End of line for perks on top credit cards

TWO major credit card providers are slashing the perks they offer shoppers.

Nationwide is ditching the 0.5 pc cashback on its popular Select credit card for new customers from January 11.

Existing customers will see the cashback on their purchases halved from 0.5 pc to 0.25 pc.

The reward— regarded as one of the best on the market — has been paid to customers since 2011.

Nationwide is blaming an EU cap on the fees lenders can charge retailers when a shopper spends on their card.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s Bank is scrapping the free family travel insurance policy on its Gold Card. For £5 a month, cardholders received comprehensive insurance cover for international travel. But the deal will end next month and the travel insurance will cease to be valid on February 20, 2018.

Sainsbury’s Gold Card was withdrawn from sale in 2012 after only a year on offer. But vast numbers of savvy customers are thought to have snapped it up for the cheap cover.

From December, the £5 fee will be removed.

Both banks say they have offered the rewards longer than many of their rivals.

A Nationwide spokesman says: ‘ We had previously retained the 0.5 pc rate at a time many providers removed or reduced their rewards schemes last year, due to the lower income earned from interchange.’

The so- called interchange fee — which banks charge retailers — was capped at 0.3 pc for credit cards in 2015.

Nationwide says its Select card will continue to be commission-free when used for transactions abroad.

A Sainsbury’s Bank spokesman says: ‘Customers with a Gold Card will still benefit from a low 9.9 pc APR, double Nectar points, no foreign exchange fees for using their card abroad and no cash advance fee. And they will no longer pay a monthly fee for this.’