Nectar issues huge update to customers - with potential impact on points

17 August 2023 , 09:15

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Nectar is closing its Nectar Connect scheme (Image: Sainsbury's)

Nectar has announced a huge change for customers and it could affect how many points you collect.

The loyalty card is closing its Nectar Connect scheme on October 27. Nectar Connect allows you to link your bank accounts to your Nectar account, then when you make a qualifying purchase using your debit or credit card, you collect Nectar points.

You have to activate your offers on the Nectar app or website first in order to collect points. Nectar Connect uses “open banking” and you have to renew its permission to link to your bank accounts every 90 days.

Nectar Connect will close at 11.59pm on October 27 - after this, the link to your debit or credit card will automatically end. Nectar has not given a reason for the move but started notifying customers earlier this month.

The email reads: “We wanted to let you know that Nectar Connect is coming to an end on 27 October – this is the last date you can collect points on Nectar Connect offers.” Nectar Connect offers are updated regularly and include “hundreds” of brands such as Laithwaites, Beefeater, National Express, Vodafone, Sky, Sweaty Betty and Brewers Fayre.

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The amount of points you get with each partner varies, but Nectar says you can get up to 30 points per £1 with some brands. You can normally expect to see between ten and 16 offers at one time, with each one usually lasting between 50 and 90 days.

Most people recognise Nectar as the loyalty scheme used with Sainsbury's. Sainsbury’s shoppers get one Nectar point for every £1 spent in stores and online, or for every litre of fuel purchased.

You can get bonus Nectar points on certain items in store if you activate offers in the Nectar app. The type of offers available are typically based on products you normally buy,

You also get points when you shop with other retailers including Argos, ASOS and Sky. Each point is worth 0.5p to spend in Sainsbury's stores - so 100 points are therefore 50p. Or you can spend them at other partner stores, sometimes for a slight boost.

For example, you can spend 350 points at Caffè Nero, normally worth £1.75, to get any hot or cold drink. Or you can convert your Nectar points into Avios to spend on British Airways flights, with 400 Nectar points currently worth 250 Avios.

Levi Winchester