An Australian Club Rewards member has won back more than half a million points stripped from her by Diners Club.

Regina Boulos, of Sydney, took her case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal when Diners unilaterally cancelled her charge card, then stripped her of 527,520 points after a business she was linked with hit financial hard times.

Diners Club representative Janita Gallagher told the Tribunal that Boulos’s account was cancelled over credit risk concerns after multiple companies went bust owing several million dollars.

Diners said it was relying on terms and conditions that allowed accounts to be cancelled without notice. Boulos argued she did not deserve to lose her points: she had always paid on time and hers was a personal, not a company, account.

Boulos’ points will now be transferred into frequent flyer points. She urged other consumers to stand up for their rights.

Diners Club agreed to transfer the points if Boulos accepted liability for payment if the liquidator of Tarbs World TV Australia Pty Ltd, and related firms, made a successful claim against it.

Diners Club pushed for the settlement to be confidential, but Mr Davis replied: “The cat’s out of the bag.”

Consumer Credit Legal Service manager Carolyn Bond urged Diners Club and other firms to review their loyalty programs’ fine print, and called for national laws covering unfair contract terms.