Banks recognise that ATO and other government payments are among the largest payments an individual or business is likely to make where a credit card is accepted and can be used without any significant penalty (such as reduced ability to negotiate a favourable price, which might happen with a car purchase, for example). This would certainly erode the banks’ overall profit on credit card transactions if they allocated points at the same rate as for standard, lower-value payments. Rather than apply more restrictive points caps (which would reduce a card’s general appeal) banks target government payments by either offering a lower earning rate or excluding them altogether.