NAB Rewards Signature Card Review

Quick verdict

The NAB Rewards Signature is a strong pick for one specific person: a high spender who travels or shops overseas and isn’t wedded to Qantas. You trade lounge access for three things that, for the right person, are worth more — an uncapped earn rate, solid complimentary insurance, and direct transfers to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. It stacks up well provided you put enough through the card to wipe the $35 monthly fee (spend $5,000+ a month) and you’re happy earning NAB Rewards Points (Velocity, KrisFlyer, Flybuys — never Qantas). Spend less than $5,000 a month and the fee bites; want Qantas points or lounge passes and this isn’t your card.

Why this NAB card, and not the others

NAB has a sprawling credit card range, and it’s easy to pick the wrong one. There are the Qantas Rewards cards (Signature and Premium), the Velocity Rewards cards, the plain Rewards cards (Signature and Platinum), plus a stack of low-rate and low-fee options. The names blur together.

Here’s the distinction that matters, and it’s the reason this review is about the Rewards Signature specifically: it’s the only card in NAB’s entire range that pairs a strong, uncapped earn rate with no foreign transaction fee. The Qantas Rewards Signature — the one most people instinctively reach for because it says “Qantas” — earns at a lower, capped rate and charges international transaction fees. So the choice comes down to a simple question: do you want Qantas points (take the Qantas card, accept the forex fee and the cap), or do you want the best earn rate, no overseas fee and direct transfers to Singapore Airlines, and you’re happy earning Velocity/KrisFlyer rather than Qantas (this card)?

The standout: no foreign transaction fee on a points card

This is the headline, and it’s rare. Most rewards cards charge around 3% on overseas and international online purchases — so every time you book a US hotel, buy from an offshore website, or tap your card abroad, the bank skims a cut. The NAB Rewards Signature charges no international transaction fee on eligible purchases, while still earning points on that spend.

That combination — earn points and pay no forex fee — is unusual. It means you don’t have to choose between a points card for home and a fee-free card for travel; this one does both reasonably well.

NAB Rewards Signature fees: what it costs (and how to make it $0)

The card carries a $35 monthly fee — $420 a year. But there’s a catch in your favour: the monthly fee is reversed in any statement period where you spend $5,000 or more. So the real cost depends entirely on your spending:

• Spend $5,000+ every month: the fee is waived each time — effectively $0 a year.
• Spend less, some months: you pay $35 for each month you miss the target.
• Spend well under $5,000 most months: you’re looking at most of the $420, and the card stops making sense.

This is the card’s defining trade-off. It’s built for high spenders — hit $5k a month and you get an uncapped, no-forex-fee points card for nothing. Fall short regularly and the fee eats your rewards.

NAB Rewards Signature earn rate and points

You earn 1.5 NAB Rewards Points per $1 on eligible purchases up to $15,000 per statement period, then 0.5 points per $1, uncapped after that. Online purchases through Webjet earn 3 points per $1.

The big limitation: NAB Rewards Points cannot be redeemed for Qantas Points. But what they can do is the card’s quiet strength.

Where your points can go — and the KrisFlyer angle

This is where the card earns its keep for a points chaser. NAB Rewards Points transfer to real airline programs, which is how you turn everyday spend into premium-cabin seats:

The KrisFlyer route is the one worth planning around: NAB Rewards to KrisFlyer is a clean path to Singapore Airlines premium cabins, and you can stack it with other points currencies to improve your odds of finding business-class award space. If your loyalty is to Qantas, though, this is the wrong card — look at a Qantas-earning card instead.

One thing worth knowing from experience: when I held this card, paying a large ATO tax bill with it earned zero points, didn’t count toward the minimum monthly spend, and still copped a card-payment surcharge (mine was $90.15). ATO and government payments are excluded from earning across almost every Australian card — so don’t count on routing tax through this card to hit the $5,000 waiver or build points. If a transaction doesn’t earn, it shouldn’t be in your cost-per-point sums.

The mobile phone insurance nobody mentions

Here’s a benefit that almost no review flags, and it’s a real one: the NAB Rewards Signature is an eligible card for NAB’s complimentary mobile phone insurance. It covers accidental damage and theft, up to $1,000 per claim ($50 excess, $1,650 a year), the kind of cover a telco charges you $15 a month for.

But the eligibility has a trap that catches a lot of people. To be covered, you must pay your phone bill through the NAB card, and it has to be a monthly billing plan. If you’re on prepaid — a 12-month recharge — you don’t qualify, because there’s no monthly bill paid on the card. It’s the same trap Amex sets with its phone insurance, and prepaid users fall into both.

A few other things the fine print quietly does:

• It covers phones only — not tablets.
• It won’t pay for cosmetic damage, or a hairline screen crack under 5cm that still works — the phone has to actually fail.
• It doesn’t cover a phone you simply lost — it has to be stolen (with a police report) or properly broken.
• Cover runs month to month: pay the bill on the card and you’re covered the next calendar month; miss a payment and cover lapses until you next pay on the card.

It’s a genuine perk if you’re on a monthly plan and pay it with the card. If you’re on prepaid, treat it as not existing for you.

The other insurances — and the lounge “benefit”

Beyond the phone cover, the card includes complimentary overseas travel and medical insurance plus other policies — useful cover that can offset the fee if you’d otherwise buy travel insurance. As always with card insurance, the activation conditions and trip limits matter — see our credit card travel insurance guide for which cards actually pay out and the traps to watch.

On lounge access, I’ll be blunt: there’s a delay-triggered lounge pass (you get in if your flight is delayed 60 minutes or more), but it’s fiddly enough — registration, a qualifying delay, app faffing — that I wouldn’t count it as a real lounge benefit. This card trades lounge access for uncapped earn, solid insurance and direct Singapore Airlines transfers, and for the right person that’s a good trade. But if walking into a lounge is what you’re after, this isn’t the card — see our guide to credit card lounge access in Australia for the cards that actually get you in.

NAB Rewards Signature pros and cons

Pros

• No foreign transaction fee — rare on a points card; earns points on overseas spend with no markup.
• Waivable fee — $0 in any month you spend $5,000+.
• Uncapped points — 1.5 pts/$1 to $15k/period, then 0.5, no ceiling.
• Mobile phone insurance — up to $1,000 cover (if you’re on a monthly plan paid via the card).
• Flexible transfers — Velocity, KrisFlyer and Flybuys.

Cons

• $420 fee if you don’t spend enough — miss $5k/month and it bites.
• No Qantas — points can’t be redeemed for Qantas Frequent Flyer.
• Lounge access is barely usable — delay-triggered only, not worth counting.
• High interest rate — 20.99% p.a. on purchases; pay in full.
• Asia Miles ending — Cathay redemptions stop 27 April 2026.

Before you apply: can you afford the fee?

A $420-a-year card only makes sense if you’ll clear the fee through the $5,000 monthly waiver and actually use the points — and if the application won’t dent a borrowing position you care about. Run your overseas spend through the FX Rip-off Calculator to see the real value of the no-forex-fee earning, and if you’re weighing a card application against a future loan, the tools hub has the spend and balance-sheet calculators to sanity-check it first.

Who is the NAB Rewards Signature for?

• High spenders who hit $5,000+ most months and get the card effectively free.
• Overseas spenders and travellers who want to earn points without the 3% forex sting.
• People in the Velocity / KrisFlyer / Flybuys world rather than Qantas.

Who should avoid it?

• Anyone whose spending regularly falls short of $5,000 a month — the fee will eat your rewards.
• Qantas loyalists — the points can’t go to Qantas.
• Anyone choosing a card mainly for lounge access.

Frequently asked questions