Qantas will team up with BP’s loyalty scheme to allow motorists to access the Qantas rewards program, after the deal was signed off by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The deal allows Qantas and BP to collectively participate in the BP Rewards and Qantas Frequent Flyer programs for five years.

“The proposed arrangements are likely to result in public benefits, such as providing consumers with more opportunities to accrue and redeem rewards program points,” ACCC commissioner Stephen Ridgeway said.

“Qantas has the biggest loyalty reward scheme in Australia in terms of member numbers, and BP is a major petrol retailer. However, we don’t believe this will have a significant negative impact on competition, because there are many other retailers in Australia, in petrol and other markets, who could launch or participate in different loyalty programs."

The ACCC was also concerned that the sharing of consumer data between independent BP petrol stations and BP, and between BP and Qantas as a result of these arrangements had the potential to cause some harm to consumers, such as a reduction in privacy.

However, the ACCC notes that 85 per cent of independent BP petrol stations are subject to the Privacy Act, and that BP is implementing additional safeguards to protect data that BP petrol stations receive.

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