The Westpac hotpoints Mastercard is an entry level card that has an annual fee of $44 p.a. and earns 1 hotpoint for every dollar spent on eligible purchases.

As with most entry-level credit cards, there is not much else to say about its features.

Other cards in the hotpoints cards range are the Platinum hotpoints Mastercard, hotpoints World Mastercard and the SME-oriented Westpac BusinessPLUS Mastercard.

Digging into the details of the Westpac hotpoints Mastercard

Earning hotpoints from spend with the Westpac hotpoints Mastercard

With the Westpac hotpoints Mastercard, there is no points cap on what you can earn.

You will earn 1 hotpoint for every $1 spent on the card in NZ dollars.

This is an effective 0.5% cashback on everyday spend, based on 200 hotpoints being worth $1 when redeemed towards travel gift cards with Flight Centre, helloworld, House of Travel and YOU Travel.

Note that you can achieve slightly better cash value on other redemptions, such as credit to Westpac KiwiSaver schemes, donations, and store gift cards. With these, 180 hotpoints will be worth $1.

What are hotpoints?

Hotpoints is the name and currency of Westpac’s points programme. Once you earn 200 hotpoints, you will have $1 of credit that can be redeemed directly with Flight Centre, or on gift cards with the travel agencies listed above.

This is similar to the Air New Zealand Airpoints programme, but with the added benefit of being able to redeem towards seats on any airline.

Your hotpoints can also be redeemed towards:

• Gift cards and e-vouchers with a wide range of New Zealand and Australian businesses
• Direct ‘SpendBack’ credit on your account towards qualifying purchases made in the last 3 months, where 2,200 points will equal $10 back onto your account. Qualifying purchases include travel, groceries, fuel, dining, and annual fee card charges. Note that while these credits allow you to use your hotpoints towards travel purchases made anywhere, the number of points required per $1 is higher than if you redeemed for travel gift cards, so be sure to compare prices
• Products and experiences via the hotpoint online store
• Credit towards your Westpac KiwiSaver
• Donations to one of many charities

Eligible transactions

You will earn hotpoints on all spend, except cash withdrawals, and payments for cash equivalents (e.g. travellers’ cheques, money orders and gambling chips), and business-related expenditure.

There is no obvious exclusion for government-related spend, so you should be able to pay taxes and other government fees and continue to earn hotpoints.

Westpac Pay

Westpac offers Tap & Pay functionality through either its own app, or through a Westpac PayTag which can be purchased for $4.99. The PayTag can be attached to your keys or the back of your phone case, meaning you don’t need to carry your wallet around when making small transactions.

Mastercard Privileges

Westpac hotpoints Mastercard Card Members will have access to an assortment of other offers + perks with Mastercard, including travel and dining experiences across the globe with Priceless.

Summing up – Westpac hotpoints Mastercard

The Westpac hotpoints Mastercard is a no-frills entry-level credit card that offers the ability to earn hotpoints from everyday spend, with no earnings cap.

All things being equal, the hotpoints programme is competitive with Air New Zealand Airpoints, as the points are flexible and can be redeemed for seats on any airline via either credit for direct purchases, or using gift cards with a range of travel agents.

You can also effectively use hotpoints as a form of ‘cashback’ for spend on purchases include travel, groceries, fuel, and dining.

However, if you earn Airpoints Dollars from travel and other sources, hotpoints may be less valuable than if you focused on earning points with only one programme.

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