Australia and New Zealand Bank will revisit cardholder loyalty programs in an attempt to make up for an estimated A$40 million shortfall in credit card profits.The bank says the shortfall resulted from rising costs and recently mandated cuts in interchange fees.
The Reserve Bank of Australia announced that the institution must cut the interchange fee on credit cards by 40 percent. The current rate is a high of 0.95 percent for each transaction.
The bank says a new competitive environment will force it to entirely digest nearly one-third of the profit shortfall, instead of passing on costs to cardholders.