Credit Card Eligibility & Exclusion Periods by Issuer
Most Australian credit card issuers set an exclusion period — the time you must wait after earning a sign-up bonus before you are eligible for a bonus from the same issuer again. The periods below are the values we have verified per issuer, read live from our database.
Where an issuer has no confirmed period we show “No published exclusion period / not yet verified” rather than guessing a number.
| Issuer | Exclusion period | Verified source |
|---|---|---|
| ANZ | 24 months | — |
| Bank of MelbourneShares one clock with St.George | 24 months | — |
| Bankwest | 24 months | Official terms |
| Commbank | 24 months | — |
| NAB | 24 months | — |
| Qantas Premier | 24 months | Official terms |
| St.GeorgeShares one clock with Bank of Melbourne | 24 months | — |
| Westpac | 24 months | — |
| American Express | 18 months | — |
| HSBC | 18 months | Official terms |
| BOQ | 12 months | — |
| Suncorp | 12 months | — |
| Virgin Money | 12 months | — |
| MyCard | No exclusion period | — |
| Citi | No published exclusion period / not yet verified | — |
| Coles | No published exclusion period / not yet verified | — |
| ING | No published exclusion period / not yet verified | — |
| Macquarie | No published exclusion period / not yet verified | — |
| MONEYME | No published exclusion period / not yet verified | — |
Group rules: when one bonus blocks another brand
Some issuers share a single exclusion clock across more than one brand, so a bonus on one card can make you ineligible on a sibling brand:
- St.George & Bank of Melbourne share one 24-month clock — they belong to the same issuer group.
- Westpac is separate. Despite sitting in the same banking group as St.George and Bank of Melbourne, Westpac runs its own clock. This is the nuance most people get wrong.
- American Express applies a single clock across its card line-up rather than per individual card.
How exclusion periods work
Exclusion periods exist so issuers can limit how often the same person earns a sign-up bonus. The clock is defined in each offer’s terms and conditions and is typically measured from when you last held, or last earned a bonus on, a card from that issuer. Periods change as banks update their terms; the values here are kept in line with our eligibility engine.
Frequently asked questions
Exclusion periods are set by each issuer and can change at any time. Always confirm the current terms with the issuer before applying.
