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 Velocity.

Firstly, with the new CBA Yello points scheme, you will receive points when you use or pay for a suite of eligible banking and insurance products. You’ll also soon be able to access the scheme with a regular Streamline Basic account, giving more customers access.

Unlike a regular credit card rewards scheme, though, you will only accrue points at particular places. Besides CBA’s own products (including the Travel Booking service), the new earn partners include not just Velocity (joining Qantas and Qatar), but also Origin Energy and Everyday Rewards.

Everyday Rewards is an interesting one – Yello will offer a way of doubling up on the rewards you can earn within that rewards program, without needing a credit card. Points aficionados currently do that by paying with a high points-earning credit card like Amex.

These same partners are naturally where you can redeem points, so you’ll shortly be talking groceries. You can also exchange points for gift cards at various merchants, including existing partner Myer.

Examples released by CBA include 12,500 Yello points potentially netting you a $50 Myer gift card and 100,000 points necessary for one night in a participating 4-star Sydney hotel when booked through Travel Booking (which is provided by Hopper).

Note there will also be your classic loyalty-scheme benefits: ticket presales and offers for events. It’s also promising “discounts and access to exclusive money-can’t-buy experiences”.

In all, CBA has pulled off quite the feat, brokering such high-calibre partnerships – a list that will presumably grow. So, is Commbank Yello any good?

Well, obviously not if you like cashback. You will have to sign up to an explicit cashback platform to continue getting rebates – or what I think of as automatic discounts. You also won’t be a fan if you are a Qantas frequent flyer – or may simply use the scheme for different purchases and purposes.

The controversy is in the conversion rate. While three Yello points covert to 1 Qantas point, you need just 2.5 for a point with Velocity. And only 2.5 is required for Qatar Airways’ Avios as well.

But note that both these represent a devaluation of points versus the current conversion; for Qantas the conversion rate used to be 2.5 to one (so it’s been devalued 20 per cent) and Virgin’s used to be two to one (in fact, devalued by more than Qantas at 25 per cent).

Regardless, it’s quite the points penalty and may render the Yello scheme less attractive to Qantas frequent flyers. It’s important to realise that there is no change to CBA cards that already earn Qantas (or Velocity) points, though – these points will continue to be earned and converted at those set rates.

Yello is – perhaps confusingly – a scheme on top. And the big difference is that you must hold an eligible CBA points credit card to be able to transfer Yello points to Qantas, while this is not required for Velocity. This is presumably because Qantas is not a partner in Yello.

To transfer Yello points to Qantas, there is also a $149 annual fee; to transfer them to Velocity, the fee is $99. Qantas says it is in discussions with CBA about Yello.

But note that the writing is on the wall for all credit card reward schemes: the new normal with any airline affiliate will be lower bulk sign-up points (delivered 12–18 months apart) and slower points accrual. Ongoing earn rates, too, are being cut and capped.

So hardcore points hackers – like me – will probably migrate to using multiple rewards schemes and/or cards. (Of course, you shouldn’t use any credit card unless you trust yourself to clear it in full each month so that you don’t wipe out your advantage with interest, and you need to limit the number of credit cards and applications to protect your credit score.)

Leaving aside the Qantas kick in the teeth, CBA’s revamped Yello rewards scheme is an interesting – possibly just extra – option for customers disenchanted by the diminishing rewards returns that, post-October 1, will be delivered everywhere.

It will give you points and perks at select places, including from CBA products themselves, all designed to keep their customers.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.