:1 conversion rate applying to transfers of Amplify Points into frequent flyer points, that's on-par with 50,000 frequent flyer points.

This offer is available on the St.George Amplify Platinum Visa, the Bank of Melbourne Amplify Platinum Visa and the BankSA Amplify Platinum Visa, each of which has a $29-99 card fee.

Amplify Rewards FAQ

Can I earn points from an additional cardholder?

Yes – if you add an additional cardholder to your account, you can earn Amplify Points (or Qantas Points, via Amplify Qantas) every time that additional cardholder makes eligible purchases using their Amplify credit card

In the case of ‘joint’ credit cards where the account responsibilities are shared between two people, points earned are credited to a single Amplify Rewards account or to one person’s Qantas Frequent Flyer account only.

Points are still awarded from the spends of both cardholders, but those points are all pooled together and provided to one nominated cardholders only. Of course, that cardholder could still use those frequent flyer points to book flights for the other, subject to the terms of each frequent flyer program.

Can I earn points using Apple Pay or Google Pay?

Yes. All Amplify credit cards are eligible for use with mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.

When you use one of these mobile wallets to make a purchase – such as by tapping your smartphone on the card reader in-store, rather than your physical credit card – you will earn points at the usual rates for that purchase.

How can I maximise my Amplify Points?

Although the Amplify Rewards program doesn’t have an online shopping mall through which you can boost your points (such as ANZ Rewards offers via its Bonus Points Mall), there are several ways to maximise the points you could earn via Amplify Rewards.

Firstly, you’ll earn the highest number of points per dollar spent on Amplify Signature cards, such as the St.George Amplify Signature Visa, which not only earns 50% more points at the baseline than the other Amplify cards, but offers that further 10% birthday bonus every year.

Although a higher ongoing card fee applies to this higher-tiered card, you could find that the extra points earned may more than offset that fee difference, such as by having more points available to book flights or upgrades to business class.

As Amplify Points are awarded per dollar spent and with no capping or tiering, using your card more often will help grow your rewards balance faster.

That doesn’t mean wasting money and spending extra just to earn points – but, if you’re currently paying cash or using EFTPOS for things like lower-value purchases, consider tapping your Amplify credit card instead, to earn points on those payments.

Even though the number of points you earn on a single small payment may be low, over time, these points all add up: and when combined with the points you’re earning from everything else, can ultimately go a long way towards booking your next holiday.

Finally, adding a (trusted) spouse or partner as an additional cardholder onto your Amplify credit card account – and having them use that Amplify card for their own purchases – will also help to grow your points balance.

Just be mindful that the primary cardholder is ultimately responsible for the card’s entire outstanding balance, including any spend made by an additional cardholder.

Amplify Rewards credit card reviews

Looking for more information about an Amplify Rewards credit card?

Peruse the following Executive Traveller reviews of various Amplify credit cards:

Where applicable, these reviews include information on earning points via both the Amplify Rewards and Amplify Qantas rewards paths.

Apply for an Amplify Rewards credit card

Ready to apply? You can lodge your application securely online via the following pages, depending on your preferred card and rewards option.

Amplify Signature cards with Amplify Points

Amplify Signature cards with Amplify Qantas

Amplify Platinum cards with Amplify Points

Amplify Platinum cards with Amplify Qantas


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.
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.