Relations between Standard Bank and British Airways (BA) have taken a nose dive, leaving cardholders of their jointly branded credit card wondering where they will earn air miles, known as Avios, in the future.
And to make matters more interesting for cardholders, who earn BA Avios air miles by spending on their cards, they have not been told why they will no longer earn the air miles or what they can do in future to get more flying time.
Standard Bank claims that the reason for the break-up is that cardholders are no longer interested in the Avios air miles. The bank’s spokesman, Ross Linstrom, says: “Standard Bank customers have, through direct discussions and surveys, indicated that their rewards and loyalty bonuses should be more relevant to their daily lives and also be more immediate in terms of redemption. As such, Standard Bank has taken a strategic decision to ensure that our customers are rewarded in a manner best suited to their needs.”
The cardholders will now be encouraged to sign up for the bank’s relatively new loyalty programme, UCount.
The effective date for the end of the Standard Bank/BA credit card relationship is January 31, but Standard Bank says it will inform cardholders about their options only later, in February.
The end of the partnership does not affect cardholders’ BA Executive Club membership. Avios points accumulated will not expire and will remain available for use, provided the cardholders remain active Executive Club members.
Linstrom claims the bank met its obligations to cardholders by giving 30 days’ written notice of the break-up at the end of December and an email reminder this week saying that those who did not receive the written notice should ensure their details provided to the bank are up-to-date. Alternatively, they should check with the Post Office why they did not receive the notice.
Linstrom says: “While we believe this partnership brought value to our customers, a strategic decision was made to terminate the relationship. All affected customers will be informed of alternative offerings after the termination date of January 31.
“Unfortunately, due to the nature of the termination terms and conditions between Standard Bank and British Airways, customers can only be fully informed about alternative offerings from February 1.”
And cardholders will get a pro-rata refund on the annual R270 “linkage fee” on the Standard Bank/BA credit card only in March. The UCount fee is R240 a year.
For “competitive reasons”, Standard Bank declined to say how many cardholders are affected.