OzBargainer Experiences with NAB Group Credit Card Fee Pro-Rata Refunds Following Policy Change

AussieDeals on 08/12/2022 - 13:49
Last edited 08/12/2022 - 13:49

There have been reports that NAB has quietly stopped providing pro-rata refunds for their credit card products, so prior forum posts may be out of date and comments regarding this buried in them are not receiving much attention.

Many of NAB's credit card bonus offerings will become particularly poor value unless you have a mortgage package to waive the annual fee. It is also uncertain if this change applies to Citi branded cards (owned by NAB now).

A few people commenting here and on AFF have suggested that this is simply an end to 'automatic' refunds and they'll still be provided if you ask but there's no hard evidence to suggest this is the case.

Also interested to see if they will apply this to people who had a card prior to the policy change vs people who apply for one now or in the future

Have created this new forum topic to draw attention to this and hopefully collate first-hand Ozbargainer experiences to see if this policy is also applying to Citi cards & if anyone is having luck with getting around this change in policy.

Please share your recent experiences (i.e. in last week or so and going forward from now)

Financial

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National Australia Bank Group (NAB)

Comments

  • Shadowsfury on 08/12/2022 - 14:00

    Cancelled my wife's card maybe 2 weeks back (have held for around 3 months). I made sure to get her to ask about pro rata refund so not sure if it was going to be provided automatically like I did with me a few months earlier.

  • Hamish125 on 08/12/2022 - 14:49

    My last NAB card was early this year (cancelled around May) and I seem to remember no pro rata being offered until I pursued it.

    Not sure if it would have come automatically but from the conversation with the rep at the time it didn't sound like there would have been a pro rata refund if I hadnt asked for it. It did come through in the end.

  • ddhar on 08/12/2022 - 16:33

    I had this card last year and NAB proactively offered the refund into my nominated bank account.

    I have since reapplied for this card and will be keeping it just short of the 12-month anniversary. I personally think the annual fee is reasonable, considering it earns point on government spends (I have significant local council rates) and the 1 QFF-per-dollar earn is very good (for a Visa/MC card).

    • xdigger on 08/12/2022 - 17:14

      Aren't there additional 1-2% fees for paying by credit card for council rates that negates the points accrued?

      • ddhar on 08/12/2022 - 18:03

        The card fee from my council is 1.28%. The NAB card earns 1 QFF per dollar spent, which, if we use Point Hacks valuation, is worth 1.8c. It's overall a net gain.

        It wouldn't be worth the effort if I were using a card that earns just 0.5-0.75 QFF per dollar.

  • morelast on 08/12/2022 - 17:39

    NAB proactively pro-rata refunded my Credit Card fee after cancellation in Oct this year. As the AFF pointed out that the change of policy happened this month, i'm interested in understanding NAB's current practise.

  • krazek on 09/12/2022 - 08:54

    I just applied for a NAB card at the end of November, knowing that the pro-rata'd AF would make the deal worth it. Once I get my bonus, I am going to try get the AF pro-rata refunded as I was basing this at the time of application. Will update on my experience

    • mmd on 25/12/2022 - 11:36

      How did U go?

      • krazek on 25/12/2022 - 20:40

        They are playing hardball on their online chat… I will try call next business day and try speak to someone

        • krazek on 04/02/2023 - 13:47

          After multiple calls they stuck by their rhetoric and said they wouldn't give me a refund but they lodged a complaint with the complaints department. Eventually they replied and refunded my annual fee. Not sure if it was worth the hassle though

          • AussieDeals on 04/02/2023 - 14:05

            @krazek: What was the sort of wording you used to convince them to refund? Good that you got it in the end especially since you applied for the card in Nov before they appear to have changed their internal policy

            • krazek on 04/02/2023 - 23:12
              +1

              @AussieDeals: Thing is I didn't convince them really. I assumed I wasn't going to get anything. I was just lucky the complaints department reviewed all my interactions and gave me the refund. NAB is my main bank for many years so perhaps that played a part

  • uwuwu on 09/12/2022 - 22:14

    Interesting change in policy, seems like they're trying to discourage the churners. I'm lucky I closed my NAB CC a few months ago

  • helloitse on 10/12/2022 - 01:43

    Pretty timely because I just went through this today! Opened a NAB rewards card in September and was initially planning to not cancel it until later. Became aware of this policy change the other day so thought I would get onto the cancellation ASAP in the hopes of still getting the refund. First requested it through the app, rep denied it. I asked again in hopes they might as a gesture of goodwill, but was a hard no. They closed the convo on me so I ended up having to call up - this person refunded me the (discounted) annual fee in full, largely due to the short time I had the account open. So seems like there is still wiggle room, just depends who you speak to. Can't say if this will be be ongoing either.

    • AussieDeals on 10/12/2022 - 13:39

      Wow sounds like they really have clamped down with the multiple attempts you had to make. Glad you got it in the end with that 3rd phone rep.

      I closed a NAB Qantas card a few months ago and got the fee refunded and was just about to apply for a separate NAB rewards program credit card signup bonus when this article came out. Think I'll definitely hold off on the application now

      Still interested to hear if anybody has luck with fee refunds for any of the Citibank branded credit cards from now onwards

  • BuyLowLetsGo on 12/12/2022 - 22:53

    Applied for the Qantas Visa Signature NAB card in 1 Nov. Got my 90k Qantas pts in my first statement cycle. Called to cancel today and got the full $295 credited back to my acc. Was expecting less of a pro-rated fee (~$245 instead).

    Not sure if I got lucky, but the staff I spoke to mentioned that I've only had the card for about a month and therefore warranted the refund.

  • fullmetal on 13/12/2022 - 11:32

    I wasn't that lucky. I opened in Oct, closed today. Staff said everything was automatically and won't have a refund.

  • aquilia on 14/12/2022 - 16:01

    I've had my credit card for the past 5 years. I was charged the annual fee in early November when I refinanced my home loan to another bank. Last week I contacted NAB and confirmed I would receive a pro-rata refund of the fee and there were no issues. Just this Monday I made a final payment less the pro-rata refund and closed the card. Not sure if it would have come automatically if I hadn't asked for it before I paid off the final amount.

  • adrianehm on 14/12/2022 - 16:16
    +1

    I just closed my NAB credit card account today and received the following reply:
    "In regards to the annual fee refund, pro rata refunds are no longer available for credit card products which have been opened for less than 1x year. As you agreed to pay the annual fee for the credit card in your contract, I am unable to refund this for you upon closure today."

    For context I opened this credit card in September 2022, so held it for around 3 months. Looks like it's not possible anymore :(

    • AussieDeals on 14/12/2022 - 17:16

      Based on that NAB reply it seems like for those annoying get 90k points in 1st year then 30k points 2nd year you might be able to cancel after getting the 2nd year points and get a refund for the 2nd year's fee? Still much poorer value compared to before without an immediate 1st year pro-rata refund

  • AussieDeals on 14/12/2022 - 17:06

    Seems like some people who already had these cards are getting lucky with more lenient chat representatives but many are not and that the policy definitely has changed. I wouldn't expect any sort of loophole or leniency for the annual fee refund if applying for a new NAB card now or going forward based on all of these experiences reported

    There's also a user that reported Citi denied their recent pro-rata refund

    Looks like the party is over for NAB group credit card signups

    • mmd on 22/12/2022 - 13:44

      are you saying if i were to sign up to this nab cc, i wont be able to cancel and get a prorata of the annual fee?
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/717934

      • AussieDeals on 22/12/2022 - 19:16

        Not saying it is impossible but I would not count on getting a refund at all

        • mmd on 24/12/2022 - 17:28

          doents look like it according to recent comments in this post
          https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/717934

          • prankster on 25/12/2022 - 07:38

            @mmd: Ah found this post from the last link the other guy provided :)

            But yes it seems NAB is clampering down on pro rata refunds apparently from 1st of December to a new policy change which is crappy

            If you are lucky and get the right rep, you might be able to wiggle one to give you pro rata refund but I think moving forward people should be aware that applying for this NAB platinum Qantas card to get the 70k points won’t be free and you’ll have to fork the $150 annual fee to get this

  • Brick50 on 01/02/2023 - 14:46
    +1

    Anyone care to share feedback? Unable to get prorata refund as rep is denying it, was wondering if maybe the AFCA would have any bearing? My partner received a refund without issues in November. seems unfair they can change the rules without notifying anyone.

    • AussieDeals on 01/02/2023 - 16:51
      +1

      It might be tough as I don't think the rule was ever written anywhere by NAB as part of their offers.

      It was simply an internal policy/loophole that many AFF members & later ozbargainers took advantage of before NAB changed this internal policy/closed the loophole (probably because so many people took advantage of the loophole once it was published on these deal websites)

  • Mr Joker on 04/02/2023 - 12:37

    i just cancelled my card and tried to get my annual fee pro-rata'd. It didn't work :(

  • Brick50 on 10/02/2023 - 18:29
    +4

    I just successfully got prorata annual fee by contacting NAB complaints department after being declined by live chat and not being escalated to a manager

    • Patat on 23/02/2023 - 00:24

      Can I ask how you contacted the NAB complaints department?

      • 76F on 01/03/2023 - 19:00
        +1

        I lodged a complaint via their online form: https://www.nab.com.au/contact-us/feedback

        They just offered a 'payment of $200 as a once off gesture of goodwill, as a full and final resolution to [my] complaint'.

        • Patat on 01/03/2023 - 21:33

          Thank you, will give it a shot! Online chat refused to give a refund.

  • UrMumsOnlyFan on 10/06/2023 - 18:46

    Called to close a Qantas Money card and I asked for pro-rata refund of the annual fee. The agent said yes, but not in a way that inspired too much confidence.

    Anyhow, there is an unexplained positive amount on the card balance post closure so it looks that is the desired outcome. Hopefully the cheque is in the mail.

    • vawiyoci on 03/07/2023 - 11:46

      The last time I asked qantas for a pro-rata refund of the annual fee on their premier money card it took them nearly a year to finally send out the cheque after once-a-month call reminders. Hopefully yours is faster these days.

      • Untalentedllama on 03/07/2023 - 12:02

        I cancelled my Qantas Premier Platinum CC start of June 2023, took them a month to send out the cheque but received and deposited it last week. They said they had to finalise the last statement before sending out the cheque which is why it took them that long.

        • UrMumsOnlyFan on 03/07/2023 - 12:12

          That could explain why my account still says "pending closure". My statement cycle is coming up again soon so hopefully that closes it off.

      • UrMumsOnlyFan on 03/07/2023 - 12:14

        I'll AFCA them if necessary.

  • Crowing on 23/07/2023 - 12:10
    +1

    FYI - got the 90k bonus points yesterday and called to cancel my qantas signature card. Representative said policy didn’t allow for pro rata refund as NAB wanted to deter CC churners. I said the reason was due to refinance of home loan and was given $100 refund as gesture of goodwill, I asked politely if possible for larger refund amount and was given $150 refund straight into the CC balance. So effectively paid $145 for 90k qantas points. Good result in the end

    • borgainerz on 02/06/2024 - 17:40

      Noice !
      And good to know

      • UrMumsOnlyFan on 06/06/2024 - 20:57
        +1

        I was told similar by NAB tonight. Terms & conditions generally don't permit for pro-rata refund of the annual fee, however phone agents seem to be authorised to provide up to $100 goodwill if asked.

        They can also put in a request if you are seeking >$100. This is obviously not guaranteed, but has a better chance of succeeding if you can provide some rationale for special consideration.

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