Velocity Global Wallet - Inactivity Fee

Velocity have just updated their PDS:

Dear Velocity member,
We want to let you know about some important changes we’re making to Velocity Global Wallet® from 4 May 2020 under our new Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).
We’re reducing fees you pay when using your Velocity Global Wallet® card, including removing the 2.25% currency conversion fee2 (foreign exchange rates apply), supplementary card issue fee, and the $1.95 ATM transaction fee.
You’ll earn 1 Velocity Point for every AU$4 spent in Australia on qualifying purchases.1
No more ATM transaction fees when withdrawing cash in Australia and overseas.3
We’re introducing a new load method via VISA/ Mastercard which will have a 0% load fee when loading into a foreign currency wallet, or 0.5% when loading into your AUD.
The updated PDS also includes the following important changes:

Your Overseas earn rate remains the same, 2 Velocity Points for every AU$1 spent, on Qualifying Purchases.
You will now earn 1 Velocity Point for every AU$4 spent, on Qualifying Purchases in Australia.1
The Inactivity Fee will change to 0.5% of the Available Balance, with a minimum of AU$1 for accounts that have been inactive for 12 months.
BPAY will still be FREE when you load into a Foreign Currency Wallet, and will have a fee of 0.5% of Funds Credited when you load into your Australian Wallet, with a minimum of AU$1 per Load.
We’ve updated section 17.5 to indicate the assumptions you might be liable for losses arising from Unauthorised Transaction if you contributed to those losses through fraud, theft, illicit use or by inappropriate use of the card and PIN. These assumptions only apply to a very small number of transactions, losses will still be covered for most customers.
We’ve updated the definition of Qualifying Purchases that allow you to earn Velocity Points, and included a section to explain you might stop earning Velocity Points if you use the product in a fraudulent or illicit way.
We’ve updated the section where we describe what happens with Card Inactivity and Account Closure
Please consult the Notice of Change and updated Product Disclosure Statement here so that you may see the full detail of changes.

If you have any questions, please contact us on 13 18 75 or (+61) 2 8667 5924 from overseas and follow the Global Wallet® prompts.
Thank you,
The Velocity Global Wallet® Team

Doesn’t seem to me much benefit to the average customer even if they could understand the wording and/or the implications. A bit rude charging an inactivity fee in the current environment

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This might we why they are charging the inactivity fee. Most holders of the Velocity Global Wallet® will use the card for international travel. As international travel is not possible at this point in time and into the foreseeable future (there has been talk that it could be up to 2 years before international travel restrictions are lifted), maintaining the scheme will be a cost impost to Virgin Australia. I suspect that in a normal operating environment, the program costs are funded by transaction fees and charges. If there are no transactions through travel, then Virgin will not have the same revenue to run the card program.

Inserting inactivity fees, which will possibly apply to /hit almost all card holders, Virgin maintains a revenue stream to pay for the ongoing costs of the program.

If one is unhappy with the inactivity fees, a away to get around it may be to cancel the card/close the account and then wait for your next travel event to reapply.

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Probably the best approach as Virgin may not still be around by then.

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