BankSA is offering 150,000 Amplify Rewards Points (can get you up to $675 in eGift cards) plus a reduced first year annual fee of $199 ($295 p.a. ongoing) for new cardholders who apply for the Amplify Rewards Signature variant by 30 November 2023 and spend a minimum of $12,000 on eligible purchases within the first 12 months from approval.
The Amplify family includes cards offered by St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA and they continue to offer decent points earn rates from your day-to-day spend. This guide covers the different earn rates, caps and benefits of the BankSA Amplify Rewards Signature.
Amplify Signature cards – Amplify Rewards
- St.George Amplify Rewards Signature
- BankSA Amplify Rewards Signature
- Bank of Melbourne Amplify Rewards Signature
Amplify Signature cards – Qantas Points
- St.George Amplify Qantas Signature
- BankSA Amplify Qantas Signature
- Bank of Melbourne Amplify Qantas Signature
Since Amplify Rewards points are transferable to Velocity on a 2:1 basis and KrisFlyer on a 3:1 basis. This means that the current bonus of 150,000 Amplify points is equivalent to 75,000 points when transferred to Velocity Points and 50,000 when transferred to KrisFlyer miles.
Digging into the details of the BankSA Amplify Rewards Signature
The BankSA Amplify Rewards Signature offers 1.5 Amplify Rewards Points (which is equal to 0.75 Velocity Points and KrisFlyer miles) per dollar spent with no points cap.
The card is worth considering for the relatively high flexible points program earn rate outside of American Express.
The additional benefits of the Amplify Signature credit card include a 10% points ‘birthday bonus’ on your spend for the previous year, which effectively increases your points earn rate on all your spend if you keep the card active. The Amplify Rewards variant also two single entry Priority Pass lounge passes, insurances and access to Visa Luxury Hotels booking service.
Card Details
Card | BankSA Amplify Rewards Signature |
Loyalty program | Amplify Rewards |
Points earned from spend | 1.5 Amplify points per $ spend Plus 10% points bonus for your birthday |
Points cap | None |
Travel benefits | 2 x Priority Pass invitations Access to the Visa Luxury Hotels program |
Included insurances | Amplify Signature Travel Service, international travel insurance, purchase security insurance, extended warranty cover plus more |
Overseas transaction fee | 3% of the converted amount |
Mobile wallet | Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay |
Card fee | $279 p.a. ongoing |
Effective Frequent Flyer Program Point Earn Rates
Frequent Flyer Program | Effective earn rate |
---|---|
Velocity Points | 0.75 point / $ |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles | 0.5 mile / $ |
* Qantas Points are only earned if selected upon receiving the card |
Amplify Rewards vs Qantas Points
The BankSA Amplify Signature also has a Qantas Rewards variant that earns 0.75 Qantas Points per $ on spend. Otherwise, earn rate is 1.5 Amplify Rewards Points per dollar on eligible purchases on the Amplify Rewards variant.
We cover the details of the Amplify Rewards and its frequent flyer transfer partners in a separate guide.
The Birthday Bonus
Both variants of the Amplify Signature Visa comes with a unique benefit of a 10% bonus on all points earned from spend over the previous 12 months (excluding any bonus points) on your birthday each year.
Lounge access
You’re also offered two complimentary single-entry lounge passes each year and for the Amplify Rewards variant, you’ll receive a taste of Priority Pass membership.
Other benefits
The Amplify Signature Visa comes with access to the Visa Luxury Hotels program, which offers:
- Best available rate guarantee
- Automatic room upgrade upon arrival (when available)
- 3pm check-out (when available) at over 900 luxury hotels
- Free in-room Internet
- Complimentary continental breakfast
- VIP Guest status
- US$25 food or beverage voucher
You can check out the available deals at participating hotels at visaluxuryhotels.com—the program may be of use to you, or it may not, depending on the hotel you’re looking into.
You’ll also get access to the Amplify Signature Travel Service, which is a dedicated phone service with Travel consultants available to cardholders, with access to some specific packages. Worth looking it if you’re likely to use it.
And finally, there’s also a range of included insurances:
- Complimentary Overseas Travel insurance for up to six months
- Complimentary Purchase Cover for up to four months
- Extended Warranty Cover for up to twelve months
- Transit Accident insurance
- Certain medical and hospital expenses overseas—unlimited cover (except emergency dental and bed care patient allowance)
- Unexpected cancellation of your travel arrangements and associated expenses—unlimited cover (maximum of AUD $10,000 for a family)
- Up to $500 per person for travel delays
- Up to $550 per person for loss or damage to travel documents
- Up to $20,000 per person for accidental loss or damage to eligible personal property
- Up to $5,500 of excess cover for loss or damage of a rental vehicle
As I always say with credit card insurances, only you can decide if they offer value for your circumstances, so make sure you read the PDS for them to decide if they meet your needs. Read the full PDS here for BankSA.
This guide references some of the benefits of insurance policies provided with this card. You should read the PDS and obtain independent professional advice before obtaining this product.
BankSA Apple Pay, Google Pay & Samsung Pay support
BankSA cards support Apple Pay & Google Pay & Samsung Pay, meaning you can use this card on your smartphone for easier payments. Find out more in our guides for each of the compatible services.
Summing up
This BankSA card, along with the other cards in the Amplify Rewards family could be useful for those who are looking for a non-Amex card with decent points earn and flexibility in how you use them.
Bonus offers on this card can be hit and miss but when they are good, the card is well worth considering, and the travel and lounge access perks are handy extra benefits.
Can my wife also apply for one of the Amplify cards and also get the bonus points (her income is sufficient).
Would it help to cancel her additional card first?
Feedback regarding this offer as I had a bad experience recently. Very quickly, I am an Aussie citizen living and earning my salary in Germany, but still with strong family and financial ties/responsibilities in Australia. Looking to swap from my Westpac Black due to various reasons. I applied for this card BoM Signature after researching all the offers on this site – was the best fit in terms of cost, bonus points etc… Provisionally approved on the numbers I input online – then had to submit docs to verify income etc… That’s where I ran into trouble. Nowhere during the info finding/application process did it say “foreign income” not allowed… Which is what St.George group used as the reason to deny me the card. No consideration of individual circumstances (which I outlined in detail after the problems began), lengthy delay in processing, all ending in a “sorry for the inconvenience, but tough luck”. Very disappointing outcome, and I will now see if one of the other bigger banks will give me a similar problem, but just wanted to let you guys know of this issue. I realise that the majority of people on this site will be earning their income in AUD, but may be just worth annotating this on the guide to save the few like myself the wasted time and effort.
Cheers.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Each bank has differing criteria in terms of their credit check, and for many, foreign income is not considered for credit card applications. It would be preferred if banks can make this clearer in their application process, and I encourage you to pass on this feedback to them if you haven’t already done so.
Yes I did pass this on and was told this would be made clear on their application process in the future, but as I won’t be making another application with them, I won’t be able to check! Perhaps others can do this in future…