Is CBA’s revamped rewards scheme worth it?

August 20, 2026 — 4:36pm

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As a slew of new conditions and clawbacks are set to kick in on credit card reward schemes, CBA is making a new customer and “loyalty” land grab. But there’s a catch if you’re a cashback fan or a Qantas frequent flyer.

CBA is the latest – and of course, largest – institution to announce changes when card surcharges are banned come October 1 – so millions of Aussies will be affected. The changes are to its overarching Yello loyalty scheme, to be renamed Commbank Yello points.

And yes, gone is cashback. For many customers, this is all they know about Yello: it’s been something of a mysterious scheme that means a few “Yello” dollars are deposited into your account if you have opted in each month.

For example, among cashback on other CBA products, it currently pays a flat $4 monthly cashback on eligible home loan packages. It also refunds 10 per cent of the cost of flight and hotel bookings made through Travel Booking.

But from October, Commbank Yello will operate more like a traditional rewards scheme, where you earn points from everyday spend and can then redeem them across a range of different ways, including for shopping, travel, gift cards and points transfers to airlines.

And CBA has a big airline partner: Virgin’s Velocity. So, let’s unpack CBA Yello points, to see if it’s worth your trouble.

While three Yello points covert to 1 Qantas point, you need just 2.5 for a point with........

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