Australia-based Commonwealth Bank has announced its decision to stop issuing American Express (AmEx) companion cards under the Awards range from 1 November of this year.

The bank said that it will accept applications for the cards until 1 September.

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However, all CommBank American Express Cards, including Commbank Awards, Platinum Awards and Diamond Awards, will be closed and their transactions will be declined from November.

Members will be able to use the existing cards and avail their benefits until then.

It is believed that the regulatory changes made by RBA in July last year to cap interchange fee on cards could be the reason behind the decision.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac also dropped AmEx companion cards last year.

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American Express vice-president Jennifer Berthold said: “The RBA’s regulatory changes introduced in July last year created widespread disruption of the digital payments landscape with banks choosing to either devalue their rewards programs or remove the American Express companion cards.”

Commonwealth Bank added that certain benefits available on the AmEx cards can be continued on its Awards Mastercard or Visa cards, which can also be used for regular payments and bookings.

The bank’s spokesperson said: “We are committed to continuously looking for opportunities to deliver value to our cardholders, and these will continue to be available on our Mastercard and Visa cards.”