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Eagle-eyed motorists spot funny typo on "confusing" new interchange

<p>The new interchange at Rozelle, in Sydney's inner west, has already copped backlash just days after its opening,  because of the confusing signage and changed traffic conditions causing chaos among commuters. </p> <p>Now, motorists have spotted another awkward blunder at the bustling "spaghetti junction", intended to improve traffic. </p> <p>Just metres away from the main intersection along Victoria Road and Darling Street, some poor road worker made the same typo twice, in a left-hand turn lane.</p> <p>Instead of saying  "buses excepted", they painted "buses expected", and now their mistake has gone viral on social media. </p> <p>"If I was a road, I'd expect buses too," one joked.</p> <p>"I get my bus near there and I'm constantly expecting buses that don't show, so seems accurate," another quipped. </p> <p>The interchange itself has been years in the making and opened up on Sunday. </p> <p>It was intended to connect drivers to the M4 and M8 tunnels, the City West Link, the Western Distributor and give access to the Anzac Bridge with a toll-free bypass of Victoria Road. </p> <p>While the aim of it was to improve traffic flow, just four days after its opening locals are still complaining about the chaotic strip, specifically it's poorly designed signage that has reportedly baffled drivers. </p> <p>One of the new signs suggested there was a toll from Iron Cove Bridge to Anzac Bridge, and while it is actually free, commuters are avoiding the tunnel and trying to switch across multiple roads to avoid presumed fee. </p> <p>Earlier this week, NSW Premier Chris Minns said: "Clearly it's confusing, that spaghetti junction is difficult to navigate and a lot of cars' GPS haven't caught up.</p> <p>"We'll change that sign and I understand the Minister for Roads is putting up those portable electronic signs to show people that you can use that road in particular and not pay the toll."</p> <p><em>Images: Twitter/ 9News</em></p>

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Changes to credit card fees to affect frequent flyer points

<p>Last year, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced it will enforce a cap on the interchange fees on credit cards</p> <p>This change will be effective from July 1 and it will mean most banks will be reducing the customers’ points-earning power.</p> <p>Interchange fees are the money that credit card companies pay the bank each time a customer uses their card. The new regulations will cap the fees at 0.8 per cent, while the current system has seen some fees go up to three per cent.</p> <p>"Every time you use your credit card to buy something, your bank makes money by collecting an ‘interchange fee’ from the business that processed your payment, and uses this money to help buy the frequent flyer points you’re earning from the airlines,” said Chris Chamberlin credit card guru at <em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.ausbt.com.au/" target="_blank">Australian Business Traveller</a></span></strong></em>.</p> <p>“For example, for every $1,000 you spend on your credit card, you bank could currently be earning around $30 in interchange fees on high-level American Express cards (at a three per cent fee) or even $10 on Visas and MasterCards (at a 1 per cent fee) — but once the new cap takes place in July, revenue would be capped at just $8 on the same spend (0.8 per cent), and with less money available to spend on points, banks can’t afford to buy as many of them for their customers and so are reducing earn rates.”</p> <p>This change will impact Visa, MasterCard and American Express card holders.</p> <p>ANZ bank has responded to these caps by announcing that it will discontinue its AMEX card and they have already stopped issuing these cards.</p> <p>This change will affect all bank-issued American Express cards, however, the cap doesn’t apply to credit cards issued directly by American Express as they have their own payment network that doesn’t rely on an interchange fee system.</p> <p>“That means American Express is now becoming the go-to option for credit cards that earn frequent flyer points, with its top-level cards churning out up to three frequent flyer points per dollar spent on selected transactions and its other Black- and Platinum-level products doling out a solid 1.5 airline frequent flyer points per dollar spent on most transactions, uncapped,” says Chamberlin.</p> <p>Steven Hui from <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://iflyflat.com.au/" target="_blank">iFLYflat.com.au</a></strong></span><span> </span>encourages all credit card holders to research how their card will be impacted by the changes so they are not caught off guard.</p> <p>“My advice to everyone with a credit card to review and be aware of what is changing, as nearly every credit card will have some change on July 1. The worst outcome is for cardholders that continue using their old card thinking they are getting A, but find out 12 months later they are getting B (which is significantly less than expected – as points lost cannot be recovered).”</p>

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